Common Idioms

And their origins – part 2

FOAMING AT THE MOUTH

Origin: Like many other idioms, it may have first been used by Bill Shakespeare. In Julius Caesar, he refers to the soon-to-be-deposed king as having been less than pleased when he “fell down in the market-place, and foamed at mouth.” An alternate theory points to rabid dogs, which literally foam at the mouth

Very, very angry

FOAMING AT THE MOUTH

“The apple of my eye”

Origin: The “apple” of an eye = its aperture = its central point. The phrase pops up in the Bible (Deuteronomy 32:10: “He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling

wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye”). Its first semi–modern-day use, however, was by Sir Walter Scott (“Richard was to me as an

eldest son, the apple of my eye”)

An object of great affection, usually elevated above all others

“The apple of my eye”

“Skeleton in the closet”

Origin: During 19th-century England, one periodical, The Eclectic Review, used the phrase almost literally: It was mentioned in reference to a family attempting to keep a son’s illness secret (“Two great sources of distress are the danger of contagion and the apprehension of hereditary diseases. The dread of being the cause of misery to posterity has prevailed over men to conceal the skeleton in the closet”). 

secret source of shame or embarrassment, which an individual often takes pains to

conceal

“Skeleton in the closet”

“A bone of contention”

“A bone of contention”

Origin: Let’s say you have two dogs but only one bone. What are they going to do? Battle over it, that’s what. According to The Oxford English Dictionary, it was originally coined in the 1500s (“The diuell hath cast a bone to set stryfe betweene you”).

issue which remains in dispute, with the disagreeing parties unable or unwilling to

resolve it

“Go back to the drawing board”

Origin: It wasn’t used extensively until after World War II. The phrase “drawing board” refers to the work space of an architect or draftsman, upon which many designs, blueprints and similar plans are birthed

Start a project over again after an initial attempt has failed

“Go back to the drawing board”

“I’ll give you a rain check on that ”

Origin: It’s one of the simpler ones on the list: People don’t like to do stuff when it’s raining. Hence they pass along a metaphorical voucher—a rain check—to affirm their intent to complete the task. Of course, tangible “rain checks” are also often handed out, say, at an outdoor event postponed by bad weather, or at a store when an item has sold out.

To promise to complete an unfulfilled order or task at a later or more convenient date

“I’ll give you a rain check on that ”