Imagine you are at a soccer game with your Spanish friend, and your team was getting their brains beat in (losing). Besides calling the game football, your friend might say that it was time to “flip the tortilla”.
You might respond by telling her not to beat around the bush, which wouldn’t help matters. After all, your friend was simply hoping the tide would turn!
Lighting a Fire
As a middle school language arts teacher in the inner city, my wife noticed first-hand how idioms bewilder students where English is a second language. They feel like fish out of water and walk around in a fog. Some would even say they’ve lost their marbles.
So while taking a class to renew her certification, Joan prepared a lesson plan with idioms as the topic. Her efforts lit a fire under me to write this BANAL. My tush almost got singed.
Blowing Your Mind
Here’s a deep philosophical question for ‘ya: Is the entire English language simply a collection of idioms cobbled together over the centuries?
Hitting the Nail on The Head
I’m afraid I’ll need a thick skin after publishing this blog. It will be a bitter pill to swallow if you think I need to eat humble pie after reading. I might even bawl my eyes out. That would be the last straw.
On the other hand, if I play my cards right, you won’t make a mountain out of a molehill, and I’ll find my footing. That would tickle me pink!
So without further ado, let’s spice things up and spill the beans with the top 10 list!
Top 10 Awesome Idioms And Their Origins
Number 1!
I’m in a Pretty Pickle
I hate it when I have to fight my way out of a giant pickle. But I do like the taste.
Origins: In old England, pickle referred to more of a brine than a treated cucumber. So the ‘in trouble’ meaning of ‘in a pickle’ was a reference to being as mixed up as the stewed vegetables that made up pickles.
Shakespeare is widely credited as the first to use the phrase “In a pickle” in The Tempest.
Number 10!
Dog and Pony Show
I love dogs, and ponies are cool, so I’d be walking on air to see such a show! Oh wait, this idiom has a negative connotation. Back to the drawing board.
Origin, per Wikipedia: In the U.S. in the late 19th century, small circuses toured small towns and rural areas that were too sparsely populated to attract elaborate performances. The name derives from the common use of performing dogs and ponies as the main attractions.
This actually sounds kind of fun
Number 9!
Don’t Bite My Head Off
I’m not really worried. I don’t think you can dislocate your jaw. And even if you could, I doubt you’d be able to generate enough crunch to accomplish the feat after said dislocation.
Origin – Original phrase in the 1600s was don’t bite my nose off, and seemed to reference conflicts in the animal kingdom.
Number 8!
Couch Potato
Who doesn’t love vegging out on the couch?
The man who breathed the phrase into existence is Tom Lacino. He coined the phrase during “a phone call to a friend. His girlfriend answered, and it was just an off-the-top sort of thing when I said, ‘Hey, is the couch potato there?’ She looked over and there he was on the couch, and she started cracking up.” Source: todayifoundout.com
Number 7!
Butter Someone Up
If you tried to spread butter over me in the hopes that it would somehow curry favor, you got another think coming.
Not sure if it is accurate, but this article gives an interesting theory on the origins of Butter Up, having to do with an ancient practice in India of throwing small balls of ghee butter onto sculptures representing various deities at the time of worship as far back as 1600 BCE.
Number 6!
Go Cold Turkey
Going cold turkey is supposed to be difficult, but I don’t get it. I love the day after Thanksgiving!
For its origin, Wikipedia points to a fictional story from the British periodical Judy in 1877, where the main character cuts his cousin out of his will after she shockingly serves him slices of cold turkey several times during his holiday visit.
Number 5!
Pony Up!
Why is so hard for some people to pony up what they owe? It’s like they’re trying to lift a horse over their heads!
Origin of the phrase is unknown, although it is thought to have begun in America in the early nineteenth century.
Number 4!
Rule of Thumb
My thumb shall rule over you! You shall be under my thumb! Wait, that’s a different idiom… how do thumbs have rules?
Origin of this phrase is unknown, but this link gives some insights to the myths about it: Rule of Thumb Origins, including a disturbing one about chastising one’s wife with a stick.
Number 3!
By the Skin of Your Teeth
Whew, that was a close shave!
This phrase first appeared in English in 1560 in the Geneva Bible, in Job 19:20. It provides a literal translation of the original Hebrew. Since teeth have no skin, the expression refers to the smallest possible measure. Source: theidioms.com
Number 2!
Hold Your Tongue
For how long? It’s a bit slippery.
The Tale of Melibus (c. 1387): “Thee is better hold thy tongue still, than for to speak.” Source: theidioms.com
Number 1!
I’m in a Pretty Pickle
I hate it when I have to fight my way out of a giant pickle. But I do like the taste.
Origins: In old England, pickle referred to more of a brine than a treated cucumber. So the ‘in trouble’ meaning of ‘in a pickle’ was a reference to being as mixed up as the stewed vegetables that made up pickles.
Shakespeare is widely credited as the first to use the phrase “In a pickle” in The Tempest.
Number 10!
Dog and Pony Show
I love dogs, and ponies are cool, so I’d be walking on air to see such a show! Oh wait, this idiom has a negative connotation. Back to the drawing board.
Origin, per Wikipedia: In the U.S. in the late 19th century, small circuses toured small towns and rural areas that were too sparsely populated to attract elaborate performances. The name derives from the common use of performing dogs and ponies as the main attractions.
This actually sounds kind of fun
Number 9!
Don’t Bite My Head Off
I’m not really worried. I don’t think you can dislocate your jaw. And even if you could, I doubt you’d be able to generate enough crunch to accomplish the feat after said dislocation.
Origin – Original phrase in the 1600s was don’t bite my nose off, and seemed to reference conflicts in the animal kingdom.
Number 8!
Couch Potato
Who doesn’t love vegging out on the couch?
The man who breathed the phrase into existence is Tom Lacino. He coined the phrase during “a phone call to a friend. His girlfriend answered, and it was just an off-the-top sort of thing when I said, ‘Hey, is the couch potato there?’ She looked over and there he was on the couch, and she started cracking up.” Source: todayifoundout.com
Number 7!
Butter Someone Up
If you tried to spread butter over me in the hopes that it would somehow curry favor, you got another think coming.
Not sure if it is accurate, but this article gives an interesting theory on the origins of Butter Up, having to do with an ancient practice in India of throwing small balls of ghee butter onto sculptures representing various deities at the time of worship as far back as 1600 BCE.
Number 6!
Go Cold Turkey
Going cold turkey is supposed to be difficult, but I don’t get it. I love the day after Thanksgiving!
For its origin, Wikipedia points to a fictional story from the British periodical Judy in 1877, where the main character cuts his cousin out of his will after she shockingly serves him slices of cold turkey several times during his holiday visit.
Number 5!
Pony Up!
Why is so hard for some people to pony up what they owe? It’s like they’re trying to lift a horse over their heads!
Origin of the phrase is unknown, although it is thought to have begun in America in the early nineteenth century.
Number 4!
Rule of Thumb
My thumb shall rule over you! You shall be under my thumb! Wait, that’s a different idiom… how do thumbs have rules?
Origin of this phrase is unknown, but this link gives some insights to the myths about it: Rule of Thumb Origins, including a disturbing one about chastising one’s wife with a stick.
Number 3!
By the Skin of Your Teeth
Whew, that was a close shave!
This phrase first appeared in English in 1560 in the Geneva Bible, in Job 19:20. It provides a literal translation of the original Hebrew. Since teeth have no skin, the expression refers to the smallest possible measure. Source: theidioms.com
Number 2!
Hold Your Tongue
For how long? It’s a bit slippery.
The Tale of Melibus (c. 1387): “Thee is better hold thy tongue still, than for to speak.” Source: theidioms.com
Number 1!
I’m in a Pretty Pickle
I hate it when I have to fight my way out of a giant pickle. But I do like the taste.
Origins: In old England, pickle referred to more of a brine than a treated cucumber. So the ‘in trouble’ meaning of ‘in a pickle’ was a reference to being as mixed up as the stewed vegetables that made up pickles.
Shakespeare is widely credited as the first to use the phrase “In a pickle” in The Tempest.
4 responses to “Go Bananas! Superior Idiom Etymology List”
Dan, I love your wit and sense of humor. You had me in stitches.
Loved this, Dan! Very clever. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many idioms in one place before. It really blew my mind!
Ha ha, thanks Nicole! Your comment has me walking on air!
That is the funniest thing I gave read in a long time.