I is for Idioms

or Interesting bits of Information

I find Idioms Intriguing and an Interesting part of a language. For your Illumination today, here are Intriguing Idioms and Insights onto their Inceptions.

In the limelight: means the center of attention. This comes from the 1840's when they heated lime to produce bright lights to illuminate acts on stage.

It takes to two tango: means it takes two people to accomplish something. Apparently, this expression became popular in the 1920's when the tango was popular in the U.S.

Ignorance is bliss: means you're a lot happier if you don't know the bad stuff going on. Sophocles wrote about it around 400 B. C., so it doesn't just apply to avoiding the news coverage of today.

In the bag: means a sure success.  This came from the 1600's when hunters put their small game into a bag after they shot it. So if they had a successful hunting trip, it was all in the bag.

That's only a few I idioms, but I think I'll stop there because the rest I'm considering using deal with death and mayhem.  I think In the bag was enough on that topic.

So instead of more interesting idioms, I'll leave with a few more words in honor of National Poetry Month that is be observed this April.

Big I

little i

i i i

Icabod is itchy.

So am I.

Dr. Seuss

G is for Goody, goody, gumdrops

The other day I was saying, "Goody, goody, gumdrops," and my friend, who is a non-native speaker of English, asked what I meant. It was easy to explain that was a phrase meaning delight that originated with the happy prospect of getting candy. But it was a bit harder to explain that it is also used sarcastically which is how I usually use it. That got me thinking about other idioms we use everyday and never think twice about.

So in the theme of sayings starting with G, I here are a few more:

Go against the grain means go against natural tendencies. It refers to going against the grain when working with wood which is hard work. Shakespeare popularized this phrase.

Go fly a kite go away, stop bothering me. Kite flying is an activity that could keep some busy and away from you.

Go Bananas means go crazy.  This came from the association of bananas with monkeys and monkeys are thought to have silly, uncontrolled behavior.

Gone to pot means that something is ruined. This came from the 1500's and refers to animals that couldn't do work, so they were more likely to end up in the cooking pot.

Goody-Two-Shoes means person who is trying to be perfect.  This saying comes from a nursery tale in the mid 1700's about a girl who only had one shoe and who was then given another one. She showed off her shoes saying, "Two shoes."

Grasping at straws means to try something with little hope of it succeeding. This saying was popular by the 1600s and referred to someone drowning who only had had reeds along the banks to grasp onto.

Green with envy means extremely jealous. Shakespeare popularized green with the envy when he referred to it as the green sickness in Antony and Cleopatra.

Source: Scholastic Dictionary of Idioms, 1996, Scholastic, Inc.