Idioms Review

*Source used for the information on this PowerPoint: Scholastic’s

Book of Idioms

He cried crocodile tears.

To cry crocodile tears: It’s said that

crocodiles shed tears that go into their nostrils …thus making it easier to swallow their food.

Pretending to cry in an attempt to manipulate or exploit, phony tears.

She is dressed to the nines!

Someone who is dressed well.

It’s said that tailors use 9 yards of fabric to make their best suits.

Combine compassion with fashion! This is a vegan shoe!

Mireya decided to show her mom the grade…she decided to face

the music. To face the consequences

or the truth.

From the British military: whenever someone was court marshaled, there would be a military drum squad playing.

British guards…

They are living high on the hog!

Someone who lives extravagantly.

The “best” meat on a pig is on the upper (high) portion of the animal. This was always reserved for the rich. Pigs feet, chitterlings, cracklings, etc., were reserved for slaves and servants.

Piggies! How cute!

They held his feet to the fire until he paid his bet!

To hold one accountable for a commitment or promise.

Pertains to torture used by the Crusaders. They literally placed the accused’ feet over flames until a confession was extracted.

They were busting his chops all day!

To harass someone in light-hearted way.

Long sideburns were the style 100 years ago. They were called lamb chops. A bust in the chops was to get hit in the face. Since lamb chops are no longer considered high fashion, the term has come to be figurative rather than literal.

Sideburns were called lamb chops or mutton chops.

Using a pinch of salt when cooking pasta is a basic rule of thumb

Based on the use of ones thumb as a rough measurement tool. Generally correct for course measures.

Most old English measures of distance were based on the body measurements of the king -- the length of the foot, inch (thumb tip to first knuckle), cubit (elbow-to-fingertip), and yard (nose-to-fingertip).

Edward showed his true colors when he revealed that he is a

VAMPIRE! To reveal your true intentions,

personality, or behaviors. – Color(s) has numerous meanings.

An early use of the word is flag, pennant, or badge. Early warships often carried flags from many nations on board in order to elude or deceive the enemy. The rules of civilized warfare called for all ships to hoist their true national ensigns before firing a shot.

– Someone who finally "shows his true colors" is acting like a warship which hails another ship flying one flag, but then hoisted their own when they got in firing range.

To show a true color !

His name does ring a bell.

• To sound familiar– Before electric sirens and amplification systems, bells were

a valuable means of signaling people and alerting of important events.

– Further, accurate timepieces were not always as available as they are today. Bells were used to signal people of the start of events such as a church session, the start of school, or a celebration. The bells acted as a reminder of the start of the event for people who had an out of synch timepiece or no timepiece.

Sometimes in life you have to roll with the punches!

To weather through tough times; to try to minimize trouble.

• This comes from boxing; Rolling with the punches is a technique used in boxing. The objective is to avoid receiving a direct hit with solid contact.

– The technique is to move away from the punch in an attempt to avoid the blow or at least create a glancing blow. A glancing blow being preferable to a direct hit.

Now you know where “roll with the punches” came from!

End