Wednesday, April 15, 2015

When I Decided to Roll Up My Sleeves…

The other day my friend rang me. He said he was really DOWN IN THE DUMPS as he had been GIVEN THE SACK by his employer who didn't BEAT AROUND THE BUSH but told him outright that he WASNT WORTH HIS SALT.
I didn't like seeing my friend IN THE DOLDRUMS so I told him to KEEP HIS PECKER UP and try to TURN OVER A NEW LEAF.   I had an idea of a job for him but didn't want TO LET THE CAT OUT OF THE BAG just yet, and decided instead TO KEEP IT UNDER MY HAT.
He was very downcast so I decided to READ HIM THE RIOT ACT and told him to GET HIS ACT TOGETHER so that pretty soon he would be able to BRING HOME THE BACON.
I thought he might FLY OFF THE HANDLE at my comments, but he said no, he was quite prepared to GO BACK TO SQUARE ONE , to BITE THE BULLET and  ROLL UP HIS SLEEVES and get down to work.
I was happy that he did not think that I was OUT OF LINE or PULLING HIS LEG.      
He knew he could not REST ON HIS LAURELS but   BY AND LARGE he KNEW HIS ONIONS was a JACK OF ALL TRADES and he found another job as CHIEF COOK AND BOTTLE WASHER for a good firm.  He wasn't a BIG CHEESE but was soon able to get out and PAINT THE TOWN RED and celebrate.

Idioms are one of the hardest things to understand in any language, because you cannot translate them literally. There are hundreds in English which have been around a long time, some we have never heard of, whilst others we use on a daily basis as an integral part of our language. While training as an English teacher I began to be aware of different idioms and became fascinated to know more about them. 
I decided to try and write a little story, using as many idiomatic phrases as I could. It seemed impossible to do in Hebrew, never the less in English! It turned out to be an amusing but also VERY difficult task to achieve. I enjoyed doing it because I learned a lot about things I've never even thought about before. Here is a selection of English idioms which I found interesting, with some information on their origins:

LET THE CAT OUT OF THE BAGThis means to give away a secret. Probably comes from a fraud that farmers used to play on customers.  They would sell them a piglet and put it into a bag.  Sometimes they would substitute a stray cat for the piglet and the customer would not know this until he got home.  Finding it would be ‘letting it out of the bag” in other words, finding out the secret.
REST ON ONES LAURELSThis means to rely on previous successes and not try harder.   It goes back to early Greece when wreaths of the laurel plant were symbols of victory and status.  To rest on your laurels implies that the person is lazy and wont attempt to achieve more.
BRING HOME THE BACONMeans to earn money for one’s family and achieve success. The origin of the phrasesuggested being the story of the Dunmow Flitch. This tradition, which still continues every four years in Great Dunmow, Essex, is based on the story of a local couple who, in 1104, impressed the Prior of Little Dunmow with their marital devotion to the point that he awarded them a flitch (a side) of bacon. 
TO FLY OFF THE HANDLEMeans to suddenly and explosively lose one’s temper.
This is an American phrase and it refers to the uncontrolled way a loose axe-head can fly off its handle. It is first found in print in 1834.

I found the whole process quite addictive!  If you want to do the same, there are several websites covering these topics, one in particular that I liked was
www.phrases.org.uk
and more:
http://www.smart-words.org/quotes-sayings/idioms-meaning.html
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1 comment:

  1. LeoJuly 25, 2015 at 12:23 AM

    I also like phrases.org.uk
    Haven't seen the other one but will surely check it out after reading your post.
    L

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