Origin of Bob's your uncle?
The phrase 'Bob's your uncle' is commonly used in British English and Commonwealth variants. It is a flexible idiom that loosely means 'and there you have it.'
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Five Bell Ringing Idioms?
1. Alarm bells rang - Alarm bells rang when the stock market fell for the third consecutive day. 2. Bells and whistles - deluxe extras, fancy add-ons or gadgets e.g. this microwave comes with several bells and whistles 3. Learn the ropes - nautical expression describing rope knots new sailors must learn. More generally refers to learning new skill. Here ‘ ropes ’ also refers to bell ropes. 4. Ring a bell - to remind you of something without recalling the specific information. His face rings a bell - do I know him from somewhere? Q: Do you know what counterpoint is? A: It rings a bell . Something to do with music, isn’t it Q: Did you recognise the voice on the phone? A: No, but it rang a bel l . I’ve heard it somewhere before. 5. Saved by the bell - when a bad outcome is avoided because of time-based technicality e.g. Smith looked about to collapse but was saved by the bell. Derives from the bell the end of every round of a boxing match. The first citation in the US was in...
Silver Spoons?
Why does being ' born with a silver spoon in your mouth ' suggest inherited wealth and privilege? Apostle spoons were a symbol of wealth
Why 'as mad as a hatter'?
'Mad as a hatter' is usually used to describe extreme eccentricity. The phrase appears in The Clockmaker (1817) by Thomas Haliburton. Perhaps surprisingly, it is not used directly by Lewis Carroll in either Alice in Wonderland ' (1865) or Through the Looking Glass (1871). Chapter VII of the former is, however, called A Mad Tea Party. It also attended by a hatter, who the Cheshire Cat calls 'mad. It is the zany antics at the tea party that are being referenced in modern usage. Mercury poisoning The phrase is commonly believed to allude to the grim effect of mercury poisoning on workers (hatters) manufacturing felt hats. Mercury poisoning affects the nervous system, with dementia a common symptom. Victims developed severe and uncontrollable muscular tremors and twitching limbs, called 'hatter's shakes'; other symptoms included distorted vision and confused speech. Advanced cases developed hallucinations and other psychoti...
What is a 'big ask'?
A 'big ask' is an informal idiom describing goal/task that is difficult to complete. It has migrated from British/Australian the discussion of sport into more general English.
When do we give a 'heads up' to someone? Why?
When we wish to inform someone about the details of a particular theme, topic, item or person - I'll give you the heads up about the new policy. The idiom appears to have a military origin - a heads up indicating that an important announcement was pending. An early citation for the contemporary use of 'heads up from 1977 Early use in the late 1970s stressed the importance of the information supplied: "In a message characterized as a 'heads up alert', intelligence officials warned ... that Arab diplomats had suggested that Ambassador Andrew Young meet with a Palestine Liberation Organization official." The Washington Post , August 1979 In recent years, however, 'to give a heads-up' has become synonymous with the less glamorous 'inform' English Language 100 FAQ Teaching Pack - only £1.99 using discount code CQDWKF0