An Idiot's Love of Idioms

By Nick Smethurst

Ever wondered where the sayings we commonly use originate from?
Sometimes the things we say, if we really think about it, make absolutely no logical sense.
Why on earth has a cat got my tongue? Why does a wall have ears? And why the heck are my ears burning? Why would I possibly want to break a leg?
If you think you know the answers, you might be close but have no cigar and if you don’t want to wake up on the wrong side of the bed or even worse, wait until you kick the bucket then you may want to step up to the plate and read on.
Now I certainly don’t want to read the Riot Act on you and I think by hook or by crook if you read this book you’ll be happy as Larry and as pleased as Punch.
I don’t want to be a clever clogs but by and large I think you’ll have a field day with what you’ll discover, if you catch my drift?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Release date: May 31, 2022
• ISBN: 9781398470866

Nick Smethurst

Nick Smethurst is a proud dad of two boys, Jake and Isaac. Raised in Manchester, he is a proud Northerner and likes to believe he has a good sense of humour, his friends would disagree! Nick never intended on writing a book but the Covid lockdowns in the UK allowed him to start posting on social media about one of his passions, Idioms/sayings/phrases and their origins. Nick quickly realised he wasn’t on his own with his fascination and after posting well over 300 of these ‘origin’ stories he gained a large following of people who would get involved by posing new ones to Nick. After several calls for him to collect all the stories into one document Nick decided to see if any publishers would be interested in working with him to create the book you have in your hands now. Nick’s idiom journey still continues on social media and he has hopes to bring you the second instalment…watch this space.

Book preview

An Idiot’s Love of Idioms

Nick Smethurst

Austin Macauley Publishers

An Idiot’s Love of Idioms

About the Author

Dedication

Copyright Information ©

Acknowledgement

Cat Got Your Tongue

The Walls Have Ears

My Ears Are Burning

Bury the Hatchet

Cold Feet

Big Wig

Don’t Look a Gift Horse in the Mouth

Caught Red-Handed

Blood Is Thicker Than Water

Riding Shotgun

Turn a Blind Eye

Bite the Bullet

One for the Road

Honeymoon

White Elephant

Crocodile Tears

Break a Leg

Give the Cold Shoulder

Kick the Bucket

Show Your True Colours

Close but No Cigar

Waking Up on the Wrong Side of the Bed

Go Cold Turkey

Put a Sock in It

Son of a Gun

Best Man

Steal One’s Thunder

Get One’s Goat

Codswallop

Let the Cat Out of the Bag

The Whole Nine Yards

Sleep Tight

Pull Out All the Stops

Spill the Beans

Run Amok

Hold a Candle To…

Resting on One’s Laurels

Eat Humble Pie

Hands Down

Take the P**s

Read the Riot Act

Happy as Larry

Thick as Thieves

Paint the Town Red

Beat About the Bush

Ice Breaker or Break the Ice

Show a Leg

More Than You Can Shake a Stick At

Has a Nice Ring to It

Pleased as Punch

Don’t Throw the Baby Out with the Bathwater

No Spring Chicken

By and Large

Jaywalker

Catch My Drift

By Hook or by Crook

Gardening Leave

Wild Goose Chase

One-Trick Pony

Clever Clogs

Gordon Bennett

Having a Field Day

Mexican Standoff

Don’t Know You from Adam

Murphy’s Law and Sod’s Law

Bob’s Your Uncle

For Pete’s Sake

Keep a Stiff Upper Lip

It Ain’t Over ’Til the Fat Lady Sings

Taking the Mickey

Bloody Nora

Hat-Trick

Swinging the Lead

At the End of One’s Tether

Start from Scratch

Step Up to the Plate

The Whole Kit and Kaboodle

Not On Your Nelly

Back to Square One

Dead Ringer

Pulling Your Leg

Tongue in Cheek

The Bee’s Knees

Not a Cat in Hell’s Chance

Saved My Bacon

Everything but the Kitchen Sink

Burn the Midnight Oil

Pig in a Poke

The Dog’s Boll**ks

The Life of Riley

Go Like the Clappers

Three Sheets to the Wind

Windfall

Showing One’s Mettle

Willy Nilly

Great Scott

Carrots Help You See in the Dark

Cheesed Off

Fly by the Seat of One’s Pants

Shot Your Bolt

In the Nick of Time

A Turn-Up for the Books

Put the Cat Amongst the Pigeons

Xmas

Boxing Day

Freeze the Balls off a Brass Monkey

Doubting Thomas

Tomfoolery

Curiosity Killed the Cat

Hangover

Auld Lang Syne

Pear Shaped

Don’t Bite off More Than You Can Chew

Bring Home the Bacon and Chew the Fat

Upper Crust

Cool as a Cucumber

Hair of the Dog That Bit You

Off the Record

Frog in the Throat

Saved by the Bell

Hats off to You

Swings and Roundabouts

Not My Cup of Tea

Until the Cows Come Home

Ditto

Bat Sh*t Crazy

Spitting Image

Throwing Your Hat into the Ring

The Real Mccoy

A Whale of a Time

That Old Chestnut

The Acid Test

Every Tom, Dick and Harry

Keeping Up with the Joneses

Jack S**t

Got Away with Blue Murder and Screaming Blue Murder

Basket Case

A Baker’s Dozen

A Penny for Your Thoughts

Making a Right Pig’s Ear of It

Get the Sack

Purple Patch

I Smell a Rat

The Proof Is in the Pudding

Straight from the Horse’s Mouth

Lazy Bones and Bone Idle

Cloud Cuckoo Land

Gung Ho

Apple of My Eye

Scot Free

A Feather in One’s Cap

Teaching Granny to Suck Eggs

Eat Your Heart Out

In a Pickle

Suits Me to a T

Abracadabra

Heard It Through the Grapevine

Smarty Pants

The Best Thing Since Sliced Bread

The Devil Is in the Details

Run Out of Steam

Killing Two Birds with One Stone

Hobson’s Choice

Above Board

Tying the Knot

Pie in the Sky

Bone of Contention

Carry the Can

Dog Eat Dog

Double Dutch

Flash in the Pan

Jumping on the Bandwagon

Just Deserts

Laughing stock

A Load of Old Cobblers

Mum’s the Word

Parting Shot

Pay Through the Nose

Hitting the Sack

Teacher’s Pet

Pass with Flying Colours

In a Nutshell

Play It by Ear

Read Between the Lines

Copy Cat

Toe the Line

Jack the Lad

Good as Gold

Spreading Yourself Too Thin

Flavour of the Month

Wearing Your Heart on Your Sleeve

The Best of Both Worlds

Barking Mad

A Bee in One’s Bonnet

Don’t Cry over Spilt Milk

Lose One’s Marbles

Harping On

April Fool

Have a Taste of Your Own Medicine

Pipe Down

Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is

Through Thick and Thin

Wait with Bated Breath

Let Sleeping Dogs Lie

Six of One, Half a Dozen of the Other

Rat Ars*D

The Pot Calling the Kettle Black

It Takes Two to Tango

Pigs Might Fly

Down in the Dumps

Don’t Cut Your Nose off to Spite Your Face

Put Your Best Foot Forward

If the Shoe Were on the Other Foot

Fall on One’s Sword

Bright-Eyed and Bushy-Tailed

As Sick as a Parrot

A Storm in a Teacup

Daylight Robbery

Bolt out of the Blue

A Blow by Blow Account

Having an Albatross Around One’s Neck

Keep It Under Your Hat

Lock, Stock and Barrel

Below the Belt

On the Ball

How Do You Like Them Apples

Birds of a Feather

Cut to the Chase

Better the Devil You Know

Barnstorming

Opening a Can of Worms

Talk the Hind Legs off a Donkey

Whipping Boy

All the Rage

Seal the Deal

Stick in the Mud

Touch Wood

Let Bygones Be Bygones

Wooden Spoon

Whip Round

Double Whammy

Throw Down the Gauntlet

Warts and All

Plenty of/More Fish in the Sea

About the Author

Nick Smethurst is a proud dad of two boys, Jake and Isaac.

Raised in Manchester, he is a proud Northerner and likes to believe he has a good sense of humour, his friends would disagree!

Nick never intended on writing a book but the Covid lockdowns in the UK allowed him to start posting on social media about one of his passions, Idioms/sayings/phrases and their origins.

Nick quickly realised he wasn’t on his own with his fascination and after posting well over 300 of these ‘origin’ stories he gained a large following of people who would get involved by posing new ones to Nick.

After several calls for him to collect all the stories into one document Nick decided to see if any publishers would be interested in working with him to create the book you have in your hands now.

Nick’s idiom journey still continues on social media and he has hopes to bring you the second instalment…watch this space.

Dedication

I would like to dedicate this book to my children – Jake Smethurst & Isaac Smethurst, who along with me are pictured in the illustrations.

Copyright Information ©

Nick Smethurst 2022

The right of Nick Smethurst to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by the author in accordance with section 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.

Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.

ISBN 9781398470859(Paperback)

ISBN 9781398470866 (ePub e-book)

www.austinmacauley.com

First Published 2022

Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd®1 Canada Square

Canary Wharf

London

E14 5AA

Acknowledgement

Special thanks to Timothy M Jones who gave me the confidence to collect the idioms and even wrote to publishers for me.

I probably wouldn’t have wrote this book without him telling me it was worth it.

I would also like to credit the illustrator – Peter Van Der Merwe.

Special thanks also go to all the people who follow me on LinkedIn for reading the idioms weekly.

Cat Got Your Tongue

Meaning: Said to someone who remains silent when they are expected to speak.

Origin: There are two stories on how this saying came into being. The first one says that it could have come from a whip called ‘Cat-o’-nine-tails’ that was used by the English Navy for flogging and often left the victims speechless.

The second one may be from ancient Egypt, where liars’ tongues were cut out as punishment and fed to the cats.

There is no definitive evidence that these are where the saying comes from however, and there are no printed examples pre-mid-nineteenth century. So the saying may not be as old as one might think, as in this example from the Wisconsin newspaper ‘The Racine Democrat’, December 1859:

How I love a rainy day! he said. To this, I made no answer. I loved a rainy day too, but I was not disposed to say so just then. Oh ho! The cat got your tongue, has it? was his next remark.

The Walls Have Ears

Meaning: Be careful what you say as people may be eavesdropping.

Origin: Experts believe this saying may come from a story about Dionysius of Syracuse (430–367 BC), who had an ear-shaped cave cut and connected between the rooms of his palace so that he could hear what was being said from another room.

Another story, however, was about the Louvre Palace in France, which was believed to have a network of listening tubes so that it would be possible to hear everything that was said in different rooms. People say that this is how the Queen Catherine de’Medici discovered political secrets and plots around 1620.

In English, the phrase ‘the walls have ears’ was first recorded in its present form in 1633 in James Shirley’s play ‘The Bird in a Cage’: Take heed to what I say, the walls have ears.

My Ears Are Burning

Meaning: One is subconsciously aware of being talked about or criticised.

Origin: The idiom is ancient and the origin of this belief goes back to Roman times when Augurs (Ancient Roman priest) paid particular attention to such signs. Pliny wrote in ‘Naturalis Historia’ (AD 77):

"It is acknowledged that the absent feel a presentiment of remarks about