Peruse just a few of the idioms on this or other sites, and you may notice that many idioms don’t look much different than what most of us call slang. Why not call a spade a spade? Is there a difference between an idiom and slang? In fact, there is not. Although there is not one universally … Read more
An Amazon review of a book on cliches and idioms complained that the book only gave the meaning of the phrases, but not the origins. What good is this, the reviewer asked? Everybody knows the meaning of these everyday expressions. Why, they asked, write a book with only their meanings, without exploring their origins? It is a … Read more
You have to learn a poem to recite in class. How do you learn it? By heart. You’re an actor and you have to memorize your lines. You learn them by heart. You have to give a big speech. Better learn by heart! It is our brains which house memories and yet if you actually said … Read more