Also: Stick to the ribs
Meaning of Idiom ‘Stick to Your Ribs’
To stick to your ribs, referring to food, means to be filling or substantial or to food that keeps you from being hungry again quickly; to be sustaining. 1Ammer, Christine. American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013.,2Pare, May. Body Idioms and More: For Learners of English. United States?: Mayuree Pare, 2005.
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Examples Of Use
“You look half-starved. Have some of this stew. It’ll stick to your ribs.”
“I know my food isn’t fancy,” said the cook, “but it sticks to the ribs.”
“When you’re working outside in the cold all day you need a breakfast that really sticks to the ribs.”
“I am as concerned with health as anyone else but sometimes I just want a meal that sticks to my ribs.”
Origin
According to the American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms, this expression was first recorded in 1603. 3Ammer, Christine. American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013.
A variant used in the 1800’s was ‘stick by the ribs.’
Any claims as to the actual figurative allusion of this idiom are only speculative, but it seems to refer to food that lingers in the stomach longer, thus delaying hunger. Whether a misunderstanding of the digestive process, or a human anatomy, was responsible, or the allusion was simply humorous, is hard to say.
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- In One’s Face
- Give Someone the Cold Shoulder
- Know Something Like the Back Of One’s Hand
More Food/Eating Related Idioms
- Go Pear-shaped
- Chopped Liver
- Low-Hanging Fruit
- Know Which Side Your Bread is Buttered On
- Like Shooting Fish in a Barrel
- Bread and Butter
- Beef Up
- Like Taking Candy From a Baby
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Sources
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