Mid-Week Musings

Idioms

Last weekend Bob and I helped celebrate the birthday of a friend who is woman of color. Her 4 year old grandson was sitting with us and listening intently to the grownups at the table. When his aunt commented that her mother was tickled pink, the little guy took a hard look at his grandmother, shook his head and let everyone at the table know his grandmother was black, not pink. I wanted to laugh, but I caught myself for fear I'd hurt his feelings. I remember another four year old whose feelings were hurt when folks laughed at her very literal conclusions. I can still recall her looking first to my right side and then to my left when I told her I was "beside myself." This same child extended her hand and expected payment any time she heard the phrase,"A penny for your thoughts." I tried to avoid idioms until she was old enough to understand the difference between literal and figurative expressions, but her dad and I had a (literal) belly laugh as she mastered the vagaries of the English language. I'm here to tell you she was "a tough nut to crack."

Normally, those recollections would again retreat to memory, however, I was at a contentious meeting this morning, and to save my sanity, I withdrew from the conversation and started to mentally play and doodle with idioms. The first that came to mind regarded the circumstances in which I found myself. "The ball is in your court," and I "think you are barking up the wrong tree," came immediately to mind. They were followed directly by the suggestive duo, let's not "beat around the bush," you know it's time for us to "get back to the drawing board." Some things are best held "close to the vest," so I moved on and started to think about dinner and the creation of food related idioms. As it turns out, there are a ton of them. Here are the ones I came up with. If you have more, enter them in the comments section and I will add them to the list.

1) apple of one's eye

2) (have a) bun in the oven

3) bad egg

4) big cheese

5) bread and butter

6) bring home the bacon

7) butter someone up

8) (have one's) cake and eat it too

9) carrot top

10) cheesy

11) cool as a cucumber

12) cream of the crop

13) (don't) cry over spilled milk

14) cup of joe

15) (not my) cup of tea

16) freeze one's buns off

17) full of beans

18) gravy train

19) (have something) handed to someone on a silver platter

20) hard nut to crack

21) hot potato

22) in a nutshell

23) nuts about something, someone

24) out to lunch

25) one smart cookie

26) peach fuzz

27) piece of cake

28) put all of ones eggs in one basket

29) souped up

30) sell like hot cakes

31) spice things up

32) spill the beans

33) take something with a pinch (grain) of salt

34) use your noodle

35) butterfingers

Food Idioms Sent By Friends

Bean counter

A piece of cake

The icing on the cake

Cook the books

Egg on

Egg on one's face

Something fishy

Sour grapes

Bought a lemon

A couch potato

...and here are a few more that came in later

Cut the mustard

Over egg the pudding

Gravy train

Walk on eggshells

Pie in the sky

Food for thought