Take the bull by the horns!

Take the bull by the horns: take decisive action in a difficult situation

Origin: This expression probably originated in the American West where it was a common, but dangerous, practice to wrestle with steers. This was not only done for entertainment at rodeos but was part of the everyday working life of ranchers and cowhands throughout the west. To control a bull or a steer (a young bull) the cowhand would first have to catch it. Trying to grab the neck or legs of a dangerous creature like this was not an option. The only solution was to take a deep breath and face the problem directly by grabbing the bull by the horns and then pulling it to the ground. This expression now means to confront a problem directly without “beating about the bush”.

Example: I took the bull by the horns and confronted him about his drinking.

 

Beating/Flogging a dead horse!

Beating a dead horse: To bring up an issue that has already been resolved.

Origin: A dead horse was the seaman’s term for the first month at sea, a month for which he was already paid and spent the money soon afterwards. To the seaman, with his money gone, he was working that first month “for free.” To mark the end of this “dead horse” month, the crew would make an effigy of a dead horse, beat the thing, and dump it overboard in celebration. To officers on the ship, beating a dead horse described the difficulty in getting the crew to do any extra work during this first month at sea.

Example: Why do you insist on beating a dead horse by bringing up these ancient problems of ours? We’re not going over them again!

 

Barking up the wrong tree!

Barking Up The Wrong Tree: To make a wrong assumption about someone or something.

Example: Jason was barking up the wrong tree when he said I was the one that took his cookies after he left the room.

Origin: Americans have coined entire expressions as well as individual words. At first bark up the wrong tree meant exactly what it said, the bark being that of a hunting dog pointing at the wrong tree. 

But we have found the expression useful even when there are no hunters, trees, or barking dogs involved. In 1832, we encounter it in James Hall’s Legends of the West: “It doesn’t take a Philadelphia lawyer to tell that the man who serves the master one day, and the enemy six, has just six chances out of seven to go to the devil. You are barking up the wrong tree, Johnson.”

Davy Crockett seems to have been fond of the phrase. In the Sketches and Eccentricities of Col. David Crockett, of West Tennessee (1833), we find, “I told him…that he reminded me of the meanest thing on God’s earth, an old coon dog, barking up the wrong tree.” And A Narrative of the Life of David Crockett, published a year later, contains the sentence, “I began to think I was barking up the wrong tree again.” The 1836 story of Colonel Crockett in Texas includes the remark, “Job, little dreaming that he was barking up the wrong tree, shoved along another bottle.”

 

An Arm and a Leg!

An Arm and a Leg: Anything where the cost is extremely expensive; pricey, often times excessively so.

Example: Buying a brand new car is going to cost us an arm and a leg! Maybe we should save money by riding a bike or the bus to work.

Origin: The origins for this phrase are unclear, but word has it that this phrase originated from the early 20th century, during one of the major World Wars. 

The theory is that soldiers, because of their heavy involvement in war and being in the line of enemy fire, would sometimes lose a hand, foot, leg, or arm. When returning home and reuniting with their concerned families, the first thing a loving relative would instantly recognize is a missing limb. Thus, a member of the family might acknowledge the high price paid during the war, and say: “This war cost you your leg, but at least you’re still alive and well!”

 

Does it seem “all Greek” to you?

It’s all Greek to me: I don’t understand it at all

Example: I don’t understand this contract. It’s all Greek to me.” 

Origin: At least two different playwrights used this phrase during one of their plays in the 17th century, those being Thomas Dekkar and William Shakespeare. In 1603, Dekkar’s play Patient Grissel reads:

 “FAR: Asking for some Greek poet, to him he fails. I’ll be sworn he knows not so much as one character of the tongue.

RIC: Why, then it’s Greek to him.”

 

The saying was also used in 1616 in Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar:

 

“CASSIUS: Did Cicero say any thing?

CASCA: Ay, he spoke Greek.

CASSIUS: To what effect?

CASCA: Nay, an I tell you that, I’ll ne’er look you i’ the face again: but those that understood him smiled at one another and shook their heads; but, for mine own part, it was Greek to me.”

 

 

Bed of roses!

A Bed Of Roses: a situation that feels comfortable and easy

Example: “Working here is no bed of roses.” 

 

All in the same boat!

All in the same boat: when everyone is facing the same challenges.

Example: “These may be difficult times, but we’re all in the same boat. We can get through it together.” 

Origin: This expression is an indirect reference to the risks shared by passengers in a small boat at sea. 

 

 

 

Are you a doubting Thomas ?

A doubting Thomas: a person who refuses to believe anything until they are given proof

 

 The term is based on the Biblical account of Thomas the Apostle, a disciple of Jesus who doubted Jesus’resurrection and demanded to feel Jesus’ wounds before being convinced. After seeing Jesus alive and being offered the opportunity to touch his wounds, according to the author of the Gospel of John, Thomas then professed his faith in Jesus. For this reason he is also called Thomas the Believer.

Example: I told Kim that the tickets had been found, but being a doubting Thomas, she wouldn’t believe me until she saw them.

 

A chip on your shoulder!

A chip on your shoulder: Being upset for something that happened in the past. 

The origins for this phrase appears to be from the early 19th century, where a particular group of people that were looking for a physical fight would literally place a chip of wood on their shoulders and walk around, daring others to knock it off. Anyone who wanted to accept the proposed challenge could do so by knocking the chip off the person’s shoulders.

Example: Why are you still mad at me, Tim? There’s no need to have a chip on your shoulder for something that happened weeks ago, I thought we were past this.

 

 

Do you smell a rat?

To smell a rat: to believe something is wrong 

Example: When my husband started working late three or four times a week, I smelled a rat.

The origin is as follows: when a dog gets excited it might be as it has found or smelt a rat… rat hunting dogs often were allowed to go where they liked in a house to find and kill the rats… and when the dog got excited it was probably due to that dodgy smell of a rat, and so anything that rouses suspicion got this moniker.