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An idiom is a common word or phrase with a figurative, non-literal meaning that is understood culturally and differs from what its composite words' denotations would suggest; i.e. the words together have a meaning that is different from the dictionary definitions of the individual words (although some idioms do retain their literal meanings – see the example "kick the bucket" below).
If known, their origins are noted. A proverbial phrase or expression is a type of conventional saying similar to a proverb and transmitted by oral tradition. The difference is that a proverb is a fixed expression , while a proverbial phrase permits alterations to fit the grammar of the context.
This is a list of idioms that were recognizable to literate people in the late-19th century, and have become unfamiliar since. As the article list of idioms in the English language notes, a list of idioms can be useful, since the meaning of an idiom cannot be deduced by knowing the meaning of its constituent words. See that article for a fuller ...
Said by some to be the origin of the game command and title Simon says. [27] Cicero pro domo sua Cicero's speech in 57 BC to regain his confiscated house: Said of someone who pleads cases for their own benefit; see List of Latin phrases (P) § pro domo: circa (c.) or (ca.) around: In the sense of "approximately" or "about". Usually used of a date.
History Dead Informal Usually interpreted as "to be history." (Get) Hit by a bus To die suddenly and prematurely Informal Hop on the last rattler [5] To die Euphemistic "Rattler" is a slang expression for a freight train. Hop the twig [2] To die Informal Also 'to hop the stick'. Pagan belief that to jump a stick on the ground leads to the ...
This glossary of early twentieth century slang in the United States is an alphabetical collection of colloquial expressions and their idiomatic meaning from the 1900s to the 1930s. This compilation highlights American slang from the 1920s and does not include foreign phrases.
No criminal charges will be filed over the death of a 12-year-old boy who suffocated at a North Carolina wilderness camp after staff mandated he stay overnight in a fully enclosed sleeping sack ...
In linguistics, phraseology is the study of set or fixed expressions, such as idioms, phrasal verbs, and other types of multi-word lexical units (often collectively referred to as phrasemes), in which the component parts of the expression take on a meaning more specific than, or otherwise not predictable from, the sum of their meanings when used independently.