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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. [1] [2] In 1768, John Ray defined a proverbial phrase as:
German – Wenn Schweine fliegen können! is identical with the English saying "when pigs fly", although the older proverb Wenn Schweine Flügel hätten, wäre alles möglich ("if pigs had wings, everything would be possible") is in more common use, often modified on the second part to something impossible, like "if pigs had wings, even your ...
As easy as pie" is a popular colloquial idiom and simile which is used to describe a task or experience as pleasurable and simple. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] The phrase is often interchanged with piece of cake , which shares the same connotation.
Image credits: anon #6. Laundry. I had always been taught that you need to wash a shirt, pants, or whatever else after wearing it only once. So I have been doing this for years and years.
Most of us have heard the phrase, ‘There is no question that is a silly question’. And while that’s usually true, there are times when you can’t help but wonder if some questions are a ...
Another category of idioms is a word having several meanings, sometimes simultaneously, sometimes discerned from the context of its usage. This is seen in the (mostly uninflected) English language in polysemes , the common use of the same word for an activity, for those engaged in it, for the product used, for the place or time of an activity ...
OED, however, cites a literal usage in 1851, but does not cite a figurative usage until 1997, and that in the phrase "lost by a nose." [93] work out, work-out, workout Boxing: To exercise or practice, especially in terms of physical training; also, the act of working out. Work out was a term for boxing for practice as opposed to a set contest.
Thinking outside the box (also thinking out of the box [1] [2] or thinking beyond the box and, especially in Australia, thinking outside the square [3]) is an idiom that means to think differently, unconventionally, or from a new perspective. The phrase also often refers to novel or creative thinking.