Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Jack Robinson is a name present in two common figures of speech. When referring to Jack Robinson, it is used to represent quickness. In contrast, the phrase "(A)round Jack Robinson's barn" has the opposite connotation, implying slowness, as it is often used to refer to circumlocution, circumvention, or doing things in roundabout or unnecessarily complicated ways.
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:
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).
"It sends the signal, 'We don't have to beat around the bush. We can just get to the date,'" Dunn said. ... You never know what word or phrase might pique the interest of a potential match, so put ...
Search for Beat around the bush in Wikipedia to check for alternative titles or spellings. Start the Beat around the bush article , using the Article Wizard if you wish, or add a request for it ; but please remember that Wikipedia is not a dictionary .
The expression is said to have been popularized by the English politician and orator John Bright.Speaking in the House of Commons in March 1859 on Bright's efforts to promote parliamentary reform, Lord Elcho remarked that Bright had not been "satisfied with the results of his winter campaign" and that "a saying was attributed to him [Bright] that he [had] found he was 'flogging a dead horse'."
The phrase "beating about the bush" is said to be derived from this practice as the trapper's accomplices would go around the bushes to disturb the birds. [2] The practice was also called lanciatoia in Italy and a variation was called low-belling .
Get AOL Mail for FREE! Manage your email like never before with travel, photo & document views. Personalize your inbox with themes & tabs. You've Got Mail!