"Crying over spilled milk..." and other 'idiom-otic' things we say.

   The young boy had just spilled his can of soda on the floor and like many his age, he began to cry. His mother tried to console him by saying...”There's no use in crying over spilled milk.”

   “But is wasn't milk, Mom,” he sobbed . “It was soda, my favorite soda !”

   Many of life's little lesson are taught through the use of idioms, brief statements, often with distant historical background and meaning. While most languages are rich with idioms, the English language seems to have more than its share, perhaps because many English words, when standing alone, lack the color, richness and romance of words found in other languages. I have heard that there are at least 100 different ways to say “I love you” in Italian, but in English...

   Idioms often come from strange and unusual sources, the Bible, ancient fairy tales, folklore, different regions of a country or the world and are influenced by  local culture and tradition. The southern part of the United States has some real 'gems.'

   Many of the present day idioms date back hundreds and even thousands of years, and while experts may not always agree on who, where or when, what they do seem to agree upon is that the 'saying' can often be confusing when it comes to their intended meaning and significance in their 21^st century use.

   For example, “Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears!” This expression is said to come from one of Shakespeare’s plays. Now I am sure that someone was not going to lend an ear as you might lend  a hammer to a neighbor, but over the years, the expression caught on and is often used by many of today's political leaders... 'to get the public's attention!' Well, that may be pushing a point. Who listens to a politician?

   When I asked a friend how he were feeling, he replied that he had recently “been under the weather' but was now feeling a bit better. With the weather being what it has been this winter, being under it may or may not be a bad thing if it meant avoiding it, but I suspect that was not the original intent. Believe it or not, the “under the weather” expression dates back to the early 1800's and is attributed to people becoming sea sick while sailing in stormy weather on the Mississippi River. Who knew? But it might also explain the color of the water in the river..

   Often, after working on a project for a long time and not seeing success, I have felt like 'throwing in the towel.' Would you believe the origin of 'towel throwing' dates back to the early 1800's and boxing rings in Great Britain? OK. I give up! Some  idioms really do have a "true ring" to them.

   Getting the facts about an issue is important. Getting the correct facts and truth is even more important. If you want to make sure that what you are being told is true, you might want to “get it directly from the horse's mouth,” especially if, for example, you are in the process of signing up for something important, like one of those new health care plans.

   So you have decided to buy a horse and want to know its real age. Horse traders know to check the size and shape of the teeth to determine the horse's age...thus the notion of 'straight from the horse's mouth'. And purchasing health care? Try getting the facts about the new health care plans directly from a 'horse's …...'

   Justin Bieber has been in the news a great deal lately. I am not sure how much talent he has or who may be advising him regarding an appropriate life style, but being a 'young man' with money to burn and a great deal of notoriety right now, he certainly is 'sowing his wild oats', wasting his time and money on reckless activities and life styles. My guess is that 'sowing wild oats' has been around a long time and a tradition with young men...as its origin dates back as early as 190 B.C. to Greece and Rome. Oh those young and foolish hooligans. Will they never learn?

   There are many idioms with origins coming from the Bible. “Seeing eye to eye” has several Biblical references, implying that different people, looking at the same thing may or may not have the same view or be of similar agreement.

   Putting your best foot forward to make a positive impression, putting your foot down to make a point, or being willing to support what you believe by putting your money where your mouth is have all become part of what makes our language rich in meaning and yet so confusing to those not familiar with it. Can you imagine a person with ten $20. bills stuck in his or her mouth! And a number of idioms make reference to body parts? What's that all about?

   Without 'going too far out on a limb', idioms have become part of the way we communicate our thoughts and ideas, even if the original meaning of the words has changed over the years. It will be interesting to look back 50 years from now and see what new idioms we may have added to the list.

  P.S.      And  that spilled milk, or in this case soda....ever try getting it back into the  bottle?