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Idiom: A type of phrase or expression that has a meaning that can’t be deciphered by defining the individual words. The word idiom is derived from the ancient Greek word idioma, which means “peculiar phraseology.”
Here are some common idioms and their derivations.
Under the weather – To feel ill
This idiom is believed to be nautical in nature. When a sailor was feeling ill, he would go beneath the bow, which is the front part of the boat. This would hopefully protect him from adverse conditions. Thus, he was literally “under the bad weather” that could make him sicker.
During the 17th century, hunters would train their dogs to follow the correct scent. They would do this by placing pungent smoked fish in trees to distract the dogs, so they would become used to ignoring irrelevant scents.
I had no idea where most of these came from–thanks for the fun insights!
Thanks for the comment, and thank you for reading!
I never knew these origins. Thanks for the entertaining information.
You are very welcome. Glad you liked the post!
Re: <<>>
In Dan Brown’s novel ‘The Da Vinci Code’ (which may not be everyone’s cup of tea …), one of the characters, a Spanish bishop, head of Opus Dei, leads police captain Bezu Fache astray by suggesting that the protagonist, Robert Langdon, is responsible for a murder and in doing so lures the policeman away from his ‘scent’ (The murder was committed by the bishop’s protégé).
The name of the bishop is, not surprisingly, Aringarosa, which is Italian for….. well, yes … red herring.
Thanks for that information, Will! I read the book a long time ago, but of course remember nothing!