The English language is famous for two things: Shakespeare and idioms. Both of which are notoriously difficult to understand—or as clear as mud, if you will—without either the help of a kindly and omniscient teacher, or a lifetime’s experience on the Isles.
An idiom is usually defined as a particular phrase that is specific to a certain region or population, and whose meaning often has no relation whatsoever to the individual words that are used to make it. Let sleeping dogs lie, for example, is a well-known idiom meaning “to leave a difficult situation alone” and not, as you would be forgiven for thinking, allowing a dog to have a snooze.
Because idioms often belong to specific regions it’s not uncommon for them to fall in and out of popular use. However, there are a handful which have garnered worldwide fame, and each of them have their own distinct meaning and origin stories. It’s likely you often hear these particular idioms dropped into everyday speech or may even use them yourself.
Break a leg
What it means: Good luck!
Example in a sentence: “Enjoy your first performance tonight, break a leg!”
Origin story: Despite its modern association with the theatre and the superstitious belief that it is bad luck to wish an actor “Good luck” before a performance, the most likely origins of this idiom are far more international.
According to modern etymological opinion, it is thought that this term was originally borrowed from the German language. The German term Hals- und Beinbruch, meaning more or less the same thing—neck and leg fracture—was itself a popular wordplay joke based on the common Yiddish phrase “success and blessing”, which sounds similar to the German phrase.
The first English usage of it is thought to go back to the early 1920s and was likely introduced to the theatre through the arrival of German-speaking Jewish immigrants that moved to America and the UK after the First World War.
Bite the bullet
What it means: Be brave and face the inevitable hardship coming your way.
Example in a sentence: “Just bite the bullet and go to the doctor.”
Origin story: As with many better known and older idioms, there is a lack of full consensus amongst etymologists about its exact origins. However, it most likely stems from use on the battlefield, as would make sense given its use of the word “bullet”. When undergoing battlefield triage or taking punishment, soldiers would bite down on the readily available bullets, in order to stop them biting their tongue or screaming out loud.
Francis Brose’s “Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue” provides clear evidence of the practice as early as the 1790s. This collection makes reference to soldiers biting a bullet to stop themselves crying out and shaming themselves when being punished for military infractions.
Its first recorded appearance as an idiom—so purely figurative—was in Rudyard Kipling’s 1891 novel “The Light that Failed”.
It takes two to tango
What it means: That the outcome of a situation is a result of everyone involved, and not just one individual.
Example in a sentence: “You can blame the other woman for your husband’s affair, but remember it takes two to tango.”
Origin story: The most recent idiomatic addition on our list, this well-known phrase only originated in the 1950s with the release of a song by the same name, written by Al Hoffman and Dick Manning. The context of the phrase is clear: the tango being a dance that requires two partners to do so successfully. Over time, however, the concept has been expanded to refer to any situation or activity where more than one individual is involved.
It came into popular idiomatic use after the 1980s, when Regan used it to describe US-Russian relations. Usually, it is used with negative connotations.
Rule of thumb
What it means: A measurement or a rule that you follow which is based on experience rather than precision.
Example in a sentence: “A good rule of thumb is that two handfuls of pasta is equal to one portion.”
Origin story: As another venerable idiom with a long history, there are many different theories as to its true origins. However, most etymologists agree that this phrase probably dates from the 1600s and originates in using body parts as units of measurement.
Whilst it may seem alarmingly inaccurate now, there are many examples of these units still in use. A horse is still measured in hands, a foot is based on the distance of an average step, and a cubit is based on the length between the elbow and the tip of the middle finger.
The distance between the tip of the thumb and the first joint is roughly about one inch and so for builders or carpenters, this “rule of thumb” allowed them to make estimations in tandem with their professional experience.
