Reader Comments
Frances P Mattingly – (white elephant) March 16, 2021
What abut the expression “Pink Elephant” Is this the opposite? thank you.
JM – (do or die) March 15, 2021
Sounds like do or die “morphed” over time from the Latin “do it des”
Merriam-Webster: do ut des p, noun
\ ˌdōˌu̇tˈdās \
Definition of do ut des
: a commutative contract whereby something is given so that something may be received in return
Darrin Jenkins – (good grief) March 14, 2021
2 Corinthians 7:10.
Snehal – (Verbs) March 13, 2021
I’ve never learned Types of Verbs as completely or as smoothly before! This is fantastic! Kudos to whoever put it across so well!
Melissa – (mark my words) March 13, 2021
To Anonymous: I thought the “mark” meant to write the words down (as in to mark up a page), so one could refer back to them? But that was just a guess.
David – (everything but the kitchen sink) March 13, 2021
“I believe the saying came from the 50’s because my mom told me that the houses did not have kitchen sinks & they would bring their own kitchen sink each time they moved to a new house,” How can the saying have originated in the 1950s if it was in use before then?
Cynthia Wilson-Hatton – (too close for comfort) March 12, 2021
I often feel most people lack boundaries and that’s when misunderstandings occur because people get “too close for comfort” and heavily rely on others for validation.
Olivia – (against the clock) March 11, 2021
Against the clock can describe those kinds of shows (baking shows) that have people race not only against each other, but also against time itself.
Ayin Raah – (like a hole in the head) March 11, 2021
This comes from Jewish Ritual Murder like they did to Simon of Trent.
JohnK – (keep your chin up) March 10, 2021
I disagree with most of these comments, because I have never heard it used, nor would it be sensible to use the phrase to mean “Hey! Suck it up! You’re being a baby!” Language is malleable, and the number one rule of communication is “know your audience”.
Thus, I have always heard the phrase said in a “I have faith in you” kind of way as one might say one of the following to encourage someone: “we’ll get theough this.”/ “this too shall pass.”
It is almost said ironically, as a near admission at how hollow the words alone are, by which the sentiment of belief in the person is magnified.
