Reader Opinions
Solomon – (brain drain) January 7, 2019
I’m really enjoying this site. It has become my everyday “bus stop”.
Kenneth – (a bed of roses) January 6, 2019
Marriage is a bed of roses. Mainly thorns with beautiful, fragrant flowers on top. Endure the thorns, enjoy the flowers.
Fatima Tumba Yusuf – (good Samaritan) January 5, 2019
I am a promoter, and in love with good Samaritan, I love your ideas, I love touching and helping the less privilege in my little corner’s. How do I become a partner?
Moskova420 – (black hole) December 31, 2018
Supermassive nucleus of density
Richard West – (use your loaf) December 31, 2018
As a Londoner, I’d always assumed it was Cockney-rhyming slang: loaf of bread = head. Eric Partridge supports this origin. Do you have actual citations for your alternative theory?
Nelwyn Talley – (everything but the kitchen sink) December 25, 2018
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,
Don Shears – (use your loaf) December 20, 2018
Actually this is totally wrong the origin, it came from the Essex rifle men in the Napoleon wars where they would use a loaf to flush out french snipers by sticking the loaf on the end of a bayonet with a hat on. Once they located the sniper they would take them out.
Christine – (don’t look a gift horse in the mouth) December 17, 2018
I’m 62 years old & what they taught me in grade school is different than this. The teacher apparently misinformed us that it referred to Joan of Arc, when she sent a gift horse; but, it was a war tactic to attack the enemy. In other words, don’t trust a gift at face value, there may be illegal, unethical, self-serving motives behind the gift.
Aditya – (a burnt child dreads the fire) December 11, 2018
In India we say a similar idiom ‘A person who has burnt his lips because of hot milk, cools ice cream before eating’ which means if some thing bad has happened to you sometime in your life than you take care of everything related to that bad thing even it is not necessary.
TH – (kick the habit) December 9, 2018
I think this phrase originated after the US civil war due to addiction to morphine by injured troops. Part of the withdrawal symptoms of opiates is uncontrollable leg movements and this could have lead to the phrase “kicking” the habit. It would be similar to “cold turkey” in that it references a physical manifestation of withdrawal symptoms.
