Reader Opinions
Sarai – (when the going gets tough, the tough get going) April 26, 2018
This page is fanominal I think that this page deserves a lot of credit you deserve what money your getting. This helps me a lot with the kids help understand grammar better. This explains it in perfect words, and summarizes every thing. Thank you for the help. Bless your soul. ;
Thanks!
Gaolatlhe Bogosi – (when in Rome, do as the Romans) April 26, 2018
I believe that we should strike a balance between the foreign culture and your culture.
Xezer – (no man is an island) April 24, 2018
Which country or nation this idiom is comimg from?
Anonymous – (a drowning man will clutch at a straw) April 23, 2018
What about sees his life slip passed his eyes when drowning
Brian – (a piece of cake) April 23, 2018
I agree I took a test and it was real easy as cake.
Kuldeep Singh Rathore – (whole nine yards) April 20, 2018
Actually the origin seems to be from the Mahabharat. King Pandu, the father of the Pandavas, laid a foundation of 9 yards for some structure and it has been seen in many folklores.
Aman Kumar – (leave no stone unturned) April 19, 2018
Origin is very important to remember an idiom and this is quite interesting.
Still Confused – (wag the dog) April 17, 2018
With all of these examples, add But what actions are taken to divert?
“I had to wag the dog so that he does not find out where I had actually gone this afternoon”. What actions is this person doing that is considered wagging the dog? This would make the definition more clear, no?
“The prime minister keeps wagging the dog to keep people from finding out about the scam”. Isn’t knowing what specific action the prime minister took important in making clear what WTD is?
Shouldn’t it be – “The prime minister created a unnecessary war to distract the public from actually finding out about the scam. Going into a unnecessary war is an example of WTD.”
#5 is especially confusing and vague. What the heck is the management actually doing (when it comes to the sales dept) that is considered wagging the dog in this example?
Soma – (as and when) April 17, 2018
Can we use the idiom with past tense?
Oxford – (die in harness) April 12, 2018
The word “harness” was originally used for the defensive or body armour of a man-at-arms or foot-soldier and all the defensive equipment of an armed horseman, for both man and horse. The OED cites this usage back to the 14th century and it remained in common usage for centuries. The KJV bible uses it in that sense eg 1 Kings Ch 20 v11 “Let not him that girdeth on his harness boast himself as he that putteth it off”. 2 Maccabees Ch 15 v 11 (moved by the compilers of the KJV from the main cannon to the Apocrypha, following Luther) gives us the saying directly: “they knew that Nicanor lay dead in his harness.” Shakespeare uses it the same – “Blow, wind! Come, wrack!/At least we’ll die with harness on our back” (Macbeth V.v.51) and over time the phrase widened its usage from purely combat to the general sense of dying ‘in service’ or ‘on the job’. It does not make reference to, or derive from, the qualities of horses.
