“SKIP-HIP HURRAY – YUMMY DINNER TODAY!”
As defined by The Independent a couple of years ago, wackaging is “a cute sense of irritation: … It’s when food packaging treats consumers like idiots or children.” Blame Innocent, the Cambridge (UK)-based soft drinks company, which started the trend back in 1999 with its talking smoothies. Continue reading
In the comment section of today’s Evening Standard (London).
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In a recent article about Justin Bieber’s new single and its producers, Skrillex and Blood, Inquisitr reported: “As it turned out, Blood (Mike Tucker) and Skrillex (Sonny Moore) collaborated for the first time on Justin’s new album, Purpose. “That’s sick,” says the Biebs, after this revelation.” [sic] Continue reading
An example of “manspreading”; Richard Yeh / WNYC
Manspreading … binge-watching … dadbod: these are words you might have heard in the past year or so. And even if you’ve never used them yourself or seen them written down formally, you’re probably aware of their existence — and can guess fairly easily what they mean. On Thursday, Collins English Dictionary revealed its 10 top new words of 2015: those quirky portmanteaus and neologisms that have wormed their way into our daily lingo and might soon be immortalized in the dictionaries of our future. Continue reading
One of William Blake’s watercolour illustrations for Robert Blair’s poem “The Grave”, 1805
Fittingly, on this ghoulish day, Glosso comes to the end of its series of bodily expressions (see links to the previous posts below). In our grand Hallowe’en finale, we’ve gathered those instances where skeletons and bodies (dead or alive) take their place in the expressions of our daily lingo.
And in the round-up of posts below, we tally the number of expressions we’ve gathered for each of our body parts. You might be surprised to see which one of them takes the biscuit …
BOO! Continue reading
The Price of Victory. Blood, Sweat, Tears. Sweat—Our Contribution (Wikimedia Commons)
Continuing Glossophilia’s 10-part series on bodily expressions.
We’ve gathered all the phrases and expressions we can possibly think of that make use of bodily parts in all their glory — and divided them into ten broad categories* descending from head to toe (and then some …). We’ve left out one- and two-word euphemistic adjectives and tried to avoid expressions that refer too literally to our actual limbs, organs or orifices; what follows are phrases that tend towards the metaphorical and poetic, even though some can also be taken more literally.
Here we have phrases using blood, sweat and tears, skin and bone, nerves, veins and sinews — the more visceral matter and machinery of our very beings. Up next, our grand Hallowe’en finale: where skeletons and bodies (dead or alive) take their place in our daily idioms… Continue reading
From Wellcome Images (Wikimedia Commons)
Continuing Glossophilia’s 10-part series on bodily expressions.
We’ve gathered all the phrases and expressions we can possibly think of that make use of bodily parts in all their glory — and divided them into ten broad categories* descending from head to toe (and then some …). We’ve left out one- and two-word euphemistic adjectives and tried to avoid expressions that refer too literally to our actual limbs, organs or orifices; what follows are phrases that tend towards the metaphorical and poetic, even though some can also be taken more literally.
Here we have phrases using legs, feet, toes and heels. Up next: idioms using blood, sweat and tears, skin and bone, nerves and sinews. Continue reading
Source: the painted bird (Wikimedia Commons)
Continuing Glossophilia’s 10-part series on bodily expressions.
We’ve gathered all the phrases and expressions we can possibly think of that make use of bodily parts in all their glory — and divided them into ten broad categories* descending from head to toe (and then some …). We’ve left out one- and two-word euphemistic adjectives and tried to avoid expressions that refer too literally to our actual limbs, organs or orifices; what follows are phrases that tend towards the metaphorical and poetic, even though some can also be taken more literally.
Here we have phrases using bellies and bottoms, hips, loins and backs. Next up: legs, feet, toes and heels. Continue reading
From Wellcome Images (Wikimedia Commons)
Continuing Glossophilia’s 10-part series on bodily expressions.
We’ve gathered all the phrases and expressions we can possibly think of that make use of bodily parts in all their glory — and divided them into ten broad categories* descending from head to toe (and then some …). We’ve left out one- and two-word euphemistic adjectives and tried to avoid expressions that refer too literally to our actual limbs, organs or orifices; what follows are phrases that tend towards the metaphorical and poetic, even though some can also be taken more literally.
Here we have phrases using arms, elbows and hands, fingers and thumbs — those essential and practical agents of our daily lives. Up next: bellies and bottoms, hips, loins and backs.
Arm:
1. As long as my arm
2. A shot in the arm
3. To cost an arm and a leg
4. I would give my right arm
5. The long arm of the law
6. To twist my arm
7. To keep at arm’s length
8. To put the arm on someone
9. Can do it with one arm tied behind my back
10. To receive/greet with open arms
Elbow:
1. Give it some elbow grease
2. Have some elbow room
3. To give someone or to get the elbow
4. At someone’s elbow
5. To elbow one’s way to the top
6. Can’t tell your arse from your elbow
7. To bend/lift one’s elbow
8. To be out at the elbows
9. To rub elbows with someone
Hand:
1. To lend a (helping) hand
2. To be an old hand
3. To be a dab hand
4. To win hands-down
5. To have a free hand
6. To be hand in glove
7. To have/take/gain the upper hand
8. To get out of hand
9. To take in hand
10. To take matters into one’s hands
11. To overplay one’s hand
12. On the other hand
13. To bite the hand that feeds you
14. To force someone’s hand
15. An iron fist/hand in a velvet glove
16. Take the law into your hands
17. To live hand to mouth
18. Caught red-handed
19. Keep your hands clean/get your hands dirty
20. The left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing
21. To have someone in the palm of your hand
22. To have someone eating out of your hand
23. To have a hand in something
24. Hand over fist
25. To wash one’s hands of
26. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush
27. With one’s bare hands
28. Can count on the fingers of one hand
29. Need an extra pair of hands
30. To have time on one’s hands
31. His life is in your hands
32. Putty in someone’s hands
33. To show one’s hand
34, To have your hands full
35. To play into his hands
36. My hands are tied
37. To have blood on one’s hands
38. To rule with an iron hand/fist
39. To be in safe hands
40. By his own hand
41. To come cap in hand
42. Many hands make light work
43. To fall into the wrong hands
44. To wait on someone hand and foot
45. To lay one’s hands on something or someone
46. To go hand in hand with something/someone
47. To keep one’s hand in
[48. To grease someone’s palm]
Finger:
1. Keep my fingers crossed
2. To not lift a finger
3. To have a finger in every pie
4. To pull your finger out
5. To put your finger on something
6. To finger someone
7. To point your finger at someone
8. Have your finger on the pulse of something
9. Work one’s fingers to the bone
10. Butter fingers
11. To get your fingers burned
12. To hang on by your fingernails
Knuckle:
1. To be near the knuckle
2. To rap his knuckles
3. A knuckle sandwich
4. A white knuckle ride
Thumb:
1. I’m all fingers and thumbs
2. Rule of thumb
3. To have a green thumb
4. To give the thumbs up
5. To twiddle my thumbs
*****
* Categories:
I: Hair, heads & brains
II: Eyes & ears
III: Faces, noses & mouths, teeth, cheeks & chins
IV: Necks, throats & shoulders
V: Chests, breasts & hearts
VI: Arms & hands, fingers & thumbs
VII: Bellies & bottoms, hips, loins & backs
VIII: Legs, feet, toes & heels
IX: Blood, sweat & tears, skin & bones, nerves, muscles
X: Bodies & skeletons
From Wellcome Images
Continuing Glossophilia’s 10-part series on bodily expressions.
We’ve gathered all the phrases and expressions we can possibly think of that make use of bodily parts in all their glory — and divided them into ten broad categories* descending from head to toe (and then some …). We’ve left out one- and two-word euphemistic adjectives and tried to avoid expressions that refer too literally to our actual limbs, organs or orifices; what follows are phrases that tend towards the metaphorical and poetic, even though some can also be taken more literally.
Here we have phrases using chests, breasts, and the heart — that organ of multiple emotions and the home in which it beats. Up next: arms and hands, fingers and thumbs. Continue reading