by the shortest and most direct route measured in a straight, direct line between two places "Most birds, including crows, fly to their destinations in a straight, direct line. The pupil ("apple of the eye") was precious because without it, you couldn't see."Īs the Crow Flies Jennifer lives only a few blocks from school as the crow flies. Ancient people thought that the pupil of the eye was solid and shaped like an apple. a person or thing that is greatly loved, treasured, and adored "This saying is used in the Bible. You'd keep squirming to get rid of the antsĪpple of Your Eye Kareem is the apple of my eye.
What if you actually had ants in your pants? You'd find it difficult to settle down. extreme restlessness overactivity We can easily imagine where this saying came from. That's why this expression means clumsy at doing physical tasks with your handsĪnts in Your Pants You never sit still. But what if all your fingers were thumbs? You'd have a hard time picking up small objects, keyboarding a computer, doing art projects, and so on. A thumb helps the other fingers pick things up, turn dials, and do other fine motor tasks. awkward and clumsy, especially with the hands Human beings and apes have thumbs most other animals don't. This idiom is about three centuries old."Īll Thumbs Marco can't build the model of the atom for the science project. It's as if no other part of your body mattered except your ears. So, if we figuratively say that you're "all ears," it means that at that moment you're keenly listening to whatever is being said. I'm all ears! eager to listen sharply attentive curious "The ear is the organ by which a person hears. They hang the dead bird around his neck."Īll Ears You said you had something important to tell me. Sure enough, a lot of bad things happen to the ship, and the crew blames the young sailor. In those days that was considered very unlucky. a very difficult burden that you can't get rid of or a reminder of something you did that was wrong "In 1798 the English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge wrote his most famous poem, "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner." In the poem a young sailor shoots a large seabird called an albatross. Some people use "air your dirty linen in publicĪlbatross around Your Neck Everywhere I go, my mother makes me take my little bratty sister. Wouldn't that be embarrassing? Imagine that your "dirty laundry" represents secret personal matters and that "to air" them means to discuss them out loud for anyone to hear. to talk about your private disagreements or embarrassing matters in public, usually while quarreling "Picture this: Instead of hanging your freshly washed laundry on a clothesline, you hang your dirty clothes out there in the air for all the world to see. If "fire" represents any kind of trouble, then anything you do to make that trouble worse is "fuel." A similar expression is "fan the flamesĪir Your Dirty Laundry in Public My upstairs neighbors fight a lot and air their dirty laundry in public. But if you put fuel (like coal or wood) on a fire, you make it burn hotter and brighter. If you pour water on a fire, it goes out. to make a bad situation worse to do or say something that causes more trouble, makes someone angrier "Thousands of years ago the famous Roman historian Livy used this expression. Years later Achilles was killed in the Trojan War by an enemy who shot a poisoned arrow into his heelĪdd Fuel to the Fire I was already angry with you, and when you forgot to pick me up, that really added fuel to the fire. But since she was holding him by his heel, that part of him never got wet. Wherever the water touched his body, he became invulnerable. When he was a baby, his mother wanted to be certain that her son could never be harmed, so she dipped little Achilles upside-down in the magical River Styx.
However, he had one weak spot, the heel of one foot. the one weakness, fault, flaw, or vulnerable spot in one's otherwise strong character In the Iliad, the famous story about the Trojan War by the Greek poet Homer, Achilles was a great hero and warrior.
In the 1800s dishonest card players secretly slipped a winning card, often an ace, up their sleeves and pulled it out when nobody was looking to win the gameĪchilles' Heel I'm an A student in math and science, but English is my Achilles' heel. Later on, magicians hid objects, even small live animals, up their sleeves and then pulled them out unexpectedly to surprise their audiences. a surprise or secret advantage, especially something tricky that is kept hidden until needed Back in the 1500s most people didn't have pockets in their clothes, so they kept things in their sleeves. Ace up Your Sleeve I don't know how Henry is going to get his mom to buy him a bike, but I'm sure he has an ace up his sleeve.
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