Proverbs, Idioms, and Sayings

We’ve all heard ‘em. We’ve all said a lot of them, but do you know the meaning behind ‘em or what the difference is between a proverb and idiom?

What is the difference between a proverb and an idiom? A proverb is a short, popular piece of advice or an observation that is generally held to be true. Examples of proverbs that give advice: Don’t count your chickens before they’ve hatched. Never bite the hand that feeds you.

Examples of proverbs that are observations: Rome was not built in a day. A penny saved is a penny earned. Often, these popular observations are intended as advice. For example, “Rome was not built in a day” means “be patient,” and “a penny saved is a penny earned” means “save your money.”

An idiom is a popular saying whose meaning is not apparent from its words. In other words, the literal words of an idiom do not help with understanding the meaning. For example: “the apple of my eye” (meaning: someone cherished above all others); “the bee’s knees” (meaning: something excellent); “to buy a lemon” (meaning: to buy something worth far less than you paid).

So proverbs that do not employ literal words are also idioms. The term “all bark and no bite” means threatening, but not willing to engage in a fight. This idiom is a metaphor for someone who talks a lot but does not act. It fits best when it relates to words of a threatening nature as it suggests the threat will not happen. The saying, which suggests a dog, but doesn’t mention one, came into common use around the start of the 19th century.

To be as mad as a hatter means to be crazy or to behave unpredictably. The term comes from the hat-making industry in the middle ages, which used the highly toxic mercury nitrate in the hat’s rim. The people who made these hats would often suffer poisoning which would make them act oddly. Therefore, many hatters were assumed to be crazy.

Ever heard of the saying “To Carry Coals to Newcastle”? To carry coals to Newcastle means to do something pointless and superfluous. Newcastle England was a well-known coal-mining area and the United Kingdom’s first coal exporting port. With so much coal already in Newcastle, taking more there was pointless.

Then we have the saying “Dog Days of Summer”. The term “dog days of summer” means the hottest days of the summer season. In the Northern Hemisphere, they run from July to August. The saying “dog days of summer” has nothing to do with dogs lazing around on a hot summer’s day. It has nothing to do with dogs at all. The term has its origins in ancient Rome, when hot summer days were called “dog days”. The name derives from the star Sirius, which, being the brightest star in Canis Major (Large Dog) constellation, was known as the “Dog Star.”

As we know “Get Down to Brass Tacks” means to focus only on the basic facts. This idiom originates from the cabinet-making industry and refers to the practice of stripping back a piece of upholstered furniture to the brass tacks that hold the fabric in place. Once a furniture restorer got down to the brass tacks, they were looking at the basic frame of the furniture or dealing with just the bits that matter.

There is a competing theory that “Get down to the brass tacks” comes from the haberdashery trade, where, for centuries, brass tacks have been nailed along the counter to help with measuring the length of cloth accurately. When measuring cloth, a measurement down to a brass tack would be accurate as opposed to being guessed. It is a short leap from this notion to the idea of dealing with the actual facts and therefore just the key facts.

Then there is another theory that the term “brass tacks” is Cockney Rhyming Slang for “the facts.” (Cockney Rhyming Slang was invented by the London criminal fraternity to prevent eavesdropping from the police or informers. Other examples are “apples and pears (stairs)” and “trouble and strife (wife).” So pick your theory on this one.

Do you have any “Skeleton in the Cupboard”? Of course we all know this means to have hidden away a shameful or embarrassing secret. The term skeleton in the cupboard originates from the legalization of human body dissections. Grave diggers would present corpses to doctors to dissect and, because of the controversy; the doctors would hide away their secrets in a locked cupboard.

Have you ever “Worn Your Heart on Your Sleeve”? The term “wear your heart on your sleeve” means to express your emotions openly of course. This idiom originates from jousting tournaments by medieval knights, probably around the 14th century. Back then, it was customary for a knight to dedicate his performance to a specific lady. To show he was her “champion,” the knight would wear a personal item (usually a scarf) around his arm. This would be a public display of his romantic intentions towards the lady. This is why “sleeve” is chosen in the proverb. As for “heart,” the heart has long been a symbol of emotion, particularly love.

The term was popularized by William Shakespeare’s villainous character Iago (a senior officer in the Venetian army under the command of General Othello): “I will wear my heart upon my sleeve.” (From the tragedy “Othello”)

The origin of the saying “The Whole (Full) Nine Yards” is another disputed item. The ammunition belt for the Supermarine Spitfire was nine yards in length. Therefore, a pilot who stated that he had given the enemy aircraft the whole nine yards was claiming that he had fired every single round at his adversary. Going the whole/full nine yards came to mean doing as much as possible.

However some claim that the term “the whole nine yards” predates the Supermarine Spitfire. According to them, the term probably refers to the amount of cloth needed to make a traditional kilt. Of note, there is no evidence that “the whole/full nine yards” was in regular use before the 1940s according to research.

Our language is full of these idioms and sayings. After all there are hundreds of them. Unfortunately they are slowly going by the wayside. Many of the younger generations no longer use them, have heard of them, and don’t know what they mean. Perhaps there is also a communication gap between the generations. How many families have conversations anymore? What is evident, you hear fewer and fewer of these lost sayings in today’s conversations.