During a difficult time, there are go-to one-liners that can be comforting and elucidating like “everything happens for a ...

If you say, ''The cat's out of the bag'' instead of ''The secret is given away,'' you're using an idiom. The meaning of idiom is different from the actual meaning of the words used. ''An apple a day ...

Idioms and proverbs can be found in thousands of different cultures and languages across the world—and although there are often parallels between the meanings of these sayings, they usually can’t be ...

As translated by Asian language professors Larry and Qin Herzberg, the three proverbs quoted above mean the following, respectively: “People often cannot see their own shortcomings” “Anything can be ...

THE OXFORD DICTIONARY OF ENGLISH PROVERBS—William George Smith and Janet E. Heseltine—Oxford University Press ($6.50). To give subtillty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion . . . ...

There are a lot of common expressions in English — especially American English. And because food is such an important and diverse part of American culture, it’s no surprise that many foods have worked ...

You know more of the Bible than you think you do, I often remark to my students. Phrases such as “As a dog returns to its own vomit” or “spare the rod and spoil the child” are well-known in English as ...

Today, Sunday, December 21 marks the first day of winter, the beginning of the winter solstice, making this day the shortest day and the longest night. Today is considered the first ...