1.

BUTTER SOMEONE UP
Meaning: to praise or flatter someone, usually to gain a favor
Origin: A customary religious act in ancient India included throwing butter balls at the statues of gods
to seek good fortune and their favor.

2. HANDS DOWN
Meaning: without a lot of effort; by far
Origin: Winning “hands down” once referred to 19th-century horseracing, when a jockey could remove
his hands from the reins and still win the race because he was so far ahead.

3. BARKING UP THE WRONG TREE

Meaning: pursuing a misguided course of action
Origin: Likely referring to hunting, this saying explains when a dog would literally bark at the bottom of
the wrong tree after the prey in question moved to the next branch.

4. FLYING OFF THE HANDLE

Meaning: suddenly becoming enraged
Origin: This one is said to come from poorly made axes of the 1800s that would literally detach from
the handle. Yikes!

5. COST AN ARM AND A LEG

Meaning: extremely expensive
Origin: The story goes that this phrase originated from 18th-century paintings, as famous people like
George Washington would have their portraits done without certain limbs showing. Having limbs
showing is said to have cost more.

6. BITE THE BULLET

Meaning: to perform a painful task or endure an unpleasant situation
Origin: In the 1800s, patients would literally bite on a bullet to cope with the pain of having surgery
before anesthesia was common.

7. DON’T THROW THE BABY OUT WITH THE BATH WATER

Meaning: look for avoidable errors so you don’t remove something good with the bad
Origin: This idiom allegedly comes from a time when the household bathed in the same water; first, the
lord would bathe, then the men, the lady, the women, the children, and the babies last. The bath water
is said to have been so dirty that there was a risk of throwing the baby out with the water once everyone
was done bathing!
8. JUMP THE SHARK
Meaning: the moment when a form of entertainment reaches a decline in quality by including gimmicks
to maintain interest.
Origin: In the show Happy Days, the character Fonzie literally jumps over a shark while water skiing;
afterward, radio personality Jon Hein popularized the phrase “jump the shark” to describe the decline
of the show.

9. ARMED TO THE TEETH

Meaning: to be extremely well equipped
Origin: The idea behind being “armed to the teeth” is that the weapon wielder would carry the maximum
number of weapons, so many that he or she would be forced to carry some between his or her teeth.

10. GET ONE’S GOAT

Meaning: to irritate or annoy someone
Origin: This one also comes from horseracing. Jockeys placed goats in the stables with their horses as
this was said to relax the horses. However, competitors would remove the goats of their rivals to spook
their competitors’ horses, hoping they would consequently lose the race.

11. DISH FIT FOR THE GODS

Meaning: a very scrumptious or delectable meal
Origin: We can thank Shakespeare for this expression (found in Julius Caesar), but we can also thank
him for “foaming at the mouth” (Julius Caesar), “hot blooded” (The Merry Wives of Windsor), “in stitches”
(Twelfth Night), “green-eyed monster” (Othello), “wearing your heart on your sleeve” (Othello), and “one
fell swoop” (Macbeth).

12. IN THE AIR

Meaning: something like a mood that everybody can feel
Origin: We use this idiom to show that there is a collective feeling or mood. It is not a physical thing that
you can see. It's more of a sense of something changing or happening. It is not always a good feeling
either, it can be a negative feeling like if the home team loses a match and the crowd is upset.

13. DRAIN THE SWAMP

Meaning: rooting out the practice of corruption
Origin: The origin is based on the practice of draining swamps as a way to lower mosquito-breeding
and thereby fight malaria. One of the earliest uses of the idiom "drain the swamp" has been recorded
as made by Winfield R. Gaylord, a politician. Another noted use of this phrase has been made in a
book titled Broadsides by Victor L. Berger, yet another American politician. Clearly, given its
metaphorical sense, the phrase has been used by and large by American politicians more than
anywhere else, especially for the last few decades.
14. HAVE NO BUSINESS
Meaning; to insert yourself in a situation that has nothing to do with you
Origin: The word business dates back to before 950 BCE. The meaning is related to a person's trade.
The occupation that they hold that allows them to earn a living. In this context, it was first used in the
1300s. In the 1700s the meaning was expanded to include "matters that occupy one's time." This is
probably the meaning that is closely related to the idiom. It is not known where or when the idiom
originated.

15. GET A LIFE

Meaning: to stop wasting a lot of time in useless or boring or trivial works
Origin: The true origin of the phrase 'Get a life' is unknown. However, according to the records, the
phrase came to use only in the late 20th century. The first noted usage of the phrase 'get a life' was in
an article in 1983 Washington post, which went as quoted: "Gross me out, I mean, Valley Girl was, like,
ohmigod, it was last year, fer sure! I mean, get a life! Say what?"

16. COLD SWEAT

Meaning: the condition where extreme fear or nervousness causes a person to feel a chill along with
moist skin or sweat, a situation when a person is extremely afraid, nervous or anxious
Origin: The actual origin of the phrase 'cold sweat' is unknown. That is probably because it might be in
use in different places as a common phrase. There is ambiguity about the date of first records of 'cold
sweat' as an idiom too. It happens to be somewhere between late 1500 and 1700 AD. We can guess
that the phrase came into use as people started noticing the phenomena of feeling chills and sweating
while terrified or are extremely anxious.

17. KICK THE CAN DOWN THE ROAD

Meaning: to avoid dealing with a problem
Origin: The phrase originally refers to a game that was played during the Great Depression. Children
didn't have access to many games and had to improvise and make their own. The game was much the
same as hide and seek. Except, if someone managed to allude being caught and "kicked the can"
everyone who had been caught was free to go.
It is difficult to connect this game with the idea of postponing an event until it becomes someone else's
problem. This is how the phrase is most often used in political circles. It is more plausible to believe
that it relates to kicking a discarded can out of sight so that picking it up becomes someone else's
problem.
The phrase has only been used since the late 1980s and there is no definitive origin.

18. HEART TOUCHING also, heart-warming

Meaning: an event that makes you feel happy, something that moves you on an emotional level, to
touch someone's heart means to make them feel empathy or sympathy
Origin: The phrase that is most often used is heart-warming, instead of heart touching. It seems as if
heart touching is most often used in Nepal, Pakistan and India. Even though the phrase is not exactly
the same, the meaning is. It is not clear exactly how the phrase was first used. Most sources claim that
the adjective can be traced back to the 1620s.
It seems as if the first publication of the phrase can only be traced back to the 1890s. Even though the
spelling may differ (some countries write it as one word, others as two) the meaning remains the same.
It is a feeling that makes it feel as if your heart is being touched. This is also why people often say the
experience touched their heart.

19. BUY THE FARM

Meaning: to die or pass away
Origin: This idiomatic phrase is probably related to a British slang "buy it." Also, this phrase is believed
to come from the military. Many servicemen wanted to save up, go home and buy a farm after their
services are over but, they automatically received a small portion of the land due to their sudden death,
which is the grave. Additionally, insurance and military pension were provided to these soldiers so that
their surviving families can benefit from them or buy a place to live in.

20. A FISH OUT OF WATER

Meaning: being uncomfortable and restless
Origin: The idiom fish out of water alludes to someone exposed to an unknown situation. This
expression makes reference to the fact that fish cannot survive on dry land for a long time which is out
their habitat. The earliest reference to be traced is in Samuel Purchas's Pilgrimage in 1613 as: "The
Arabians out of the desarts are as Fishes out of the water"

21. GREEN WITH ENVY

Meaning: extremely jealous of another person, to be unhappy about something
Origin: Long ago, the Greek associated a green complexion with sickness, fear, jealousy, and
overproduction of bile in stomach, which gives us a clear image of the origination of the idiom "green
with envy." It is believed that William Shakespeare made this association popular in Othello as:
"Beware, my lord, of jealousy; it is the green-eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on ..."

22. APPLES TO ORANGES

Meaning: the items that cannot be compared with each other
Origin: It is said that the idiom "apples to oranges" first known as "apples to oysters" in John Ray's
proverb collection of 1670. The original expression referred to oysters on behalf of oranges as
something which can never be compared with the apples. Moreover, Spanish use it as "apples to pears"
while the French use is as "apples to oranges." The exact form of the idiom "apples to oranges" is being
used since about 1889.
23. AGAINST THE GRAIN
Meaning: a difficult path to be followed, something which is contradicting our wishes
Origin: This phrase came into existence long before Shakespeare started to write. One source suggests
that it was used by a popular dramatist, very often. In 1607, this phrase was used by Shakespeare, in
Coriolanus. This phrase makes an image of the grain in wood, in our minds. If it is designed in the
wrong way, it will tear up rather than working smoothly. However, another theory says that it is related
to carpentry. The lines which are present on the wood are called grains. To make it look smoother, the
tool should be used "along" not "against" it.

24. ACT OF GOD

Meaning: an occurrence of out of control natural forces in action, an act legitimately acknowledged as
being outside of any human control
Origin: This expression was first used to explain a reference made in the bible in Mathew 5:45:- "for He
maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust".
The "He" in the above referring to God who in his omniscience can cause anything to happen. The
phrase then later appeared in the 13th century in various religious texts. In the mid-19th century, it
started being used in insurance and legal circles when discussing acts that are not the responsibility of
any corporation or individual and it first appeared in "Dictionary of Trade Products" written by Peter
Simmonds - "Force-majeure, a French commercial term for unavoidable accidents in the transport of
goods, from superior force, the act of God, etc."
Then in July of 1803, the times used the expression to describe a court ruling by Lord Ellenborough on
treason.

25. A BURNT CHILD DREADS THE FIRE

Meaning: everyone avoids repeating a hurting experience again in life; when you are once beaten by
someone or something, you always avoid getting intact with that thing again; a person becomes more
cautious when he or she gets hurt with something and secure him for the next time
Origin: The idiom originated back in early 1320 and is much similar to many other idioms originated
from France. The story behind this idiom is that if once you have experienced any difficulty and loss in
life, you always try to avoid that situation again in life. Some French idioms with the same meaning are,
'a scalded dog fears cold water'.