Idioms

=We've started talking about idioms, so here are some of the ones we've discovered and their origins. =

Origin: in the 1700s and 1800s, people thought that when a person was jealous, their liver produced more bile, and that would make a person's skin have a green tint to it.
 * //Green with envy//** - to be really jealous of someone. [[image:envy.jpg width="93" height="93"]]

Origin: This most likely came from the world of sports, specifically bowling. Early bowling pins were nicknamed "ducks", and before there were automatic pin-setters, people would have to put the "ducks in a row".
 * //Get your ducks in a row//** - To get yourself organized and ready for upcoming tasks. [[image:ducks.jpg width="270" height="61"]]

//**Heart in your mouth**// - To be extremely frightened or scared. Origin: This idiom comes from a line in Homer's (he's a poet) epic poem the Iliad. Andromache, the wife of Hektor, is waiting anxiously for news of her husband and says, ". . . my own heart beats a though it would come into my mouth and my limbs refuse to carry me . . . "

//**In the pink**// - Feeling good. Origin: In traditional English fox hunting, hunters wore scarlet-colored jackets called //pinks//. If you are wearing your pinks, you are obviously feeling good and ready to go hunting.

//**Once in a blue moon** -// Something that happens or is done. Origin: Every two and a half to three years, there are two full moons in a single month. This second full moon is often called a "blue moon". Why blue? No one knows for sure.

//**Pie in the sky** -// Unrealistic, probably not possible. Origin: in the 1900s one definition of the word //pie// was "goodworking conditions and wages." The term "pie in the sky" can from a labor union's song. The words were: "Work and pray, love on hay, you'll get pie in the sky when you die."

Origin: Some say this expression comes from the fact that Dr. Samuel Mudd gave medical attention to John Wilkes Booth - the man who shot Abraham Lincoln. Howerver, in England in the 1700s, the word //mud// meant //fool// or //stupid person//, so the idiom may come from that.
 * //Name is mud//** - Refers to someone who is in trouble or a disgrace.[[image:mud.jpg width="147" height="165"]]

Origin: This idiom comes from the fact that when a clam is or senses danger, it can tightly close its shell.
 * //Clam up//** - To become silent; refuse to talk. [[image:clam_up.jpg width="138" height="173"]]

Origin: In the 15th century, the word //umbles// referred to the heart, liver, and other parts of animals, especially deer. Umbles were often used as ingredients for "pot pies". But this type of pie wasn't the best food to serve, and was often given with an apology. "I'm sorry, sire, I only have umble pie to serve you."
 * //Eat humble pie//** - To suffer humiliation. [[image:humble_pie.jpg width="181" height="97"]]