1. ENGLISH IDIOMS:
BLUE MOONS, EYES
AND APPLES, AND HOT
POTATOES
A presentation by Scribendi.com

2. English is a confusing language to learn. Thorough, thought, thou, and through? Silent Bs and
Ps? Everything about the word “fuchsia”? Things get even more complicated when one starts
dealing with colloquial quips, antiquated expressions, and—trickiest of all—idioms.
If you don't have at least a next-to-fluent knowledge of the language—as well as some idea of the
historical or philosophical context of these cute little combinations of words—idioms can seem
utterly nonsensical. Why is our fight last week over whether to have pad thai or hot wings for
dinner water under the bridge? Why do people laugh at cut the cheese but nod appreciatively at
cut the mustard? To bite the bullet and chew the fat just seem like terrible ideas. Even native
English speakers may not know from where these phrases originate or why we use them as we
do.
So, how many of the following idioms do you recognize?

3. Answer: Blessing in disguise—something that seems like
a misfortune at first but turns out to be a good thing
Example: Stanley was angry that his friends didn't save
him any pizza, but it turned out to be a blessing in
disguise when they all got explosively sick and were
known from then on as the Puke Brigade.
Did You Know? Televangelist Pat Robertson called the
devastating 2010 earthquake in Haiti a blessing in
disguise, claiming that the disaster was divine punishment
for a pact made with the devil in 1804.

4. Answer: Heard it through the grapevine—news or
information obtained through gossip
Example: "I heard it through the grapevine that a goat
had something to do with Jim Bob and Daisy's breakup."
Did You Know? This phrase originates from when
important information was passed via telegraphs. The
strung telegraph wires resembled grapevines.

5. Answer: The benefit of the doubt—choosing to believe
something good about someone when the situation could
really go either way
Example: Virginia thought it was a bad sign that Omar
had been late for their fourth date in a row, but he was just
so darn attractive she decided to give him the benefit of
the doubt.
Did You Know? U.S. president Barak Obama asked for
the benefit of the doubt from Germany when the United
States was faced with accusations of unethical spying and
surveillance. That's a pretty big favor, Mr. President!

6. Answer: Once in a blue moon—very rarely/almost never
Example: How often does a single woman shave her
legs? Once in a blue moon.
Did You Know? An actual blue moon is the second full
moon to occur in a calendar month. The phenomenon, far
from being an "almost never" experience, happens every
32 months, but chances are it won't be blue—or made of
cheese. Now, why isn't there an expression about a blue-
cheese moon?

7. Answer: Hot potato—something generally acknowledged
to be so disagreeable, sensitive, or controversial that
people want nothing to do with it
Example: The town in the movie Footloose was left so
devastated after the accidental death of a group of hip-
swaying, cassette tape-loving, tail feather-shaking party
boys that rock 'n' roll music became a hot potato.
Did You Know? In 2009, "The Song of the Grass-Mud
Horse," a cutesy YouTube music video about llamas,
became a political hot potato for using wordplay to mask
foul language in protest of mainland China's censorship
laws.

8. Answer: Fight fire with fire—to fight back against an
attacker utilizing the same methods used in the initial
attack, often to the detriment of both parties
Example: Nothing proves you can't fight fire with fire
better than an Internet comments page.
Did You Know? This idiom was first recorded in
Shakespeare's Coriolanus.

9. Answer: Apple of my eye—the object of my affection
Example: Rosaline was the apple of Romeo's eye
forever and ever and ever—until, like, Romeo saw Juliet.
Related idiom: chopped liver.
Did You Know? This idiom originates from a Hebrew
expression that actually means "The Little Man of the
Eye" (meaning the reflection one sees of oneself in
another person's pupils). In one biblical passage,
however, the phrase uses the word bava, which can be
translated (among other interpretations) as “apple.”

10. Answer: Cup of joe—a cup of coffee
Example: "I can't even think about looking at a
spreadsheet until I've had at least one cup of joe."
Did You Know? The best guess so far as to the origin of
this phrase is that joe is just a shortened version of
jamoke, the early-1900s slang term for coffee. But this
theory's weaker than a single-shot café Americano, if you
ask me.

11. Answer: Chip on your shoulder—to hold onto a grudge or
grievance
Example: He still has a chip on his shoulder about not
being accepted to Harvard despite Daddy's generous and
timely donation.
Did You Know? This idiom actually comes from a
nineteenth-century American practice of literally putting a
chip of wood on one's shoulder as a challenge for
someone to knock it off and initiate a fistfight. Today, the
easiest way to start a fight is to declare yourself a feminist
on the Internet.

12. Answer: Beat around the bush—to speak evasively in
order to avoid getting to the point or answering a question
Example: "Stop beating around the bush, and tell me if
you ate my damn sandwich!"
Did You Know? It is universally acknowledged that it is
never acceptable to beat around the bush when
answering the question, "Does this make me look fat?"
The answer must always and immediately be "No."
All images courtesy of Scribendi.com.