Idiom

Idiom is a noun that refers to an expression that is peculiar to itself grammatically or cannot be understood from the individual meaning of it's elements.  Got it?

We use idiom's every day and it is amazing how they become so ingrained in our culture and vernacular that we immediately understand the meaning.  Here are several examples:

• A blessing in disguise - something good that isn't recognized at first
• A penny saved is a penny earned - by not spending money, you are saving money
• A piece of cake - a task that can be accomplished easily
• Bend over backwards - willing to do anything to help out
• Break a leg - a superstitious way to say "good luck"
• Haste makes waste - doing things quickly results in a poor outcome
• Hit the sack - go to bed or go to sleep
• When pigs fly - something that will never happen
• Mums the word - to keep quiet
• Raining cats and dogs - a very loud and noisy rain storm

I heard one at work the other day that I had not heard before - warming the frog.   Do you know what it means?  I heard that it means socializing an idea with decision makers in a business environment before a presentation is made in order to get the desired decision.  Funny! 

What's your favorite idiom?   

"The great enemy of clear language is insincerity.  When there is a gap between one's real and one's declared aims, one turns, as it were, instinctively to long words and exhausted idioms, like a cuttlefish squirting out ink."  George Orwell