Is it "writing on the wall" or "handwriting on the wall"? When / how did it change in popular usage? [more inside]
posted by l33tpolicywonk on Oct 12, 2009 - 24 answers

What if I just want to walk it off? [more inside]
posted by pdb on Oct 5, 2009 - 12 answers

Got space-related idioms and phrases? "Cool your jets", "Jumpin' Jupiter!", "Heavens to Mergatroid!", "Over the moon!", "Off like a rocket!", "Out of this world"... [more inside]
posted by Muirwylde on Sep 16, 2009 - 44 answers

I'm looking for a Latin translation of an American colloquialism (knowing that such translations are at best approximations/don't work because the idiom never existed in Latin.) [more inside]
posted by usonian on Aug 12, 2009 - 5 answers

Hello! I am working on a cartoony illustration in which I am conveying physical human afflictions/parts of the anatomy that could have very literal visual translations. Some examples: a frog in your throat (temporary hoarseness because of phlegm or mucus). Tennis elbow (Lateral Epicondylitis), smoker's lung, kidney stones, funny bone (humerus). [more inside]
posted by geronimo's folly on Jul 29, 2009 - 22 answers

What does the insult "There are street named after her" mean? [more inside]
posted by srrh on Jul 26, 2009 - 9 answers

Wrapped up in British English filter, with [more inside]
posted by raztaj on Jun 16, 2009 - 24 answers

I am interested in phrases used during sex in various languages in dialects. [more inside]
posted by idiopath on Jan 9, 2009 - 29 answers

I'm looking for sayings/proverbs/idioms etc. that convey or state, of one refusing to be told what to do (or think, or say). "When I say jump, you'll ask: 'how high?'" -- the *opposite* of something like this. [more inside]
posted by raztaj on Jul 22, 2008 - 35 answers

Rhyming Idioms: I know a couple of 4-year-olds that were rather tickled when I asked them "What's new, tennis shoe" They begged me for more... [more inside]
posted by dogmom on Nov 12, 2007 - 101 answers

Do other non-U.S. countries/cultures use the phrase "It's a free country?" [more inside]
posted by ALongDecember on Oct 26, 2007 - 31 answers

Is the expression "Too many chiefs, not enough indians" culturally insensitive? If so, help me think of a clever way of expressing the same idea using the same "too many x, not enough y" format.
posted by pasici on Apr 18, 2007 - 33 answers

Does "I'm so hungry I could eat a horse" mean "I'm so hungry I could eat at much meat as is on a horse's bones (without getting full)" or "I'm so hungry I'd be willing to eat something as (presumably) unappetizing as horse meat"? [more inside]
posted by 23skidoo on Nov 19, 2006 - 26 answers

Idiom filter: Party Pants. I was watching Cien Mexicanos Dijeron (the Unavision version of Family Fued) with my girlfriend, when they got to the final stage, where two people try to answer quick questions with the most popular answers. We didn't manage to catch the first contestant's answer, nor the question, and the second contestant was clearly just spitballing with her answer of what we believe was "cepillo de dientes" (toothbrush). According to the the host, the most popular answer was "pantalones festivos." Festive pants? What the hell? [more inside]
posted by klangklangston on Nov 6, 2006 - 28 answers

What is your favorite and most colorful expression or phrase? Speaking about two idiots that we work with, my coworker said that they looked like 'Two monkey's f*cking a football', which led me to say 'They couldn't organize a piss-up in a brewery', and as a final touch, which made me laugh, my coworker states 'They're about as handy as a bear cub with a toothpick'. I would love to write a book or create a website with colorful phrases from around the world. What are some of your favorite idioms that you use or have overhead in the boardroom, bar, or barnyard?
posted by jasondigitized on Oct 31, 2006 - 192 answers

Help me come up with a list of cool English-language idioms to teach my teenage foster daughter from Taiwan. Slightly [more inside]
posted by ClaudiaCenter on Sep 14, 2006 - 19 answers

whats the origin of the phrase 'you dont have to be a rocket scientist..? [more inside]
posted by petsounds on Jul 5, 2006 - 15 answers

IdiomaticFilter...: [more inside]
posted by evariste on Mar 22, 2006 - 47 answers

Please help me find a print depicting idioms and slang. [more inside]
posted by MrMulan on Dec 13, 2005 - 2 answers

Language/idioms/etc: I'm wondering about the source of the expression "give it the old college try". Google offers tons of examples, but nothing concrete.
posted by cmyr on Jan 29, 2005 - 8 answers

"For Pete's sake!" Who's Pete?
posted by rorycberger on Jul 3, 2004 - 10 answers

How much stuff can the average person shake a stick at? [more inside]
posted by badstone on Jan 20, 2004 - 14 answers