A Study of Idioms

2/3/2014

One of the best ways to grow our brain or increase intelligence is to work on our reading comprehension. Our language is filled with figurative speech and little nuances that can really through a reader off track if they are unfamiliar with the term or terms.

Here are five common idioms all related by horses ---this is for you Samantha Wood!

1. Don't look a gift horse in the mouth

2. From the horse's mouth

3. Change horses in midstream

4. Put the cart before the horse

5. A dark horse

Pick one idiom, write down the meaning, research the origin of the idiom, and use the idiom in a headline sentence. For example: Mrs. Bockius is a last minute pick for the USA Alpine Olympic Team. A true dark horse!

Helpful websites: idioms dictionary, Wiktionary, phrases

Due: Thursday, February 6th, 2014

27 Comments

*$*$*$ aka quincy

2/3/2014 08:02:25 am

From the horses' mouth comes from horse racing. When people who bet on horses wanted tips on which one would win they asked the stable boys and people who worked directly with the horse. What it means today is that if you hear something from the horse's mouth, it is the truth. I know that we are going on a surprise field trip because I heard it straight from the horse's mouth.

Kaia

2/3/2014 08:15:12 am

5. A dark horse

Meaning: Someone who emerges to prominence; being previously little known.

Origin: This was originally horse racing parlance. A dark horse was one that wasn't known to the punters as difficult to place odds on. Te figurative use later spread to other fields and has come to apply to anyone who comes under scrutiny but is previously little known.

Ex: "I did not expect her to do that! What a dark horse!" exclaimed Lucy

Thor Callaghan

2/3/2014 08:37:12 am

From the horse's mouth

It seems that some horse dealers would actually lie about how old their merchandise was, so the buyers would check the horse's teeth to determine their true age. Thus, the truth came "straight from the horses mouth.

My Dad told me we had to clean the garage and we knew we had to, because it came straight from the horse's mouth.

zAk

2/3/2014 08:37:42 am

meaning: Change horses in midstream ; to make major changes in something that's already started.
origin: From an 1864 by Abraham Lincoln, in reply of delegation from the National Union League who was urging him to be their presidential candidate. "An old Dutch farmer, who remarked to a companion once that is was best not to swap horses when crossing streams.
Ex: The house is half way done. We cant change architectures.

trevor

2/3/2014 09:26:52 am

"Don't look a gift horse in the mouth"
Meaning = Don't be ungrateful when you receive a gift.

Origin = As with most proverbs the origin is ancient and unknown. We have some clues with this one however. The phrase appears in print in English in 1546, as "don't look a given horse in the mouth", in John Heywood's A dialogue containing the number in effect of all the proverbs in the English tongue, where he gives it as:"No man ought to look a given hors in the mouth."

EX = On my birthday I reminded my self not to look the gift horses in the mouth

trevor s

2/3/2014 09:29:10 am

woops I meant trevor s

Reaghan

2/3/2014 10:33:54 am

To put the cart before the horse
Meaning: To have things in the wrong order; to have things confused and mixed up
Origin: This comes horse-drawn carriages, carts and wagons. If you put the cart in front of the horse, the horse cannot pull the cart.

Example: " Louise always puts the cart before the horse." sighed Luna.

Happy

2/3/2014 11:14:40 am

Put the cart in front of the horse.

Meaning: things in the wrong order
Ex: Jeff has put the cart before the horse
Origin: This has come from horse drawn carriages and if you put the cart before the horse it can't pull the thing because its behind it.

Happy

2/3/2014 11:19:45 am

I didn't see that Reaghan!!!! I put the same thing!!

Ex. no.2: Jeff put the cart before the horse by putting his skates on before his socks.

Hannah

2/3/2014 11:39:49 pm

Change horses midstream
Meaning: If people change horses midstream , they changed plan or leaders in the middle of some thing even if it was risky.
Originated : Any one who is going horse back riding would know not to change horses in the middle of a stream they would wait to get to the opposite bank but when they did change horses midstream they had to change plans.That is how change horses midstream became an idiom.
Extra: When the bakery quickly bake a cherry pie they realized half way that they didn't have enough cherries and they had to change horses midstream and bake an apple pie.

Cris

2/4/2014 12:27:30 am

(5) A dark horse

Meaning: A person who does not tell other people about their ideas or skills and who surprises people by doing something that they do not expect.

Origin: A dark horse was one that wasn't known to the punters as difficult to place odds on.The figurative use later spread to other fields and has come to apply to anyone who comes under scrutiny but is previously little known.

Example: I didn't know Linda had written a novel.She's a bit of a dark horse isn't she?

sparkle

2/4/2014 12:39:00 am

5. a dark horse
meaning:A person who does not tell other people about their ideas or skills and who surprises people by doing something that they do not expect.
Origin:A dark horse was one that wasn't Known to the punters as difficult to place odds on.The figurative use later spread to other fields and has come to apply to anyone who comes under scrutiny but is previously little known.

Samantha

2/4/2014 07:36:54 am

To put the cart before the horse.
Meaning- To do things in the wrong order.
Origin- It comes from the olden-day horse drawn wagons. If you put the wagon in front of the horses, they won't be able to pull it.
She put the wagon in front of the cart as she got dressed into her dance clothes.

2/4/2014 07:59:24 am

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.......dayan

2/4/2014 11:14:41 am

Change horses in midstream

meaning: to change plans when they are in the middle of something, even though it may be risky
example:We are halfway from winning and we cant change horses in midstream now!

Kaia

2/4/2014 11:31:16 am

New sentence example: "Talia is an artist! What a dark horse!" exclaimed Lucy.

Maile

2/4/2014 11:41:40 am

The mening of Dont look a gift in the moth means;Always be gratful when you resiva a gift.

lilah

2/4/2014 12:25:35 pm

from the horses mouth

its like saying i gust herd it around or from some one

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.........dayna

2/4/2014 12:41:45 pm

oops i forgot the origin

origin:from 1864 by Abraham Lincoln, in reply of delegation from the national union leage who was urging him to be their presidential candidate. 'An old dutch farmer who remarked to a companion once that it was best not to nswap horses when crossimg streams.

Reaghan

2/4/2014 01:15:30 pm

Example no. 2: "Louise! Don't eat your dessert before your dinner! Talk about putting the cart before the horse!" sighed Luna.

JAZZY

2/5/2014 09:26:40 am

At the last second a kindergartener got picked for the Olimpics on t.v.,when Emma saw it she said,"What a dark horse!"

9876 (aka jenna)

2/5/2014 09:59:58 am

Don't look a gift horse in the mouth means not to be ungrateful if someone gives you a gift.
Janet eagerly tore open her gift and saw that it was a bunch of fake flowers. Seeing her disappointed face, her father said, "don't look a gift horse in the mouth."

Kaia

2/5/2014 10:32:22 am

"Talia, a kindergartner, has her artwork displayed in the Pompidou, Louvre, and the Prado! What a dark horse!" exclaimed Lucy.

Trevor J. Lynn

2/5/2014 10:38:18 am

Don't change horses in midstream means to not change your position in the middle of the project. Abraham Lincoln said it first.

Example: Linda decided not to change horses in midstream and kept her same character in the play.

lilah

2/5/2014 10:58:09 am

maddie said "you got a new hat" to lilah and lilah said "how do you know" and maddie said it came from the horses mouth

Maile link

2/5/2014 11:39:50 am

Idiom: Do look a gift horse in the mouth
meaning: Always be grateful for gifts and things you receive
origin: mostly unknown,but it was used in English writing of the 1500's

connor

2/6/2014 12:05:33 pm

to put the cart before the horse means to have things in the wrong order.

A Study of Idioms

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