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The Origins of 14 Commonly Used Phrases
Fly off the handle In the days before mass merchandising, poorly fastened axe heads would fly off while they were in use. The result was dangerous, hence why the phrase is used to describe risky...
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8 Words and Phrases You Use That Were Made Up by Presidents
“Iffy” Franklin D. Roosevelt invented this term in the 1930s to dismiss questions at various press conferences. Today, we use it to communicate the status of that month-old bread in the refrigerator....
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The One Word You Need Permission to Use in the United Kingdom
As any Anglophile knows, while the British royal family enjoys worldwide stardom and some seriously awesome perks, they don’t actually have much in the way of governing power. Yet it’s thanks to them...
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10 Animals with Hilariously Silly (but Real) Names
Zebroid You know how a zebra has stripes? Just imagine those black and white streaks across half the body of a regular equine creature. That’s what can happen when an animal is half-zebra and...
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Can You Guess the Most Common Letters in the English Language?
This paragraph is abnormal. It contains an oddity, a linguistic quirk that you will find in no popular book or journal or script in any library. Want a hint? A crucial bit of vocabulary is missing...
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9 Common Sayings That Are Actually Total Nonsense
“No use crying over spilled milk” Bad things are going to happen, and that’s the way the cookie crumbles according to one the most common sayings out there. But while dwelling on past losses can...
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10 Famous Phrases You Never Knew Were Trademarked
Let’s get ready to rumble! Famed wrestling and boxing announcer Michael Buffer must have known his catchphrase would take off when he started using it in the ‘80s. Since having it trademarked in 1992,...
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10 Fancy Words That Make You Sound Smarter
Toss: Rant or argument Try: Diatribe, meaning a nasty (and usually lengthy) tirade, whether spoken or written. Are you prone to diatribes when you’re upset? Because they are the perfect excuse to use...
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7 Simple Sentences That Drive English Speakers Crazy
Think you have a good grasp of English? Good. Let’s play a little game, then. Below are seven short sentences. Each one of them is grammatically correct. Can you figure out why, and what they’re trying...
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11 British Words and Sayings That Everyone in the World Should Know
Blokes While it is often attributed to the half-yank (his mom hailed from Brooklyn) that was Winston Churchill, it was actually Irish writer George Bernard Shaw who scribbled, “England and America are...
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11 Adjectives Everyone Should Use More Often
Ravishing Delightful; entrancing. Ravishing is one of those adjectives you would imagine that British men in movies based on Jane Austen novels used to describe women they see dancing at a ball and...
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10 Almost-Extinct Words You Should Start Using Right Away
Embrangle Definition: To embroil, confuse, or entangle. Usage: Mom’s plants dangled, I got embrangled, and now I have two sprained ankles. The post 10 Almost-Extinct Words You Should Start Using Right...
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20 Funny Phrases That Are Definitely Worth Memorizing
When your friend complains about Weight Watchers I’m on a seafood diet. I see food, and then I eat it. The post 20 Funny Phrases That Are Definitely Worth Memorizing appeared first on Reader's Digest.
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8 Funny Words You’d Think Were Completely Made Up—and What They Really Mean
Friendlily No, it’s not misspelled. It sounds wrong, but—trust us—it’s right! Do you know what it means? The definition: To do something in a friendly way. For example: “He friendlily questioned my...
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11 Words and Phrases That Used to Be Insults—but Are Now Compliments
“You know I’m bad, I’m bad, come on, you know” —Michael Jackson, Bad Around here, we love words, all kinds of words. But have you ever noticed how insults evolve to mean their opposite? Over time...
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11 Irregular Plural Words That Sound Completely Wrong—But Aren’t
The plural of “beef” is… The plural of beef is… beeves! This is true only for “beef” in the sense of “cow”; If you’re talking about arguments between whiny celebrities on Twitter, then those are beefs....
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12 Common Phrases You Never Knew Were From the Bible
“By the skin of my teeth” This is one of the many proverbs that owe their origin to the colorful language of the Book of Job. The tormented hero Job is complaining about his woes. He has become, he...
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10 Irritating Phrases You Should Never Write in Emails
“We need to …” Translation: XYZ needs to be done, but … I’m not actually going to come out and directly tell any of you to do it. The post 10 Irritating Phrases You Should Never Write in Emails...
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9 Everyday Idioms You’re Getting Wrong
What is an idiom? If you’re going to live in the United States or converse with English speakers, you’ll need to master our most commonly used idioms. What’s an idiom, you ask? Google.com’s handy...
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15 Redundant Words That Make You Sound Ignorant
Don’t say: “PIN number” “PIN number” translates to Personal Identification Number number. Using these 26 words makes you sound stupid. The post 15 Redundant Words That Make You Sound Ignorant appeared...
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