Oxford Dictionary of Idioms

Description

Did you know that 'flavour of the month' originated in a marketing campaign in American ice-cream parlours in the 1940s, when a particular flavour would be specially promoted for a month at a time? And did you know that 'off the cuff' refers to the rather messy practice of writing impromptu notes on one's shirt cuff before speaking in public? These and many more idioms are explained and put into context in this third edition of the Oxford Dictionary of English Idioms. The volume takes a fresh look at the idiomatic phrases and sayings that make English the rich and intriguing language that it is. This major new edition contains entries for over 6,000 idioms, including 700 entirely new entries, based on Oxford's language monitoring and the ongoing third edition of the Oxford English Dictionary. These include a range of recently established idioms such as 'the elephant in the corner', 'go figure', 'like a rat up a drainpipe', 'sex on legs', 'step up to the plate', 'too posh to Review: Very good - Verygood Review: Redewendungen sind sprachliche Bilder - Redewendungen sind sprachliche Bilder, die mehr als Worte ausdrücken und eine Weisheit auf den Punkt bringen, machen eine Unterredung in Englisch deutlich interessanter und bunter - Idioms are linguistic images that express more than words and get to the heart of a piece of wisdom, making a conversation in English much more interesting and colorful