Idioms which use nation names
‘Idiom’ can be defined as an expression which cannot be understood from its parts.
What? 😳 That’s terrible! How can anyone learn an expression when it cannot be understood by analysing it?
Well, the answer is, “by practice”.
Here is an example of an idiom. What do you think it means?
“call it a day”
First of all, call what a day? What is the ‘it’? Second, how do you call a thing, “a day”? Should you point to an object and say, “a day”? Do you simply rename something as “a day”? It is all very confusing.
Idioms—either you know them, or you don’t
To ‘call it a day’ means to end what you’re working on.
Let’s suppose that you and a friend have been studying hard for a long time, and now you’re tired. You could turn to your friend and say, “Let’s call it a day.” This would tell your friend that you wish to stop studying.
Again, let’s imagine that you and a friend have been waiting for someone for a long time. Your friend might say to you, “I don’t think he’s coming after all. Let’ call it a day and go home.”
Now, the point I’m trying to make is that it is impossible to know what let’s call it a day means just by reading it. If I hadn’t explained it, you’d not be able to guess its meaning. We call all expressions such as this, ‘idioms’.
Idioms which use nation names
Now that you know what an idiom is, let’s look at some examples of idioms which use nationalities.
Mexican standoff
A rather nasty situation when opposing forces neither can win, nor withdraw from a conflict. I strongly suggest that you never allow yourself to get into a Mexican standoff.
Dutch courage
Courage gained under the influence of alcohol.
If you see a drunk small man take on a huge sober one, you may rest assured that the smaller man has taken Dutch courage.
It’s all Greek to me
When something is really difficult to understand, we say, “That’s all Greek to me.” To be fair, I find the German philosophers far more difficult to understand the ancient Greeks, so perhaps the expression should be, “It’s all German philosophy” to me.
Pardon my French
This is a request to excuse the use of inappropriate language. I find, however, that it is best to not use inappropriate language in the first place. Many people, it turns out, will not pardon your French, so mind your tongue always.
Indian summer
An Indian summer is when it is unexpectedly warm in a cold season. The idiom originated in the United States of America, but I’ve heard it used here in the UK. I don’t think the Americans mind.
Young Turk
A young person who is a passionate member of a political group that supports radical ideas. Generally speaking, we are all young Turks when we are young. Our minds are wide open, and our waists are narrow. Then we grow older—and our minds are narrow and our waists are wide. At least, that’s what has happened to me.
Not for all the tea in China
Apparently, there is a lot of tea in China—and I mean, a lot. So if someone offers you “all the tea in China” and you say, “No”, you’ve just turned down a fortune. Saying, “not for all the tea in China” is saying, “I don’t care how much you are offering me, I won’t do it.” It’s an honourable attitude, but it won’t make you rich.
Go Dutch
To share expenses incurred by a group evenly. If there are two (2) people in the group and they face a charge of £10, by ‘going Dutch’, each will pay £5. If there are five (5) people in the group and they face a charge of £100, by going Dutch, each person will pay…? (See, there’s no getting away from maths, so you might as well embrace it. 😉)
French Leave
To take French leave is to go away from a place, a group of people, or an event, without first telling anyone. When someone takes French leave, other people are unaware that he has left.
Stretching the point a little, as Rome is not a country, but still:
~ Every road leads to Rome
When faced with a choice of different methods, any one will do. (Since all roads lead to Rome—i.e. a common destination—it doesn’t matter which road is taken.) Of course, in real life it matters quite often, because some roads go through pleasant, beautiful countrysides and others through dangerous and ugly urban areas.
~ Rome was not built in a day
This is a proverb which imparts (gives) the advice to be patient. It means that great things (like Rome, for instance) are not built in a short time. I remind myself of this idiom whenever I begin a new blog post. Sigh.
~ When in Rome
~ When in Rome, do as the Romans do
Properly, the former phrase should be written with an ellipsis (…) like this: “When in Rome…”, because it is a shortening of the longer phrase.
This is another idiom which imparts advice, this time, it admonishes (warns) the listener to behave like his guests to avoid giving offence. In other words, it is not just advice for how to behave when travelling abroad; it is also advice for how to behave whenever you are in a group of strangers. It is good advice, I think, unless you find yourself in the company of lemmings. 😜
Hey there,
I love the topic you decided on for your page! I was just talking about this yesterday! I think the British when it comes to English bests Americans when it comes to slang words and names for things, but I think Americans take things a step further when it comes to idioms. Living in Asia, I have noticed that I have idioms for almost everything. And I not only confuse my Asian friends, but I confuse my British friends as well. I tend to say things like, “This ‘aint my first rodeo.” or “I’ll be your huckleberry” which is a reference to a movie. or “This is going nowhere fast.”
Maybe this isn’t an idiom example, but there’s a famous athlete you might not have heard about. He’s from the 50’s New York Yankees, his name is Yogi Bera. There was even a book all about his idioms. He was king. He’d say things like, “It gets late early out here.” or “Nobody comes here anymore, it’s always crowded.” or maybe those aren’t idioms? or when he would tell his players to, “Leave your brain on the bench” he coined the classic phrase, “It feels like Déjà vu all over again. One of my favorite quotes by him is, “You can observe a lot by watching.”
Hi.
I believe that many of the Yogi Bera (yes, I’ve heard of him, he’s an American cultural icon) examples you give are oxymorons, rather than idioms. Along with onomatopoeia, these are the three figurative aspects of English.
Idioms, as I mention in the article, are expressions, the meanings of which no one can fathom by inspecting the words in them. For example, ‘green thumb’. Either you know what it means, or you don’t.
Oxymorons are word combinations which, in their entirety, contradict one another. For instance, your lovely example: “It gets late early out here”. My favourite maker of oxymorons was Samuel Goldwyn, of MGM fame, who said things like, “In two words, impossible”, and “Gentlemen, include me out”. He was amazing.
Thank you for visiting, hope you return soon.
Regards,
Tayo
Here is another one, take French leave. If you leave an official or social event without telling anyone, you take French leave. Do you know where I have to look for many more of these idioms? And do you know why the Dutch expressions always are a bit negative? One thing I know, as a Dutchman, is that the English did not like the Dutch very much after their wars at sea. In one of these five wars the Dutch even sailed the Thames! I guess all these idioms will something about the character of the nationalities mentioned. Or are they just emotions?
Hi Jerry.
It has taken me a while to find a suitable image for ‘taking French leave’, but I’ve included the idiom now.
Finding these idioms is best achieved with the help of your favourite search engine. There are far too many to be listed in a blog, but there are several book-length PDFs, some of which will be bound to satisfy your curiosity. If push comes to shove, you may have to resort to an online retailer like Amazon.
You are quite right about the wealth of unflattering English idioms which refer to the Dutch. I suppose that deep down the English have never forgiven the Dutch for Wiliam of Orange. It is certain that the Irish will look unfavorably upon the victor at the Battle of the Boigne.
Anyway, these are too-serious a matter for what is meant to be a light-hearted article, so let’s be Dutch cousins (see? not all bad) and meet again another day.
Regards,
Tayo
Hello Tayo, it’s is true, if you don’t know it, you don’t know it. They is no guessing what an idiom can mean if you really have to idea what it truly is and I feel very lucky to have learned some new idioms here on your site. I really like the “Dutch courage” idiomatic expression. I could understand very well the reason for it. Cheers to knowledge
Hello Justin.
Yes, without context, it is next-to-impossible to work out the meaning of idioms.
There are lots of English language idioms which use the Dutch. Unfortunately, nearly all of them are unflattering. I think it goes back to William the Conqueror’s conquest of England. Forgive and forget is not normally a part of being defeated in war! 😉
Thank you for visiting. I hope you come back again soon.
Regards,
Tayo
Thank you sir,
Because of you now I learned new expression.
Hello, SÃ kshi.
Glad you made it to the web page. I’m also pleased that you have found the article useful.
See you in class! 🙂