ARE YOU A STORMY PETREL?

Storm petrels are small sea birds, and according to seasoned sailors, they generally make an appearance just before the arrival of a storm. The birds are seen as an omen of the troubled times ahead. Therefore, when you refer to someone as a stormy petrel, you mean the individual is a troublemaker; someone whose arrival […]

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ARE we CANNON FODDER?

Fodder comes from the Old English ‘fodder’ meaning ‘food’. In the past, it was mainly used to refer to the kind of things that cows and other livestock generally ate – hay, straw, etc. Common sense suggests that the expression cannon fodder should mean ‘food for the cannon’. During a battle, what is it that […]

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WHERE IS CLOUD NINE?

When someone says they are on cloud nine, they are implying they are on top of the world. They are extremely happy with the way things are, and as far as they are concerned, God is in his heaven and all is right with the world! The idiom has more or less the same meaning […]

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PRETTY PICKLE?

The idiom in a pickle is not heard often nowadays, for many consider it to be rather old fashioned. When you say you are in a pickle, what you are suggesting is that you are in big trouble; as there is no immediate solution to the problem, you will continue to be in the unpleasant […]

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