Weather Expressions by J. S. Marlo

 

J. S. Marlo's BWL Books

I’m in Calgary visiting my son. It’s 38C (100F) outside and it’s not 3pm yet. It wouldn’t have mattered if I stayed home in Northern Alberta since the heat wave is pretty much cooking the entire province to a crisp.

 

I’m not a summer person and I don’t function well in the heat. I would pick -40C (-40F) over +40C (+104F) any day of the year. I stumbled onto that quote yesterday: “I better get my act together…I couldn’t take hell’s heat”. I’m not sure I want to get my act together, but I don’t doubt this Canadian girl would never survive hell’s heat LOLOL

 

Since I have a few hours to kill until I must take granddoggie for a quick walk, I decided to browse the Internet for weather expressions and their meanings. Here’s what I found...

 

-       If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen

Meaning: If you can't cope with or handle the pressure in a given situation, you should remove yourself from that​ situation

 

-       To turn the heat on someone

Meaning: To pressure someone

 

-       In the heat of the moment

Meaning: At a moment when one is overly angry, excited, or eager, without pausing to consider the consequences

 

-       A breath of fresh air

Meaning: A relief in the form of a person or a situation

 

-       A ray of sunshine

Meaning: Someone or something that brings happiness

 

-       To be on cloud nine

Meaning: To be very happy

 

-       To have your head in the clouds

Meaning: To not know what is going on around you

 

-       To chase rainbows

Meaning: To pursue unrealistic goals

 

-       When it rains, it pours

Meaning: When one thing goes wrong, some other things will also go wrong

 

-       To take a rain check

Meaning: To decline an invitation that you may accept another time

 

-       To rain cats and dogs

Meaning: To rain heavily

 

-       To spit in the wind

Meaning: To waste time on something futile

 

-       To steal someone’s thunder

Meaning: To upstage someone

 

-       To feel under the weather

Meaning: To feel unwell or ill

 

-       To weather a storm

Meaning: To survive a dangerous or difficult time

 

-       A storm in a teacup

Meaning: Unnecessary anger or worry about an unimportant or trivial matter

 

-       To knock someone cold

Meaning: To strike someone so hard that they lose consciousness.

 

-       Revenge is a dish best served cold

Meaning: Revenge that takes place far in the future, after the offending party has forgotten how they wronged someone, is much more satisfying.

 

-       To be snowed under

Meaning: To be extremely busy with work or things to do

 

-       A snowbird

Meaning: Someone who leaves their home to stay in a warmer climate during the winter months.

 

-       In the dead of winter

Meaning: The coldest, darkest part of winter

 

I like winter and I’m French Canadian, so my favorite weather is actually a French expression: Faire un froid de canard. It means “to be bitterly cold”, but it literally translates to “to be a duck’s cold”.

When it’s really, really cold, we say “Il fait un froid de canard” (“It’s duck’s cold”). Why? Because the best duck hunting days are in the winter, when hunters have to keep still for long periods in freezing cold weather in order to allow their prey to get close enough to be shot. Thus, that bitter cold that seeps into the bones is known as un froid de canard.

 

Side note: I didn’t know the origin of the saying until I looked it up ten minutes ago, but my father loved saying it.

 

My brain is fried and I have a doggie to take outside, so that will be all for today.

 

Stay cool and stay safe! Happy reading!

JS 

 

 

 

J. S. Marlo's Website

 

Romantic expressions - part 2 by J. S. Marlo

J. S. Marlo BWL Author Page

Like I said last month, I'm fascinated by expressions & idioms. In my October blog, I covered some criminal expressions, but since I write romantic suspense, not just suspense, there's also a romantic side to my stories.
So, here are some expressions about love and romance, their meanings, and their origins:

- To fall head over heels in love (late 1700s): to fall deeply and completely in love. "Heels over head" used to describe a bad fall, but then in the late 1700s,  it changed to "Head over heels" to describe falling in love.

- Sugar Daddy (early 1900s): a rich older man who lavishes gifts on a young woman in return for her company or sexual favors. In 1908, Adolph Spreckels, heir to the Spreckel's sugar fortune, married a woman who was 24 years younger than him. She called him "Sugar Daddy".


-  On the rocks (late 1800s): a relationship experiencing problems. It was originally used for ships which ran aground on rocks and broke apart. Since the late 1800s it has been used figuratively for other disasters or problems.

- The course of true love never did run smooth (1598): people in love often have to overcome difficulties in order to be with each other. It was first used by William Shakespeare in his play "A Midsummer Night's Dream".
 

people in love often have to overcome difficulties in order to be with each other (Theidioms.com)

- No love lost (1800s): there is a mutual dislike between two people. It originated in the 1500s where it meant extreme love or extreme hate. Then in 1800s, it began to signify hate exclusively.

- Labour of love: a task done for the pleasure of doing it, not for gains or reward. It originated in the Bible.

- Pop the question (1826): ask someone to marry you. It has been used since 1725, but with the meaning of asking something important. The specific sense of proposing marriage has been used since 1826.

- Kiss and make up (mid 1900s): become reconciled. In the mid 1900s, it replaced the expression "kiss and be friends", which had been used since the 1400s.
 




- Wear one's heart on one's sleeve (1604): make one's feelings apparent. It was first recorded in Shakespeare's play "Othello".

- Marry in haste, repent at leisure (1693):  those who rush impetuously into marriage may spend a long time regretting it. First originated in print in "The Old Batchelour" by William Congreve.

 

- Get hitched (1600s): get married. It was initially used in 1500s to describe tying horses to wagons. Then in 1600s, it started being used to describe two people getting married.



- Cupboard love (mid 1700s): affection given in order to gain a reward. It derives from the way a cat shows superficial love for a person who feeds it, or for the cupboard that holds its food.

- Hell has no fury like a woman scorned (1697): a betrayed woman is more furious than anything  hell can devise. The English playwright and poet William Congreve first wrote these words in his play "The Mourning Bride".

Time to go back to writing, and maybe use one or two expressions.

Happy reading!

JS

 J. S. Marlo's Website

The confusing world of idioms by J. S. Marlo

J. S. Marlo BWL Author Page

I love idioms. They can be colorful, sarcastic, and more often than none, impossible to translate in a different language. 

The first idiom I encountered in English was When pigs fly. I was in my twenties slowly learning English when one of my friends said it. I understood the when, the pigs, and the fly, but I couldn't figure out how or when she switched the conversation to pink farm animals. She explained, but then she was also surprised we didn't use that expression to say never in French. I told her we do have a similar expression, which also features a farm animal. In French we say Quand les poules auront des dents, which translate to When hens will have teeth. 
That's when I learned I couldn't translate idioms words for words. At the same time, it was fascinating to discover how two different languages use two different images to convey the same meaning, like:

Love at first sight   is the equivalent to   Coup de foudre (lightning strike) in French.
Once in a blue moon   to   Tous les trente-six du mois (every 36th of the month)
To feel under the weather   to   Ne pas être dans son assiette (not to be in one’s plate)
To mind one’s own business   to   S'occuper de ses oignons (to take care of one’s onions)
To have other fish to fry   to   Avoir d'autres chats à fouetter (to have other cats to whip)
To put in two cents   to   Mettre son grain de sel (to put one’s grain of salt)

It just goes to show that every language is truly unique and meanings can really get lost in the translation.

Happy reading & writing!
JS

 J. S. Marlo's Website