Cliches Over 1500 Phrases Explored and Explained [Paperback]

Betty Kirkpatrick has complied and exhaustive dictionary--a must for writers, crossword puzzle buffs, and anyone who is intrigued by language.

Sample entries fromCliches

Let the cat out of the bagis an idiom cliche meaning to reveal a secret. In origin it refers allegedly to a fairground tick by which traders sold unwary buyers a cat in a bag, assuring them it was a pig. The buyers did not realize their mistake until they let the cat out of the back, by which time it was too late.

Bite the bulletis an idiom cliche meaning to steel oneself to accept something distressing. In origin it probably refers to the days before anesthesia, when soldiers wounded in battle were given a lead bullet to bite on to brace themselves against the pain of surgery.

Fly off the handleis an idiom cliche meaning to lose one's temper. Originally American, the expression has its origin in an ax or hammer, the handle of which becomes loosened and flies off after it has struck a blow.

Betty Kirkpatrickis a writer and lexicographer. Editor of both theBloomsbury ThesaurusandRoget's Thesaurus, she was formerly editor of theChambers Twentieth-Century Dictionary. She lives in Scotland.