Idioms beginning with leave
Idioms
allow us to communicate clearly even while using words that have nothing to do with our
meaning. My American Idioms
Dictionary,
for instance, lists twenty-one idioms beginning with the word leave, covering the better part of two
pages. Oddly, most idioms’ origins are shaded in mystery. Three of the six
idioms below are legitimate. Three are manufactured. See if you can determine
the faux origins (answers are in the comments section).
Leave no stone unturned (1700s) Based on the behavior of a North American
bird, the ruddy turnstone, which is surprisingly diligent in its efforts to
turn over stones to find food.
Leave someone high & dry (1700s) When a ship was run aground or
caught on land due to a dropping tide, it was left high and dry.
Leave well enough alone (1400s) The old Scottish game Twibbits involved
flipping discs, the goal being to place one’s disc as far from others’ discs as
possible, yet near the goal. The winner was said to be left alone, but if two
throws tied, the round was judged well enough alone, a term equal to
our modern good enough.
Leave someone holding the bag (1700s) This idiom comes from a hazing game
much like a snipe hunt, in which a gullible individual is sent up into the
hills with a bag while his/her tormenters claim they’ll drive the elusive snipe
out of the bushes & into the bag, but instead, have a good laugh at the
expense of their innocent victim.
Leave someone in the lurch (1500s) This idiom has its origins in a French
cribbage-like game called lourche in
which a player was said to be left in the
lurch when s/he was put in a hopeless position.
Leave someone out in the cold (1500s) When the portcullis of a castle or
other fortified building was lowered at dusk, members of the household were
sometimes left out in the cold.
Please
consider which three seem most authentic, then check answers in the comments section
& let us all know how you did.
My thanks go out to this week’s
sources: OED, Phrase Finder, NTC’s American Idioms Dictionary, & Etymonline
The legitimate origins were for:
ReplyDeleteLeave someone high & dry,
Leave someone holding the bag, &
Leave someone in the lurch.
I accept full responsibility for the incorrectness of the other three.
Charlie, I got two of them. #1 and #3 above. But I went for the stone unturned. Wasn't there a joke about that one: leave no tern unstoned but can't remember the beginning. Great job. You had me fooled. :) P.
ReplyDeleteHey Paul - it's pleasure to have you visiting. Actually, the ruddy turnstone etymology is out there in the world, but fake. The date I provided is fake, too. The saying was around before English speakers spied any bird on this continent.
ReplyDeleteYour made-up etymologies are hilarious! I wasn't sure about holding the bag. That sounded made-up too. :-) And Paul's addition of the tern unstoned is pretty funny too. We can learn and be silly too!
ReplyDeleteI got #1 and #2 in your legitimate list above, but I went for the ruddy turnstone. I had heard the tern unstoned joke, but forgotten it until I read Paul's comment. That must be why it rung a bell.
ReplyDeleteFun post!!
Ahoy Dawn & Anne - good to have you here. Oh, & the research suggests that terns' interest in recreational drugs appear to be about the same as other shorebirds. I'd hate for them to get a bad rap because of us.
ReplyDeleteI went with high dry, in the lurch and out in the cold. The holding the bag one seemed pretty far fetched to me. But...I guess not! Very fun!
ReplyDeleteHi Christine - having spent some time myself searching for snipes (though our game was bag-free), I chuckled upon running into that one.
ReplyDeleteAhoy Chester
ReplyDeleteI was disappointed that Twibbits is not a game. Thought Ellen and I might give it a go in our kilts!
.
Terry, I can definitely imagine you & Ellen, kilt-clad, & twibbitzing!
ReplyDelete