Phrases and their meaning

“Don't look a gift horse in the mouth”.
Don't question the value of a gift.
The proverb refers to the practice of evaluating the age of a horse by looking at its teeth.
This practice is also the source of the expression “long in the tooth,” meaning old.

"Sun over the yardarm"

This phrase is used, both afloat and ashore, to indicate that the time of day has been reached at which it is acceptable, variously, to have lunch or (more commonly) to have an alcoholic beverage....................

“Going where the Czar goes on foot” - A Russian phrase which means going to the toilet.
Apparently, it was the only place the Czar wasn't carried to.

“Feeding the donkey sponge cake” - Giving special treatment to someone who doesn't need it.
A Portuguese saying.

Pull your socks up...


To make an effort to improve your work or behaviour because it is not good enough:

“Live like a maggot in bacon” - for the meat loving Germans this means an enviable state of being?

Turning a blind eye is an idiom describing the ignoring of undesirable information.




Although the Oxford English Dictionary records usage of the phrase as early as 1698,[1] the phrase to turn a blind eye is often attributed to an incident in the life of Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson. Nelson was blinded in one eye early in his Royal Navy career. During the Battle of Copenhagen in 1801 the cautious Admiral Sir Hyde Parker, in overall command of the British forces, sent a signal to Nelson's forces ordering them to discontinue the action. Naval orders were transmitted via a system of signal flags at that time. When this order was brought to the more aggressive Nelson's attention, he lifted his telescope up to his blind eye, saying, "I have a right to be blind sometimes. I really do not see the signal," and most of his forces continued to press home the attack.[2][3] The frigates supporting the line-of-battle ships did break off, in one case suffering severe losses in the retreat.[4] Wikipedia.

“Slowly slowly Catchy monkey” - proceed cautiously or gently to achieve an objective.

To catch a monkey...make a hole just wide enough for it to put in his hand and place some bait/food inside. The monkey will reach in and grab the bait but cannot get his hand out because it is larger when it is full of food. The monkey will not let go of the food so will be caught.

That's what I heard many years ago...I think it may apply to us humans sometimes....

Have (one) by the short and curlies

To have complete control or dominance over someone; to have someone at one's mercy. "The short and curlies" refers to the hairs on one's neck (not pubic hairs, despite popular misconceptions).

Get the hang of something.

idiom.

To learn how to do something, esp. when it is not simple or obvious:...

all over (one) like a rash

Crowding, covering, or in close proximity to one, often in a seductive or flirtatious way.

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush

Meaning

It is better to have a lesser yet certain advantage at something, than the possibility of a greater one that may come to nothing.

Origin

This proverb refers back to medieval falconry where a bird in the hand (the falcon) was a valuable asset and certainly worth more than two in the bush (the prey).........................

(Personally, I would prefer two birds in the bushes..... )

What is a turn up for the books?
Noun. turn up for the book (plural (rare) turn ups for the book) (idiomatic) A very unexpected, usually pleasant, surprise.

It now means exactly what you say, something surprising. The origin is in horse racing, where the book was the record of bets laid on a race kept by — who else — a bookmaker. So when a horse performed in a way that nobody expected, so that most bets lost, it was something that benefited the book and so the bookmaker.

What is the meaning of the idiom dog eat dog?

Used to describe a situation in which people will do anything to be successful, even if what they do harms other people:.......

Give a dog a bad name.

It is very difficult to lose a bad reputation, even if it is unjustified.
This is a shortened version of the proverb give a dog a bad name and hang him , which was known from the early 18th century.

“Cash cow” - someone or something that makes a lot of money for a business or organization.
Parking charges and parking fines are a real cash cow for local councils.

If you lie down with dogs, you get up with fleas.

The quote has a large almost universally agreed meaning of "You should be cautious of the company you keep. Associating with those of low reputation may not only lower your own but also lead you astray by the faulty assumptions, premises and data of the unscrupulous."

An unusual one I'd never heard before Admin

Long in the tooth also refers to your gums receding as you age and more of your tooth is visible. I don’t know if aging gums can be stopped but when I visit the dentist they measure some size of all the gums.

“Rat run” - a small road or side road that is used as a short cut by drivers who are trying to avoid traffic on larger roads.

Also Ran

A loser in a race or other contest, especially by a large margin:
"the line between champions and also-rans"

What does up the creek without a paddle mean?

idiom informal (also offensive, up sh-t creek without a paddle) in a difficult situation, with no way of getting out of it:

Jack the Lad

A young man who behaves in a very confident way..or brash manner.

“A sea change” - a complete change, a substantial or significant transformation.
This saying originated in Shakespeare's play “The Tempest”.