The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms

973 Pages·2013·4.45 MB·English

by  Christine Ammer

Table of Contents
Title Page
Table of Contents
Copyright
Preface
Guide to Using This Book
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Words are included in this dictionary on the basis of their usage. Words that are
known to have current trademark registrations are shown with an initial capital
and are also identified as trademarks. No investigation has been made of
common-law trademark rights in any word, because such investigation is
impracticable. The inclusion of any word in this dictionary is not, however, an
expression of the publisher’s opinion as to whether or not it is subject to
proprietary rights. Indeed, no definition in this dictionary is to be regarded as
affecting the validity of any trademark.

American Heritage and the eagle logo are registered trademarks of American
Heritage Inc. Their use is pursuant to a license agreement with American
Heritage Inc.

Copyright © 2013 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust.

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The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows: Ammer,
Christine.
The American Heritage dictionary of idioms / Christine Ammer. — 2nd ed.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-0-547-67658-6
1. English language—United States—Idioms—Dictionaries. 2. English language
—United States—Terms and phrases. 3. Americanisms—Dictionaries. I. Title.
PE2839.A47 2013
423'.13—dc23
2012026443

eISBN 978-0-547-67753-8
v1.0513
Preface
This book is a comprehensive survey of the idioms currently used in American
English. An idiom is a set phrase of two or more words that means something
different from the literal meaning of the individual words. For instance, the
phrase to change one’s tune has nothing to do with music but means “to alter
one’s attitude.” Similarly, to hit the nail on the head often has nothing to do with
carpentry but means simply “to be absolutely right.” Idioms are the
idiosyncrasies of a language. Often defying the rules of logic, they pose great
difficulties for non-native speakers. English abounds with phrases such as if
worst comes to worst, far and away, and how do you do, which, if translated
literally, make no sense. Indeed, the true test of an idiom is whether it changes
meaning when rendered word for word in another language.
In addition to idioms, this book includes common figures of speech, such as
dark horse and blind as a bat; interjections and formula phrases, such as all the
best and take care; emphatic redundancies whose word order cannot be reversed,
such as far and wide and cease and desist; common proverbs, especially ones
that often occur in abbreviated form, such as a bird in the hand; colloquialisms
such as off the beam and out in left field; and slang phrases such as push the
envelope.
Each expression is defined and illustrated by at least one sample sentence
showing how it is used in context. In most cases the literal meaning of a phrase
is omitted; thus the entry hold up omits the definition “keep upright” or
“support.” Wherever possible I have included information regarding the
expression’s origin or background, along with its date of first appearance. I have
given approximate dates for most idioms to allow for their probable use in
speech before being written down.
The ultimate origin of many idioms is unknown. Some idioms, such as by
hook or crook, use familiar words in obscure ways. Some preserve words that
are otherwise obsolete, such as hue in hue and cry and fell in in one fell swoop. I
have tried to explain these lost origins and obscure meanings whenever research
can shed light on them. The result is a dictionary that treats more than 10,000
English expressions in greater detail and depth than any other book available
today. I hope that all speakers of English will find it both useful and enjoyable.
Heartfelt thanks are due to the many friends and acquaintances who have
offered valuable suggestions, advice, and help, especially my late husband Dean
Ammer. Special mention must be made of Steven R. Kleinedler, Executive
Editor, and Peter Chipman, Editor, of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for their
assistance with this edition. I would also like to thank Jesse Sheidlower of
Oxford University Press for his generous help dating some of the slang
expressions. The dictionary has been vastly improved through their assistance.
—Christine Ammer
Guide to Using This Book

Entries

All entry phrases and synonymous variants are given in boldface type at the
beginning of an entry before the definition. Related or similar expressions are
given in boldface in the text of the entry. Historical precedents and obsolete
phrases appear in italic type. Where a phrase has more than one meaning,
definitions are numbered, and whenever possible, ordered by frequency of use.
Example sentences appear in italic type, quotations in roman type within
quotation marks, and cross-references in small capitals.

Alphabetization and Cross-References

Entries are arranged alphabetically, letter by letter up to the comma in the case of
inverted or appended elements.
To locate an entry, it sometimes may be hard to decide which word in a phrase
will come first in the alphabetical listing. For example, is as luck would have it
under as or luck? To help sort out these problems, entries listing cross-references
for key words appear alphabetically among the main entries. By checking these
key-word entries, readers can locate every phrase treated as an entry in this
book. The reader who does not find as luck would have it under as can look
under the entries beginning with the next word, luck. If more help is needed, the
entry for the word luck itself lists all the idioms containing that word which
appear elsewhere in the book.
Variants or related expressions that are covered under other entry words
appear in parentheses in the cross-references. Thus, at the entry soft the reader is
referred to HARD (SOFT) SELL, which means that the entry hard sell also treats the
phrase soft sell. Note, however, that words in parentheses are not considered part
of the alphabetical order, so one should look for hard sell, not hard soft sell.

Variable Pronouns

Many idioms can be used with different pronouns, as, for example, clean up his
act, clean up her act, clean up my act. Consequently, the pronouns one and
someone are used in entry words and variants to indicate that the object or
possessive pronoun in the idiom may vary according to context. One or one’s
means that the antecedent of the pronoun must be the subject of the clause, or in
some cases an inanimate noun or a gerund must be the subject. For example, the
idiom hit one’s stride can appear in a sentence such as She finally hit her stride,
or the idiom serve one right can be used in a sentence such as It serves him right
to be thrown off the team. But note that sentences like She finally hit his stride
are not possible.
The use of someone or someone’s in the idiom means that the pronoun can be
replaced only by a noun or pronoun that does not refer to the grammatical
subject of the clause. In other words, the action of the verb is directed from one
person to another (the “someone”). For example, the idiom call someone’s bluff
implies that you (or he or she or they) can only call someone else’s bluff, never
your (or his or her or their) own.

Labels

The labels in brackets preceding the date of an idiom’s first appearance indicate
the degree of formality or offensiveness. The label colloquial means that a
phrase is used in ordinary speech and informal writing but not in more formal
contexts. Slang generally refers to phrases that are appropriate only to very
informal contexts or are used in irreverent humor. Vulgar slang indicates that a
phrase is generally considered offensive. The absence of such a label indicates
that a term is considered standard English.
Note that these labels are bound to change, as are the idioms themselves.
What is slang today may be standard English tomorrow. Furthermore, what is
common usage for a time may die out (in this book indicated as obsolescent) or
it may change its meaning, as the idiom beg the question may be doing. As E.B.
White put it, “The living language is like a cowpath; it is the creation of the
cows themselves, who, having created it, follow it or depart from it according to
their whims or their needs. From daily use, the path undergoes change.”

Dating

Nearly all entries provide some indication of the idiom’s history. For many
entries the date when the expression was invented or first used appears within
brackets. These dates are often approximate because in many cases a phrase has
been used for some time in speech before being recorded in writing. In some
cases, as when the expression first appeared in the work of a well-known writer,
the precise date and location of its first recorded use are given. Within brackets
the abbreviation c. (for Latin circa) is used to mean “about,” as in “c. 1400.” The
abbreviation A.D. is used for the years 1 through 1000; B.C. is used to indicate
years before A.D. 1.

Quotations

Unless otherwise specified, biblical quotations are from the King James
translation of 1611. To avoid the difficulties posed to some readers by the
English of earlier writers such as Chaucer, many quotations have had their
spelling normalized, and some have been rendered into Modern English.

Sources

Among the principal sources used for dates and citations are, first and foremost,
The Oxford English Dictionary, Second Edition; The American Heritage
Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition; J.E. Lighter, Historical
Dictionary of American Slang; The Random House Dictionary of the English
Language, Second Edition; Eric Partridge, A Dictionary of Catch Phrases,
American and British, from the 16th Century to the Present Day; Webster’s
Dictionary of English Usage; Wolfgang Mieder, A Dictionary of American
Proverbs; Richard H. Thornton, An American Glossary; Mitford M. Mathews, A
Dictionary of Americanisms; Burton Stevenson, Home Book of Proverbs,
Maxims, and Familiar Phrases; John Algeo, Fifty Years Among the New Words;
Clarence Barnhart, Sol Steinmetz, and Robert Barnhart, The Barnhart
Dictionary of New English since 1963 and The Second Barnhart Dictionary of
New English; and William Safire, “On Language” column, The New York Times.