1. Take it with a Grain of
Salt
Our first food
idiom is to take it with a grain of salt, which means to accept
something but to be somewhat skeptical of the information. [1] For example, if
you're unsure about a relative's knowledge of the stock market, you might say,
“I took his financial advice with a grain of salt.”
We all know that
salt improves the taste of food, but perhaps you don't know that the expression to take it
with a grain of salt originated with a recipe for
an antidote to poison. [2] Ancient Roman author Pliny the Elder, who lived from
23 to 79 AD, [3] wrote an encyclopedic work titled Natural
History in the year 77. He tells the story of a Roman general, Pompey, who
encountered a ruler named Mithridates VI. [4] This king was famous for building
up his immunity to poison, and Pliny reports on the king's recipe for his
antidote. The last line of this recipe read, “to be taken fasting, plus a grain
of salt.” [2] Pliny probably didn't intend for readers to doubt this recipe; he
likely meant that salt actually was added to the other ingredients. [2] When
the expression to take it with a grain of salt came to be used, starting in
the 17th century, [1] individuals at that time probably misunderstood what
Pliny had written. [4] They thought that adding salt to something would make it
easier to swallow.
2. In a Nutshell
We also have
Pliny to thank for our next food-related idiom: in a
nutshell. This cliché
means “in a few words” and has been used since the 1570s. [5] Just now, we
learned that an old antidote to poison literally involved a grain of salt.
Surprisingly, in a nutshell literally involves something
tiny in a real nutshell. Well, maybe. In Natural
History, Pliny writes
that he had heard about a version of Homer's The
Iliad being written in such small letters that the whole book could fit inside a
nutshell. This story seems unlikely because in Homer's day, writing was done
with a stylus on clay tablets. [6] And, of course, The
Iliad is a long book! Pliny's anecdote might have been forgotten except that
someone named Philemon Holland translated Natural
History into English in 1601. Holland noted, skeptically, that “The same writer
maketh mention of one who could see to the distance of 135 miles.” [6]
Nevertheless, the association between compactness and nutshells stuck, and
Shakespeare uses language to that effect in Hamlet. [6] In a nutshell, when it
comes to what Pliny wrote, it sounds as if we should take much of it with a
grain of salt.
3. Use Your Noodle
Our next idiom is use your noodle, which means, simply, “Think!”
In this phrase, the wordnoodle refers to your head or brain, [7] and noodle has had this connotation since the
mid-18th century. [8] If you think about it—but not during dinner—a pile of
noodles does sort of look like a brain. Noodle may
be related to the old word noddle, “originally meaning 'back of the head'
in the 15th century.” [8] Another related word is noggin,
which means a small cup or mug, or a person's head. [9] Interestingly, the word mug also means both a drinking vessel and
a face. According to Dictionary.com, since 1708 mug has meant a person's face, perhaps
because of “drinking mugs shaped like grotesque faces.” [10] In addition, the
termmug shot has referred to a police photograph
since 1887. [10]
Use your noodle used to be an insult: As The Christian
Science Monitor stated,
imagine “a simpleton wagging his head around while thinking with a wet, floppy
noodle.” [11] That's not a very positive image. Nowadays, we're not usually being mean when we command someone
to “use your noodle”; rather, we're using a colorful way to ask someone to
concentrate.
4. Don't Cry over Spilled Milk
Next on our list is Don't cry over spilled milk. Or should that be spilt milk with an i-l-t at the end instead of i-l-l-e-d?
Both spellings are used, but spilt is more common in British English.
[12] Whichever way you go, the idiom means “it doesn't do any good to be
unhappy about something that has already happened or that can't be helped.”
[13] It is an old proverb, an earlier form of which is No weeping for
shed milk. [14]
An interesting explanation of the idiom's origin has to do with fairies.
According to Examiner.com, “Some believe the phrase originated in European
fairy lore because milk-loving fairies would drink up any spilled milk so none
would go to waste.” [15] Whatever the exact origin of the meaning, you can
celebrate the notion of thinking positively every February 11, which is
National Don't Cry Over Spilled Milk Day. [14]
5. It's a Piece of Cake
What goes with milk almost as well as cookies? Cake! Our next expression
is It's a piece
of cake. This idiom,
which means “something easily accomplished,” [16] has perhaps the most logical
explanation. Cake is easy to eat because it's so yummy. Pie is too, as in the
related phrase as easy as pie. But there seems to be more to it than
that. The Free Dictionary saysit's a piece of cake “originated in the Royal Air Force in
the late 1930s for an easy mission,” [16] but another explanation is rooted in
the African American community. Apparently, in the 1870s, cakes were given as
prizes in competitions, including contests where “slaves would participate in
'cake walks' where couples would perform a dance mocking the mannerisms of
their masters. The most graceful couple would receive a cake as a prize.” [17]
No wonder we also use the expressions it's a cakewalk, and that takes the
cake. [18]
6. What Am I, Chopped
Liver?
Now we move on to a food that some people find unappetizing: liver. When
people are complaining about not receiving enough attention, you might hear
them whine, “What am I, chopped liver?” or “What do I look like, chopped
liver?” [19] Chopped liver is a common Jewish appetizer or side dish that,
according to William Safire, is “not as important as chicken soup or gefilte
fish,” [20] a fish traditionally eaten on Jewish holidays. [21] Safire also
said the first person to use the phrase was Jimmy Durante, who said on his 1954
TV show, “Now that ain't chopped liver.” Hollywood A-listers Johnny Carson and
Michael Douglas were later heard using the expression, and Jewish comedians
used it “as a humorous metaphor for something or someone insignificant.” [20]
7. In the Limelight
The final idiom we'll discuss today is in the limelight, which means “in the
spotlight.” [22] It's time for a little confession, however. Although this
phrase appears to involve limes, those small green fruit, the lime in the
phrase actually refers to limestone, a rock [23]. Oops! Nevertheless, this
expression does have an interesting origin, in the theater. In the 1820s, a man
named Goldsworthy Gurney discovered the effect of “heating a piece of lime in a
flame of burning oxygen and hydrogen” and 19th-century theaters used an
application of this process to create bright light. [24] Actors who were the
center of attention on stage were said to be in the limelight.
We hope you've enjoyed this episode, in which many foods (except green
citrus) were in the limelight. The episode was researched by Jake Trenga,
teenage son of Bonnie Mills, who wrote it. How’s that for keeping your kids busy
during the summer?
References
[1] The Phrase Finder. “Take with a grain of salt.”http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/take-with-a-grain-of-salt.html.
Accessed June 21, 2016.
[2] Funk, Charles Earle. A Hog on Ice & Other Curious Expressions, New York: Harper
& Row, 1985, p. 172.
[3] Enclyopaedia Brittanica. “Pliny the Elder.” http://www.britannica.com/biography/Pliny-the-Elder. Accessed June 21, 2016.
[4] World Wide Words. “Pinch of salt.” http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-pin2.htm. Accessed June 21, 2016.
[5] Dictionary.com. “Nutshell.” http://www.dictionary.com/browse/in--a--nutshell. Accessed June 21, 2016.
[6] The Phrase Finder. “In a nutshell.” http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/in-a-nutshell.html. Accessed June 21, 2016.
[7] The Free Dictionary. “Use (one's) noodle.”http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/Use+Your+Noodle. Accessed June 21, 2016.
[8] Wordwizard. “Use your noodle.” http://www.wordwizard.com/phpbb3/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=6956. Accessed June 21, 2016.
[9] Dictionary.com. “Noggin.” http://www.dictionary.com/browse/noggin?s=t. Accessed June 21, 2016.
[10] Dictionary.com. “Mug.” http://www.dictionary.com/browse/mug. Accessed June 21, 2016.
[11] The Christian Science Monitor Website. “15 hidden meanings of
popular food phrases.”http://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/Food/2013/0504/15-hidden-meanings-of-popular-food-phrases/Use-your-noodle.
Accessed June 21, 2016.
[12] Merriam Webster. “Cry over spilled milk.” http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cry%20over%20spilled%20milk. Accessed June 21, 2016.
[13] Dictionary.com. “Don't cry over spilt milk.” http://www.dictionary.com/browse/don-t-cry-over-spilt-milk. Accessed June 21, 2016.
[14] National Day Calendar. “National Don't Cry over Spilled Milk Day.”http://www.nationaldaycalendar.com/national-dont-cry-over-spilled-milk-day-february-11/.
Accessed June 21, 2016.
[15] Examiner.com. “Don't Cry over Spilled Milk.” http://www.examiner.com/article/don-t-cry-over-spilled-milk . Accessed July 11, 2016.
[16] The Free Dictionary. “Piece of cake.”http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/piece+of+cake.
Accessed June 21, 2016.
[17] Bloomsbury International. “A piece of cake.” http://www.bloomsbury-international.com/en/student-ezone/idiom-of-the-week/list-of-itioms/98-a-piece-of-cake.html.
Accessed June 21, 2016.
[18] The Phrase Finder. “Piece of cake.” http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/piece-of-cake.html. Accessed June 21, 2016.
[19] Urban Dictionary. “Chopped liver.” http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=chopped%20liver. Accessed June 21, 2016.
[20] The New York Times Website. “On Language; Enough Already! What Am
I, Chopped Liver?”
http://www.nytimes.com/1998/10/25/magazine/on-language-enough-already-what-am-i-chopped-liver.html.
Accessed June 21, 2016.
[21] Chabad.org. “What Is Gefilte Fish?”http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/622944/jewish/What-Is-Gefilte-Fish.htm.
Accessed June 29, 2016.
[22] The Free Dictionary. “In the limelight.”http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/in+the+limelight. Accessed June 21, 2016.
[23] Today I Found Out. “The Origin of the Phrase 'In the limelight.'”http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2013/11/origin-phrase-limelight/. Accessed June 21, 2016.
[24] The Phrase Finder. “In the limelight.”http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/201400.html.
Accessed June 21, 2016.
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