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10 Common Yet Inaccurate Sayings

Here are 10 common sayings that for one reason or another aren’t very accurate.

Just because a phrase is used often, that doesn’t mean it’s true or even apropos.

Here are 10 common sayings that for one reason or another aren’t very accurate.

Number 10. American as apple pie. Clearly, neither pie nor pastry-appropriate apples are foods exclusive to the US. In fact, neither of them even hails from the country. Both were transported here by the Pilgrims.

Number 9. Sweating like a pig. Pigs don’t really sweat as they only have a few, poorly-working sweat glands. The saying actually comes from old iron smelting terminology, but chances are when most people say or hear the idiom, they envision perspiring farm animals. 

Number 8. Hard As Nails. Many nails aren’t really all that hard. On the Mohs’ scale, which measures the relative strength of materials, the typical steel nail only rates at a 5.5 out of 10. That meansit’s no match for a number of other substances, including unglazed porcelain and diamonds

Number 7.Giving a cold shoulder. We’ve come to understand and use this as a way to say someone was unfriendly. Its origins are controversial but one theory says it’s a reference to the practice of serving unwelcome visitors cold shoulder ofmutton rather than a hearty, warm meal. 

Number 6. Pleased as Punch. Sure, fruity beverages are great, but in this case Punch isn’t a drink, it’s apuppet. He was big in the 1800s and had a regular show where he would murder his wife, a policeman, and the Devil. He was always particularly overjoyed afterwards.

Number 5. Busting your chops. Now, it’s all about giving or gettinga tough time verbally, but back in the day it meant a full on physical assault. People then wore long sideburns called mutton chops, and the phrase is a reference to striking them. 

Number 4. Eat Like A Bird. It’s what people often say when describing somebody’s light eating habits. In reality, birds are big eaters, consuming about double their body weight every day. 

Number 3. Once in a blue moon. It’s odd that this phrase is used to describe rare occurrences, as blue moons themselves are fairly common. They are the secondfull moon to appear in a month and show up every couple of years or so. 

Number 2. Straight as a die. Often taken to mean a straight line, the phrase really references the fact that dice don’t lie. It was originally coined as a way to comment on one’s honesty

Number 1. Chew the fat. How this idiom came to mean chatting is unknown, but it’s guessed sailors were involved. When supplies were low and salt pork was the only thing left to eat, they’d sit around, chew the fatty snack, and talk about the tough times

Which saying’s origins are most surprising to you?

source: GeoBeats 

Fill the gaps with the words. Two of the words will not be used.

1. She picked up the apples that fell from the tree and used them to make … .

2. Everybody was … in the heat.

3. He hung the picture on a … in the wall.

4. His brother was very athletic with broad … .

5. Her mother was very … with her excellent school report.

6. He man was very angry with the man but he was afraid to … him.

7. If you … too much sugar you will get fat.

8. These flowers are … in this country, you can see them everywhere.

9. Drive … on and turn right at the end of the street.

10. His parents lived through some … times when they didn’t even have money for food.

a. shoulders

b. substance

c. consume

d. tough

e. apple pie

f. straight

g. nail

h. pleased

i. hearty

j. sweating

k. strike

l. common

—————————————-

Key:

1.e.  2.j  3.g  4.a  5.h  6. k  7.c  8.l  9.f  10.d

Vocabulary

inaccurate

helytelen, pontatlan

accurate

helyes, pontos

apropos

találó

pastry-apples

rétesalma

exclusive

kizárólagos

Pilgrims

zarándokok (Amerika első telepesei)

to hail

eredezni

to sweat

izzadni

sweat glands

izzadságmirigyek

iron smelting

vasolvasztó

to envision

magunk előtt látni, elképzelni

perspiring

izzadó

nail

szög

Mohs’ scale,

Mohs-féle keménységi skála

steel

acél

it’s no match

közelében sincs valaminek

substance

anyag

unglazed

mázatlan

diamond

gyémánt

to give a cold shoulder

hűvösen kezelni valakit, elutasítani

origin

eredet

controversial

ellentmondásos

mutton

birkahús

hearty

bőséges

pleased

elégedett

puppet

báb

to murder

meggyilkolni

devil

ördög, Sátán

to bust your chops

valakit szóban inzultálni

to give somebody a tough time

bántani

verbally

szóban

full on

teljes

physical assault

fizikai/testi támadás

sideburns

oldalszakáll, pajesz

chop

hússzelet

to strike, struck, struck

ütni

to consume

enni, fogyasztani

once in a blue moon.

nagyon ritkán

it’s odd.

furcsa

occurrence

jelenség

common

közönséges

full moon

telihold

straight as a die.

nagyon egyenes

die, dice (plural)

dobókocka, kocka

to coin

alkotni (szót)

honesty

őszinteség, becsületesség

to chew the fat

hosszasan eltársalogni, diskurálni

chatting

társalgás, diskurálás

sailor

matróz, tengerész

supplies

élelmiszer készletek

salt pork

sózott disznóhús

tough

kemény, nehéz

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