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English Idioms


Aphorisms calling rhymes for help

AhQ ['a: kiu]
User since 2006
Posts: 2715

17 Nov. 2006

May I start here an open rubric in the deserted field of idioms.
Suggestion to everyone who could be interested in:
Report under this same title aphorisms, sayings, proverbs which might been born and kept alive due to the rhymes or repetition of words or similar soundings coming in a row.


[An aphorism is a thought which is given in a few words, a short pithy instructive saying.
That’s a kind of idiom, isn’t it?]

14 comments

  • User since 2006
    Posts: 41

    7 Jan. 2007

    "We have really everything in common with America nowadays, except, of course, language."
    Oscar Wilde
  • User since 2005
    Posts: 113

    7 Jan. 2007

    Oscar Wilde was/is still well-known for his aphorisms. Let me quote two of them:
    1. "America is the only country that went from barbarism to decadence without civilization in between".You like this one Gee, don't you?
    Mind you, this Irish writer died in 1900...
    Sorry Warbuckle!


    2." In life, we are all in the gutter. Some of us just tend to look up at the stars".
  • User since 2005
    Posts: 113

    24 Nov. 2006

    Hello Hamlet,


    To be or not to be...
    I'd rather not be as thick as a brick because it would mean I am stupid but maybe I am.
    If I am as mad as a hatter (think of the hatter in "Alice in Wonderland"), it means I am really crazy.
    If you can't understand my examples: be as cool as a cucumber. I mean keep calm.
    Winter time is drawing near. We are lucky because we are as snug as bugs in rugs: we are likely to live in a house equipped with central heating and perhaps with someone who helps us keep warm physically and morally. A bug can be an insect that enjoys living in the warmth of our blankets.
    OK, Hamlet: are you as happy as a king?
  • User since 2006
    Posts: 1

    24 Nov. 2006

    Please could you give me an exemple using
    to be as thick as a brick
    as cool as a cucumber
    as mad as a hatter
    as getting cold
    you'd like to be as snug as a bug in a rug
    BEST REGARDS AND MANY THANKS

    From Flo Sartoz:
    As thick as a brick


    You might be as thick as a brick,
    as cool as a cucumber,
    as mad as a hatter,
    as getting cold
    you'd like to be as snug as a bug in a rug.

     
  • User since 2006
    Posts: 2715

    18 Nov. 2006

    As thick as a brick


    You might be as thick as a brick,
    as cool as a cucumber,
    as mad as a hatter,
    as getting cold
    you'd like to be as snug as a bug in a rug.
  • User since 2006
    Posts: 2715

    17 Nov. 2006

    To be as snug as a bug in a rug


    Snug as a bug in a rug = Very cosy and comfortable.


    Walking by night along the cold deserted streets of Paris, the little princess wrapped herself up in her fur coat, snug as a bug in a rug.


    Snug, adj. (douillet, chaud)
    This expression, thought to allude to a moth larva happily feeding inside a rolled-up carpet, was first recorded in 1769 and probably owes its long life to the rhyme.
  • User since 2006
    Posts: 2715

    17 Nov. 2006

    May I start here an open rubric in the deserted field of idioms.
    Suggestion to everyone who could be interested in:
    Report under this same title aphorisms, sayings, proverbs which might been born and kept alive due to the rhymes or repetition of words or similar soundings coming in a row.


    [An aphorism is a thought which is given in a few words, a short pithy instructive saying.
    That’s a kind of idiom, isn’t it?]
  • User since 2006
    Posts: 1

    8 Jan. 2007

    To be more of a pool BBQ kindof guy


    Qui peut me donner la traduction de cette phrase ?
  • User since 2007
    Posts: 1

    1 Jan. 2007

    is it possible to get the exact french translation of this idiom: Snug as a bug in a rug, because I don't find a real one. thanks

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