If you say, ''The cat's out of the bag'' instead of ''The secret is given away,'' you're using an idiom. The meaning of idiom is different from the actual meaning of the words used. ''An apple a day ...

THE OXFORD DICTIONARY OF ENGLISH PROVERBS—William George Smith and Janet E. Heseltine—Oxford University Press ($6.50). To give subtillty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion . . . ...

Idioms and proverbs can be found in thousands of different cultures and languages across the world—and although there are often parallels between the meanings of these sayings, they usually can’t be ...

There are a lot of common expressions in English — especially American English. And because food is such an important and diverse part of American culture, it’s no surprise that many foods have worked ...

As translated by Asian language professors Larry and Qin Herzberg, the three proverbs quoted above mean the following, respectively: “People often cannot see their own shortcomings” “Anything can be ...