American Phrases and Sayings

I found the site because I was looking for the history behind the phrase “square meal” because I was discussing it with another English major and we debated its origin in America. After checking that entry out I realized that this would have been a perfect teaching tool earlier in the year when I worked with several students for whom English was their second language and discovered that phrases, idioms, and colloquialisms were the hardest for them to master in their writing (either in the actual paper they were writing or analyzing what they had read). I really wish I would have had it then, because it would have made a handy one-stop reference that they could use when they got stuck.

Navigation is straightforward on this site – There is an introduction paragraph and then an alphabetical listing of phrases for you to choose from. Click the phrase you want to learn more about. For example, click the phrase Cold Turkey – you’ll go to its page and discover the Meaning and then how the word originated under Origin. You can receive multiple references of the word, how it has evolved over time, the first time it was in print, and even other hypothesized meanings under origins. Then you can click the link at the bottom of the page that will take you back to the main phrase index.

It was really neat to see how all these phrases originated and whether they are used outside of the USA. Go check them out today!

http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/american-phrases-and-sayings.html

~Amanda

Source: http://www.worldstart.com/american-phrases-and-sayings/
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Interesting stuff! Thanks Kotie!