______________________________________________________________________________
Earmark something
______________________________________________________________________________
Earn one's stripes
______________________________________________________________________________
Easy as pie
Alternative: Making of a pie from scratch isn’t easy. The phrase is a contraction of the
late-19th Century phrase “easy as eating pie.”
If you are good at something it’s easy... as pie!. ______________________________________________________________________________
Eat one's words
Earliest instance of people literally eating their words: In 1370 the Pope sent
two delegates to Bernabo Visconti bearing a rolled parchment, informing him that he
had been excommunicated. Infuriated, Visconti arrested the delegates and made them
eat the parchment - words, lead seal and all. ______________________________________________________________________________
Eat your heart out
Alternative: Adapted from the 16th century "eat one's own heart", meaning to suffer
from silent grief or vexation. It also has roots in the Biblical phrase,
"to eat one’s own flesh", used to describe an indolent person. ______________________________________________________________________________
Eating crow
He was caught by a British officer who, complimenting him on his fine
shooting, persuaded him to hand over his gun. This officer then leveled
his gun and said that as a punishment the American must take a bite of
the crow. The American obeyed, but when the British officer returned his
gun he took his revenge by making him eat the rest of the bird.
This is such an interesting explanation of the phrase's origin that
it seems a shame to point out that the original expression is not recorded
until the 1850s, and that its original form was to "eat boiled crow," whereas
the story makes no mention of boiling the bird.
It also seems improbable that the English officer would have returned
the gun after forcing the American to take a bite of the bird under gunpoint.
In reality, "crow" is a word that refers to the intestines of an animal
especially when used for food. The British English equivalent is "eating
humble (or umble) pie." ______________________________________________________________________________
Eating humble pie
To eat humble pie is to accept your position at the lower table. ______________________________________________________________________________
Egg on your face
Alternative: During slapstick comedies in the Victorian theater, actors
made the fall guy look foolish by breaking eggs on his forehead. ______________________________________________________________________________
Eleventh hour
______________________________________________________________________________
Even steven
Rhyming slang is common in many languages and dialects, and is particularly
common in cockney English. Cockney rhyming slang takes the idea a bit farther
actually substituting a rhyming word or phrase for common terms (e.g. "apple
fritter" means "bitter (a type of beer)", "Johnie Horner" means "corner",
"Rub-a-dub" means "Pub" and so on). ______________________________________________________________________________
Every Tom, Dick, and Harry
Variants: "Every mother's son" (1583) & "Every man Jack" 1800s). These 2 variants are British and occasionally used in
America. ______________________________________________________________________________
Everything but the kitchen sink
Related sayings are "From soup to nuts" and "From A to Z". ______________________________________________________________________________
Everything's Jake
Meaning:
Marking something to indicate ownership. Example:
Origin:
This phrase comes from the ancient habit of marking cattle ears with a tab to indicate ownership. In Biblical times the custom extended to human property. In Exodus 21:6, a servant declined to go free after six years' service : "his master shall bore his ear through with an awl; and he shall serve him forever". In the 19th century the term came to be applied to money designated for a special purpose. Later it spread to the wider application used today.
Meaning:
Gain a position through hard work and accumulated experience. Example:
She earned her stripes by serving for 30 years as the
World Vision coordinator. Origin:
This 1800s expression initially referred to a military promotion or award,
indicated by strips of chevron or braid added to the recipient's uniform and known as stripes.
Meaning:
Simple to accomplish, easy
to do.
Example:
Spending money is as easy
as pie, accumulating wealth is tough.
Origin:
Easy as pie (or apple pie)
originated in Australia around 1920. The Australian expression
to be “pie at” or “pie on” something means to be very good at something
(from the Maori word “pai” = good).
Meaning:
To admit that what you said was wrong.
To retreat in a humiliating way.
Example:
Trudy said that Joe would never succeed with
his humour website, but after seeing his site reach 6 million hits per month, she had to
eat her words.
Origin:
"God eateth not his word when he hath once spoken" is the first recorded use of this
expression, in a 1571 religious work.
Meaning:
Intended to make one feel
bitterness or pain as they long for something out of reach.
Example:
Eat your heart out
Jillian, I'm seeing Henrietta now. You had your chance.
Origin:
Heart is also defined as
the central, core, or inner most part of an object (or person).
To eat the heart out is to remove the core or most important part, a part
that will surely be missed. The phrase is probably a shortened way of saying "This will eat your
heart out".
Meaning:
To be proven wrong.
Example:
With the fall of the Soviet
Union, the communists are eating crow.
Origin:
An article published in
the Atlanta Constitution in 1888 claims that, towards the end of the war
of 1812, an American went hunting and by accident crossed behind the British
lines, where he shot a crow.
Meaning:
To be proven wrong, usually
after boasting.
Example:
With the fall of the Soviet
Union, the communists are eating humble pie.
Origin:
Humble pie is a derivation
of umble pie and refers to the intestines of an animal especially when
used for food. The original umbles were the innards of the
deer: the liver, heart, entrails and other second-class bits. It was common
practice in medieval times to serve a pie made of these parts of the animal
to the servants and others that would be sitting at the lower tables in
the lord's hall.
Meaning:
To be embarrassed.
Example:
Make sure you have your
story straight - go public without the facts and you will have egg on
your face.
Origin:
From the embarrassment
suffered if the yellow yoke is on ones lips or beard after eating a soft
boiled egg in one of those egg cups, a favorite breakfast of the upper
crust. Yellow egg shows up especially well on a beard or mustache.
Meaning:
The latest possible time. Example:
The student handed in his take-home exam at the eleventh hour. Origin:
This early 1800s phrase alludes to the parable of the labourers
(Matthew 20:1-16), in which those workers hired at the eleventh hour of a twelve-hour working day
were paid the same amount as those who began in the first hour.
Meaning:
An equitable distribution.
Example:
She thinks he doesn't do
his share of the housework, while he says things are even steven.
Origin:
"Even steven" is merely
modern rhyming slang (like "drop dead, fred", "see ya later alligator",
or "know what I mean, jelly bean?").
Meaning:
Everyone, all ordinary individuals. Example:
The company's newest model should appeal to every Tom, Dick, and Harry. Origin:
The use of masculine names in this phrase dates from Shakespeare's time
(he used Tom, Dick, and Francis in I Henry IV), but the current usage dates from the early 1800s.
Meaning:
Practically everything there is; every possible object whether needed or not. Example:
Origin:
This expression was born in the early 20th century and became popular after World War II (the late 1940s). The kitchen sink is heavy, connected to pipes and usually bolted down, so it’s not easily movable. But if you took everything but the kitchen sink, you’d be taking virtually all there was.
Meaning:
All is satisfactory. Example:
Don't worry mate - everything's
jake. Origin:
The term has probably been used
as much in North America as in Australia and
authorities are divided as to where it originated. In any case, jake now seems
to lack a distinctively Australian flavour. Perhaps most significantly,
the term appears to have largely gone out of use everywhere.
Thanks to
ozlip.
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