What’s in the Attic?
So, it’s almost that time of the year when we squash the kids in the car and hoof out, Griswold-style, to some dusty garden centre somewhere to cram an unreasonably-sized spruce in the boot … and over the backseat… and into the front of the car, conveniently jamming the gear-stick into 1st, only to return home and find that we have to chop about half of it off to fit it in the hallway. As you can tell, I’m already full of the joys…
But one of my favourite scenes in that great festive film, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, is where he gets locked in the attic for the day and ends up rifling through old clothes and bric-a-brac, and eventually ends up watching old home movies from his childhood. Because that’s what we keep in the attic – old treasures that are now a little bit faded but we can’t help loving once we’ve dusted them off. So today, here’s a little about what we keep in the Food for Thought attic. The..
I’ve written in a previous post about the idea of ‘Cultural Literacy’: the idea that there is a body of basic knowledge that a person needs in order to function fully within society, and to understand its current and inherited cultural treasures. A really important part of that literacy is the familiarity with the vast wealth of idioms in the English language, linguistic family heirlooms that have been handed down across the centuries. Without understanding idiom, you are never really fluent in any language or culture. So, one objective of the Food for Thought programme is to expose our pupils to as wide an array of important idioms as possible, and take a genuine interest in them, and where they came from, so they can understand how much of our language and thought is idiomatic.
Let’s stop beating about the bush, cut to the chase and get down to brass tacks. What is an idiom? Idioms are all the rage, they’re a dime a dozen, and they’ll definitely pique your interest but you have to take them with a pinch of salt – never take them at face value, or they’ll have you hook, line and sinker! If you read between the lines, you’ll soon be able to wrap your head around them, and they’ll be a piece of cake. But if you’re still all in a tangle, sit tight and hang in there – they’re not rocket science! If you ask where they hail from, they might lead you on a wild goose chase, running around in circles, before you get to the root of the matter. Things can quickly get out of hand, a real snowball effect. Often, your guess is as good as mine but just set your sights on speaking the lingo, and soon you’ll find yourself right as rain. Admittedly, I’m scraping the barrel now, and I did promise myself I’d use plain English in this explanation, but I’m afraid that ship has sailed…
What’s really amazing is how many of our English idioms come from two particular sources. One of them is the King James translation of the Bible (1611). Here is a short list of just some of the idioms the translators of that wonderful piece of literature either coined or brought into common usage:
A fly in the ointment
A sign of the times
A two-edged sword
As old as the hills
As white as snow
At his wits end
Baptism of fire
Bite the dust
By the skin of your teeth
Fall from grace
Flesh and blood
Give up the ghost
Holier than thou
How are the mighty fallen
In the twinkling of an eye
Lamb to the slaughter
Land of Nod
Letter of the law
No rest for the wicked
O ye, of little faith
Peace offering
Pride goes before a fall
Put words in one's mouth
Put your house in order
See eye to eye
Skin of your teeth
Strait and narrow
The apple of his eye
The root of the matter
Way of all flesh
Woe is me
Writing is on the wall
You reap what you sow
The other source is, of course, the works of William Shakespeare, and I’ll leave you with this wonderful reflection ‘On Quoting Shakespeare’ by the famous journalist and author Bernard Levin:
If you cannot understand my argument, and declare ``It's Greek to me'', you are quoting Shakespeare; if you claim to be more sinned against than sinning, you are quoting Shakespeare; if you recall your salad days, you are quoting Shakespeare; if you act more in sorrow than in anger; if your wish is father to the thought; if your lost property has vanished into thin air, you are quoting Shakespeare; if you have ever refused to budge an inch or suffered from green-eyed jealousy, if you have played fast and loose, if you have been tongue-tied, a tower of strength, hoodwinked or in a pickle, if you have knitted your brows, made a virtue of necessity, insisted on fair play, slept not one wink, stood on ceremony, danced attendance (on your lord and master), laughed yourself into stitches, had short shrift, cold comfort or too much of a good thing, if you have seen better days or lived in a fool's paradise – why, be that as it may, the more fool you, for it is a foregone conclusion that you are (as good luck would have it) quoting Shakespeare; if you think it is early days and clear out bag and baggage, if you think it is high time and that that is the long and short of it, if you believe that the game is up and that truth will out even if it involves your own flesh and blood, if you lie low till the crack of doom because you suspect foul play, if you have your teeth set on edge (at one fell swoop) without rhyme or reason, then - to give the devil his due - if the truth were known (for surely you have a tongue in your head) you are quoting Shakespeare; even if you bid me good riddance and send me packing, if you wish I was dead as a door-nail, if you think I am an eyesore, a laughing stock, the devil incarnate, a stony-hearted villain, bloody-minded or a blinking idiot, then - by Jove! O Lord! Tut tut! For goodness' sake! What the dickens! But me no buts! - it is all one to me, for you are quoting Shakespeare.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Dr Baker
