The response to my earlier post in Tamil has given me the encouragement to share some interesting information which may be already known to some of you.
A lot of expressions have their origin to people or incidents. I have given explanation for some of the commonly used expressions.
‘Hobson’s Choice’. This means - ‘Take it or leave it’
This expression is traced back to a gentleman named Hobson who used to rent out horses to students but insisted that they should take the horse of his choice. If they wanted something else, he just turned them away. It was always his (Hobson’s) choice. Hence the expression - ‘Hobson’s choice, meaning ‘No choice’.
Once in a blue moon: A very rare occurrence
If two full moons occur in the same month, the second full moon is called the blue moon. ( The moon does not turn blue that day).Since this occurs quite rarely, this expression is used to refer to something that does not happen often. E.g. I don’t get to see him often. He comes to my house ‘once in a blue moon.’ In Hindi, it is , ‘ईद का चाँद
and in Tamil 'அத்தி பூத்தாற்போல்' .
If some of you like these, I will come back with more.
June 18, 2013
A lot of expressions have their origin to people or incidents. I have given explanation for some of the commonly used expressions.
‘Hobson’s Choice’. This means - ‘Take it or leave it’
This expression is traced back to a gentleman named Hobson who used to rent out horses to students but insisted that they should take the horse of his choice. If they wanted something else, he just turned them away. It was always his (Hobson’s) choice. Hence the expression - ‘Hobson’s choice, meaning ‘No choice’.
Once in a blue moon: A very rare occurrence
If two full moons occur in the same month, the second full moon is called the blue moon. ( The moon does not turn blue that day).Since this occurs quite rarely, this expression is used to refer to something that does not happen often. E.g. I don’t get to see him often. He comes to my house ‘once in a blue moon.’ In Hindi, it is , ‘ईद का चाँद
and in Tamil 'அத்தி பூத்தாற்போல்' .
If some of you like these, I will come back with more.
June 18, 2013
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