Category: Idiom of the Day

One’s legs and feet, used for walking; travel by foot. Also “shanks’ nag.” A reference to the shank— the lower leg between the knee and the ankle—and the use of ponies or horses for travel. Watch the video

Greatly startled, shocked, or upset. Watch the video

To make free or give up control of something or someone; to release or discharge something or someone, as from confinement. Watch the video

To cause (someone, generally a group of two or more people) to engage in a squabble, dispute, or altercation. Watch the video

A story or rumor that makes something seem more serious, dreadful, or terrifying than it really is. Watch the video

A carefree time of youthful innocence, ingenuousness, and inexperience. A variant of the more common “salad days,” which itself is taken from Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra. Watch the video

To have an abnormally high body temperature (a fever), which is indicative of or caused by illness. Watch the video

Something that is made to seem very grand, elaborate, and/or prosperous for the purposes of impressing others, but which in reality has no real worth or substance. Taken from a story about Russian minister Grigory Potemkin (1739–1791) who allegedly erected false, painted façades to mimic a thriving, successful village along the Dnieper River in Crimea to impress the visiting Empress Catherine II. Watch the video

A film that is entertaining to watch but is generally not of a very high quality or rich in emotional or intellectual depth. Watch the video

To engage in a series of telephone calls with another person in which each time one party calls, the other is not available to answer. Watch the video