Twists & Turns of Phrase When something’s got all the bells and whistles, it has been constructed with lots of extra features—usually ones that aren’t strictly needed. This phrase is often used to describe electronics, motor vehicles, and other complex products. According to the OED, the bells and whistles in this turn of phrase were […]

Twists & Turns of Phrase The last straw or final straw is a problem or annoyance that on its own would be a trifling matter, but that, when added to series of previous irks and irritations, seems intolerable. This turn of phrase originated in the longer proverb the last straw breaks the camel’s back, a […]

A person who opens a can of worms tries to solve a problem, but in doing so creates a lot of new unanticipated complications.

For some reason I always see the image of the snake-in-a-can gag whenever I hear this turn of phrase, but this is clearly just my unusual brain at work. So I wonder just where this saying does come from…

When something sells like hotcakes it sells quickly and in large quantities.

I like a hotcake as much as the next person, but do they really sell that well? Yes, they do, or at least they did at county fairs in the 1800s…

To look a gift horse in the mouth is to fail to appreciate the generosity someone has shown you.

Now as a city girl, I’ve never received a horse, and if I did I’m pretty sure looking in its mouth wouldn’t be my first impulse. So who would look a gift horse in the mouth?