The mind is always in gear. Sometimes low gear, such as:
"Too clever by half. And where did that idiom come from anyway?"
There were a couple of idioms, clichés and phrases books in the public library where I used to work. They never seemed to really have what you wanted to know, though. Funny thing about that, since idioms frequently have old, old roots, so a good book on idioms could logically be old. I suppose it's a matter of selection. Can anybody compile a book that contains every idiom? And is it possible to make an interesting book full of uninteresting phrases?
Anyway, the Web can help with research on obscure thoughts. Provenance is another matter. Here's one fellow's take on "too clever by half." And here's a riff on that.
Expand your small talk. Brush up your clichés.
"Too clever by half. And where did that idiom come from anyway?"
There were a couple of idioms, clichés and phrases books in the public library where I used to work. They never seemed to really have what you wanted to know, though. Funny thing about that, since idioms frequently have old, old roots, so a good book on idioms could logically be old. I suppose it's a matter of selection. Can anybody compile a book that contains every idiom? And is it possible to make an interesting book full of uninteresting phrases?
Anyway, the Web can help with research on obscure thoughts. Provenance is another matter. Here's one fellow's take on "too clever by half." And here's a riff on that.
Expand your small talk. Brush up your clichés.