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A chip on your shoulder - Holding a grudge; being upset about something that happened in the past.

Origin: This saying dates back to at least the 19th century, and was originally quite literal. People would sometimes place a chip of wood on their shoulder and dare the person they were mad at to knock it off. A fight would normally ensue.

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Scot-free - Getting away from something without punishment or harm.

Origin: This expression dates back to 12th-century England. A scot was a municipal tax a person would have to pay.

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Spill the beans - To disclose a secret; to reveal private information.

Origin: The phrase is said to make allusion to ancient Greek, when people voted by placing beans in a jar. As the votes were supposed to be anonymous, if someone knocked over the jar and spilled its beans, private information would be revealed.

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An arm and a leg - Something unreasonably expensive; excessive in cost.

Origin: There are a couple of theories regarding its origin. One relates to the World Wars, in which soldiers could literally lose limbs fighting a war. That’s a high price to pay.

The second theory dates back to the 1700s, when people would sometimes say they would give an arm or a leg to get something. For example, a magazine printed in 1790: "This is my sole desire—my only passion; and in order to gratify it, I would give my right arm, and my entire fortune."

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Raining cats and dogs - Heavy rainfall.

Origin: The phrase dates back to at least the 1600s, and is believed to make allusion to the animals that would normally hang around on roofs but seek refuge during heavy rainfalls.

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The straw the broke the camel’s back - The seemingly minor action that leads to an unpredictably large and sudden reaction, given the cumulative effect of small actions.

Origin: Camels are resilient animals that can handle extreme heat and go long periods of time without water. This is a recurring theme in several cultures, dating back as early as the 1600s.

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As happy as a clam - Being overly happy.

Origin: The full version of this saying is actually "as happy as a clam at high tide," which makes sense since clams are vulnerable at low tides, when people can more easily dig them up. The expression has been used since as early as the 1840s, as evidenced by poet John G. Saxe’s ‘Sonnet to a Clam.’

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Break a leg - Good luck.

Origin: The expression derives from theatrical circles who are said to be superstitious folks. So wishing an actor “good luck” was seen as bad luck, or jinxing.

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Close, but no cigar - Coming close to a goal or objective but falling short.

Origin: The phrase likely comes from playing “high striker” at a fair, in which a player takes a swing with a mallet as hard as possible. If the target is hit hard enough, a metallic object rises up and rings a bell. Cigars were a common prize given in the mid-20th century.

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Cold turkey - To quit something suddenly.

Origin: One of the possible explanations is that cold turkey platters as easy to make, requiring little preparation.

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Playing possum - To be deceitful.

Origin: American possums are known for deceiving predators by pretending to be dead. In 1843, the ‘Washington Globe’ printed the following sentence:"So it seems the Whigs are to 'play possum' again in the coming campaign, though one would suppose they had bad experience enough in that game to teach them that 'honesty is the best policy.'"

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What am I, chopped liver? - Used by a someone who feels is being given less attention or consideration than someone else.

Origin: There are a few theories, but one of the main ones relates to the fact that liver was normally served as a side dish, not as the main course.

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Cut to the chase - Get to the point.

Origin: This expression is likely tied to silent films of the 1920s, many of which ended in chase sequences preceded by romantic story lines.

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Fish out of water - To be out of one’s comfort zone.

Origin: This expression can traced all the way back to the 14th century, to the works of English poet Geoffrey Chaucer. One example: "...a huge man, uncouth; a master of vessel and knew all the ports; not ride well; like a fish out of water as sat on his horse."

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Gild the lily - To over embellish; to apply unnecessary ornaments.

Origin: The phrase is probably a variation of the expression “paint the lily,” used by English playwright William Shakespeare in ‘King John’ (1595).

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Go out on a limb - Expressing a risky opinion or taking a wild guess.

Origin: The phrase is likely related to climbing trees. So, literally going out on the limb of a tree, which is risky as one might fall.

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Go to hell in a handbasket - Something that is on a course for disaster.

Origin: One theory says that the heads of guillotined people were caught in a basket, and the victim would go straight to hell since they were presumably receiving the capital punishment for a good reason.

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Heebie-jeebies - Used to describe a type of anxiety usually related to a certain disliked person or place.

Origin: The idiom dates back to the 1920s, when rhyming phrases were popular (hocus-pocus, mumbo-jumbo). The term is widely attributed to William Morgan "Billy" de Beck, who wrote the phrase in a 1923 cartoon that ran in the then-called ‘The New York American.’

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Hold your horses - Used to tell someone to stop.

Origin: It relates to horse cars. It is believed to have been first seen in print with a non-literal meaning in ‘The Port Phillip Gazette’ newspaper in 1843: “'Hold your horses,' says he, 'and if you want to hear the greatest shaving story that you ever did hear, just keep cool.'"

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Hit below the belt - Saying something hurtful, offensive, or inappropriate.

Origin:  The idiom has its origins in boxing matches, as hitting below the waist (where the belt sits) is against the rules.

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Jump the gun - To start something before you’re supposed to; being overly precipitated.

Origin: The origin dates back to as early as the 1830s, and likely traces back to foot racing, which often began with the firing of a pistol.

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A bigger bang for your buck - Getting more for your money.

Origin: The phrase is generally attributed to US Defense Secretary Charles Wilson after using it in 1953, and it later became widely used in military contexts. However, he wasn’t the one to coin it. An advert in ‘Metals and Plastics Publications’ from 1940 printed the phrase, which likely means the phrase is older than we think.

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Kit and caboodle - A collection of things.

Origin: A kit is set of objects, and a caboodle is an archaic term that means “group.” The idiom was first recorded in that form in 1884.

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Know the ropes - To be very knowledgeable in a subject.

Origin: This idiom traces back to sailors and sailing ships, who depended on ropes to control them. This phrase was first used with its figurative meaning in ‘Two Years Before the Mast’ by Richard H. Dana in 1940: "The captain, who had been on the coast before and 'knew the ropes,' took the steering oar, and we went off in the same way as the other boat."

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On cloud nine - Being in a state of blissful happiness.

Origin: The idiom is commonly attributed to the US Weather Bureau’s classification of cloud in the 1950s, in which “Cloud Nine” was used to describe the fluffy cumulonimbus type that are considered so attractive. But there is a different theory that says “cloud nine” relates to Buddhism as one of the stages of the a Bodhisattva’s progress to enlightenment.

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Piece of cake - Something that is easy, uncomplicated.

Origin: Cake is a common symbol in American language for something that is sweet or pleasurable. The earliest recorded use of this phrase can be traced back to American poet and humorist Ogden Nash's ‘Primrose Path’ (1936): "Her picture's in the papers now, And life's a piece of cake."

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Talk through one's hat - To talk nonsense; to make ignorant claims about a subject.

Origin: Though its origins are unclear, it was first seen in print in the late 19th century in Farmer and Henley's ‘Slang and its Analogues’: "Dis is only a bluff dey're makin' - see! Dey're talkin' tru dere hats."

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The whole nine yards - All of it; the whole lot.

Origin: Yale University librarian Fred R. Shapiro has described this phrase as "the most prominent etymological riddle of our time” because its origins are so debated. The first idiomatic use of the term can be traced back to 1907 in ‘The Mitchell Commercial’: “This afternoon at 2:30 will be called one of the baseball games that will be worth going a long way to see. The regular nine is going to play the business men as many innings as they can stand, but we can not promise the full nine yards.”

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The whole shebang - All of it; the whole lot.

Origin: Walt Whitman used the word “shebang” in ‘Specimen Days’ (1862) to describe some form of hut or rustic dwelling. The full expression can be traced back to the 1920s.

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Talk the talk - To back up words with actions.

Origin: The earliest usage of this phrase can be traced back to the ‘Mansfield News’ in 1921: “Although he has no gilded medals upon his bosom, Howard Herring of the North American Watch company, walks the walk, and talks the talk, of a hero today."

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