Origins of Expressions

  Drinks Like A Fish Watch this on YouTube here - Fishy Idioms - YouTube Video Meaning: Drinks like a fish is used when someone drinks an excessive amount of alcohol. Example Sentence: "I used to drink like a fish and get drunk all the time." Origin: The first written record of drinks like a fish was in 1640 in the work of Fletcher and Shirley called "The Night Walker" or "The Little Theif" (the title differs based on where you are from.) "Give me the bottle, I can drink like a fish now, like an elephant." This saying goes off the way fish breathes. As fish take a gulp of water it passes the water over their gills, the gills absorb some of the oxygen in the water, then push out the rest of the water right back out. They do this all day to breathe. This gives the illusion that fish can drink all the time with no bad after-effects. Watch this on YouTube here - Fishy Idioms - YouTube Video

  Shooting Fish In A Barrel Watch this on YouTube here - Fishy Idioms - YouTube Video Meaning: When a simple task needs to be done and there is guaranteed success in the task. A simple activity. Example Sentence: "The size of my apartment is relatively small, so keeping it nice and tidy is  like shooting fish in a barrel ." Origin:      The earliest instance found of this phrase was in a column called By the By! on February 11th, 1902. The column tells a story about 2 men - a high-end tea taster and a man drinking alcohol. the tea tester says that the man drinking alcohol can't tell what he is drinking after only 2 drinks. The drunk man replies "Oh yes I can, and what more I can tell you the brand of alcohol with certainty."  The tea tester takes the bet. After the drinking test was over the drunk man won. He was asked, "How on Earth did you do it?" He replied, "Just as simple as shooting fish in a barrel."      This saying originates from b...

  Fish Out of Water Watch this on YouTube here - Fishy Idioms - YouTube Video Meaning: Fish out of water means that someone is struggling with a task or they are really uncomfortable or awkward while performing a task. Example Sentence: "I felt like a fish out of water at the party because I knew no one." Origin: Fish out of water has been around for a long time, the first written record was in 1483 by the English poet, Geoffrey Chaucer - his poem read:               "A huge man, uncouth; a master of vessel and knew all the ports, not ride well, like a fish out of                water as he sat on his horse. Watch this on YouTube here - Fishy Idioms - YouTube Video

  Prince Charming Watch this on YouTube here - Royalty YouTube Video Prince Charming I know, this one sounds too funny to be a phrase but more like a cartoon character. But prince charming has some great history about how it started, and no it is not from a mouse-loving cartoonist who loves seeing damsels in distress being rescued. Meaning: Prince Charming is often portrayed as a handsome and romantic male character who acts as a hero and saves a female from a bad situation. It can also be used as a term to idealize a man that someone sees as a future husband or lover. Ooh, isn’t he a prince charming? Example Sentence: “I'd almost given up hope of ever finding my own Prince Charming before I met you!” Origin: This phrase did not start out as prince charming, but instead, it was converted over time. Charles Perrault 's version of  Sleeping Beauty , published in 1697, it includes the following text, thi...

  Queen Bee Watch This On YouTube here - Royalty - YouTube Video Meaning: Queen Bee is used to show that a woman holds a place of power or has a dominant position over her peers, A lady boss. Examples Sentence: “You'll have to ask the queen bee before you put through any more orders on the company card.” Origin: The phrase queen bee has been around for a few hundred years, with the first written account in 1780 by Sophia Lee in The Chapter of Accidents: a comedy. It reads “He could not endure to see her flying about, like the queen-bee with the whole hive at her heels.” Nowadays, this is used the same way but we see this as a derogatory term applied to women who have achieved success in traditionally male-dominated fields.  Watch This On YouTube here - Royalty - YouTube Video

  A Kings Ransom Watch this on YouTube here - Royalty - YouTube Video Meaning: A king’s ransom is used when we are expressing an unspecific but large amount of money. Example Sentence: “Don’t laugh—she makes a king’s ransom selling clothing for pets.” Origin: This idiom is said to be around since the Middle Ages, and it is referring to an actual sum of money, the amount required to gain the freedom of a king who was being held prisoner due to a wartime capture. During wars in the Middle Ages, each participant had a price on their head; the richer and more influential the person captured, the more money could be obtained to secure their release.  Historical research has shown that there was a well-organized trade in the captives of war and the capturing of high-ranking prisoners, which led to a significant bonus in the income of the capturing forces. Of course, kings were the wealthiest and provided the greatest bounty. In 1192 the Duke of Austria captured The E...