Strange idiomatic expressions

[AureliaeLacrimae]

I wonder what you'll say about ''cost an arm and a leg''.

I know that ''bite the bullet'' came from the time when the physicians had to operate without anesthesia, so they had the soldiers bite the bullet. Now it means to try to accept a difficult situation and deal with it.

I never understood the expression ''go bananas''. How do bananas go crazy, I wonder. What about ''basket case''? I understand ''go berserk''. It actually has reference to the Old English and Anglo-Saxon/Germanic/Old Norse roots where berserker were warriors who fought in a manic and uncontrolled state of fury. Some other strange idioms for ''go crazy'' are:

  - lose one's marbles

  - off one's rocker/trolley

  - have rats in the attic

  - have a screw loose

  - pop one's cork

  - hit the roof

  - fly off the handle

  - blow one's top

[linguaholic]

That's an interesting question, Aurelia.

I am also wondering where the idiomatic expression 'go bananas' comes from. I really can't think about the etymological roots of this phrase...just does not to make sense at all :=)

[AureliaeLacrimae]

That's an interesting question, Aurelia.

I am also wondering where the idiomatic expression 'go bananas' comes from. I really can't think about the etymological roots of this phrase...just does not to make sense at all :=)

Well, unless there was some strange disease which made people go crazy and it came from bananas, I can't think why (I'm joking).

There are a lot of idioms which are etymologically difficult to figure out. Some of them are even taken from other languages and that makes them all the more obscure to a native speaker. How can you figure out something which you take for granted? Not easily, especially if it comes from other cultures. I can't figure out half of the idioms in my own language, let alone English or some other, but I do find this interesting. I bet you have idioms like these in every language.

[Verba]

How about "at the drop of a hat?" It means doing something without any hesitations. Why can't it just be a hankie? Lol! It's easier to drop. Or the idiomatic expression "a hot potato" which refers to a trendy topic that's being disputed.

But honestly, I haven't really thought about these idioms as strange. I think I related its use in sentences. When the sentence seems appropriate with that idiom, it appears logical to me. For example, "My husband follows my whims and caprices at the drop of a hat." How I wish. Lol! Anyway, it sounds logical because dropping a hat is an easy task to do. Hence, when used in that sentence, the meaning makes sense. So I related the idiom not to its origin or the why-a-hat-not-a-hankie kind of reasoning, but to the way it is used in sentences.

[czarina84]

On ‎10‎/‎4‎/‎2014‎ ‎6‎:‎11‎:‎36‎, Meerkat said:

My favorite is still "It cost me an arm and a leg". I know what it means (I am a native english speaker) but it is awful... who in the world pays in arms and legs?

 

Did some guy have not enough change to pay a cannibal?

Maybe the cannibal's currency is arms and legs.  Would that mean that hands, feet, digits and nails are change?    Honestly, though, I think it refers to something that costs so much that it is as difficult to give up as much needed body parts, such as arms and legs.  Similar to "I would give my right arm for talent like hers".