Home > Blossary: Idioms from English Literature
English literature, particularly fairy tales, stories and ballads are rich with idiomatic expressions and idioms. They are widely used in everyday speech. So let's see their origin.

Category: Literature

11 Terms

Created by: Tatevik888

Number of Blossarys: 5

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The phrase “Tom thumb” comes from the same fairy tale. Back in the times of King Arthur, lived a poor and infertile couple who longed for a son but remained as barren as they were poor. They invite a ...

Domain: Literature; Category: Chilldren's literature

It derives from another genius English fairy tale by Joseph Jacobs. The tale is about a boy whose name was Jack, and he lived with his mother on a common. They were very poor, and the old woman ...

Domain: Literature; Category: Chilldren's literature

According to the fairy tale there was an old man, and an old woman, and a little boy. One morning the old woman made a Johnny-cake, and put it in the oven to bake. The old man and the old woman went ...

Domain: Literature; Category: Chilldren's literature

Lewis Carroll's book "Alice in Wonderland' is full of fanciful characters, each one adding a bit of humor and dimension to the story. When Alice falls down the rabbit hole she encounters various ...

Domain: Literature; Category: Fiction

It is difficult to find a young person, who has not heard about the fantastic tale about Peter Pan. Written by the Scottish novelist and playwright James Matthew Barrie, the tale is about a ...

Domain: Literature; Category: Fiction

The phrase “Modern day Robin Hood” is used to describe a person, who robs rich people to help poor ones. The anthroponymic phrase derives from the worldwide famous “The merry adventures of Robin ...

Domain: Literature; Category: Fiction

The expression "Barkis is willing" first appeared in Charles Dickens' well-known classic "David Copperfield". Barkis is the name of one the characters in the novel. He keeps sending a message through ...

Domain: Literature; Category: Fiction

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