What's In an Idiom?
Meaning to stop a conflict and make peace, this phrase dates back to early North American when the Puritans were in conflict with the Native Americans. Once both groups came to an agreement, they would dig a hole and throw all of their weapons into it.
Bury the hatchet.
"I know that I must do what's right as sure as Kilimanjaro rises like Olympus above the Serengeti."
Toto
Africa
The story of a girl who falls in a hole and discovers a world populated by peculiar and anthropomorphic creatures.
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
After suffering a migraine for weeks, Zeus asked the god of fire to take an axe and split his head open. What goddess of wisdom sprang from his forehead?
Athena.
The Crossroads of America
Indiana
This phrase means to accept something difficult or unpleasant, and derived from the olden days when doctors were short on anesthesia or time during battle and needed to distract a patient from the pain.
Bite the bullet.
“Don’t care if it’s Chinatown or up on Riverside, I don’t have any reasons, I’ve left them all behind.”
Billy Joel
New York State of Mind
Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy have been sent to a house in the country to avoid the air raids. A faun invites Lucy for tea, and an adventure starts.
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
This Greek god of sleep gives us the name of this state of human consciousness in which the person has an enhanced capacity for response to suggestion.
Hypnosis.
The Mountain State
West Virginia
Meaning to have a false lead, or misguided thoughts about an event or situation. This phrase comes from when hunting dogs may have cornered their prey into a certain area, but it turns out the prey had escaped.
Barking up the wrong tree
"Touched down in the land of the Delta Blues in the middle of the pouring rain."
Marc Cohn
Walking in Memphis
A mysterious, vain and magical babysitter is blown by the East wind to Number Seventeen Cherry Tree Lane.
Mary Poppins
Author Suzanne Collins said that the main theme behind her book, The Hunger Games, was based on this Greek myth in which King Minos has Athens send seven youths and seven maidens to what monster?
The Minotaur.
The Land of Enchantment
New Mexico
Meaning to be completely crazy, this phrase comes from the 17th and 18th century when hat makers accidentally poisoned themselves while using mercury to make felt hats. Those affected would act shy, irritable, and suffer from tremors.
Mad as a hatter.
"Take my picture by the pool cause I'm the next big thing."
Weezer
Beverly Hills
A mischievous boy who refuses to grow up, spends his childhood on a small island, and makes friends with a girl who gives him a thimble.
Peter Pan
In Greek mythology, Achilles' mother dipped him in THIS river and held him up by his ankle, which would become his only weakness.
The River Styx
The Equality State
Wyoming
Meaning to lose nerve or confidence, this phrase originates from a military term where warriors who didn’t have shoes in freezing weather were not able to rush into battle.
Cold feet.
"All the leaves are brown and the sky is grey."
The Mamas and the Papas
California Dreaming
Originally written to educate people who worked with horses in animal welfare, this story is told in the first person as an autobiography of an animal - beginning with his carefree days as a foal on an English farm, to his difficult life pulling cabs in London, to his happy retirement in the country.
Black Beauty
After attempting to overthrow the gods, Zeus sentenced this Titan to hold up the heavens and earth on his shoulders for eternity.
Atlas.
The Sunflower State
Kansas