Body Related Idioms

Our bodies are the source of many idioms, since they are always with us. What better source of colorful language than something we all have in common. Here are five familiar idioms that are body related and the history behind them.

!. Pulling the wool over his eyes is a saying that goes back to when it was tradition for judges to wear woolen wigs that were quite large. Every now and then a judge’s wig would slip down, covering the judge’s eyes so that he could not see until he fixed the wig. A dishonest lawyer that thought he had tricked a judge about something or gotten away with something might have bragged that he had ‘pulled the wool’ over the judge’s eyes.

2. Someone that is referred to as wet behind the ears is being called innocent, young or naive. This terminology came into play on the farm. When calves or colts are born they are wet and covered with birthing fluid, which soon dies. However, there is one soft spot behind their ears that tends to take a little longer to dry. So this idiom compares the person in question to a newborn animal, fresh and innocent.

3. Pulling my leg is a saying that refers back to an old robbers trick. In England there were thieves that would use something, perhaps a cane or wire, stretched across a walkway to trip pedestrians. After the innocent person fell, the thieves would pounce and rob them. These days the phrase means that someone is trying to trick another, or play a prank.

4. The thumbs down motion and phrase dates back to ancient Rome. In the days of gladiators fighting for their lives as entertainment it was often the spectators that decided if the loser would live on to fight another day. If the spectators gave the thumbs up sign, the victor would spare the loser’s life. If the thumb down gesture was made, the fallen fighter was killed.

5. Tickling my funny bone is a silly expression that came about simply because of bone names. The bone in your upper arm is called the humerus, which sounds a little like humorous. The elbow is the very tip of the humerus, which when hit can trigger an odd tingling sensation. Some people thought that the tingling sensation felt funny. So, the combination of the two coincidences converged to encourage people to call the humerus the ‘funny bone’. When a situation or joke is funny or amusing it is said to tickle or funny bone.