If Idioms  Were Literal

18May,2024

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It sounds tragic as it literally means actually breaking a bone in your leg. "Break a leg" is used as a way to wish someone good luck,

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Break a leg

It would mean physically grasping or restraining actual horses. However, it is used to advise someone to be patient or to wait before taking action.

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Hold your horses

Taken literally, it would involve physically kicking a bucket, perhaps as an act of frustration. However, the idiom is a euphemism for dying or passing away. 

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Kick the bucket

It would mean accidentally or intentionally causing beans to fall out of a container but the idiom is used figuratively to mean revealing secret or confidential information.

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Spill the beans

It would imply that domestic animals, specifically cats and dogs, are falling from the sky during a rainstorm. However, the idiom is used to describe heavy rainfall.

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Raining cats and dogs

"Cost an arm and a leg" would suggest that something is so expensive it requires the sacrifice of body parts, specifically an arm and a leg. But it means that something is expensive or costly.

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Cost an arm and a leg

It would mean that someone's head is physically surrounded by clouds, as if they were floating among them. However, the idiom means that someone is not paying attention to reality.

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Head in the clouds