header photo courtesy Pixabay
by Dawn Smith-Pfeifer
Stop me if you’ve heard this blog before! If I have ever written extensively about food idioms, it didn’t show up in my search history. (Okay, I did write about cheesy sayings in June, but it was JUST about cheese, and I didn’t use the word idiom.)
Finding food-related topics to write about on the regular is definitely not a piece of cake (see what I did there?). Saying something is a “piece of cake” means it is easy, precisely because cake is very easy to eat. Especially red velvet cake, with that delicious cream cheese frosting that my grandmother used to make for everyone’s birthday. But I digress.
Food idioms are so integral to our language that we may not even think twice about where they came from. But because I’m a word nerd, I find them intriguing. They are a way to help us visualize and colorfully connect to a situation. So, take this entire post with a grain of salt, if you want. Which, by the way, apparently goes back to 77 A.D. and Pliny the Elder, who created a poison antidote using figs and walnuts, an herb called rue, and a “grain of salt.” Fast forward to 1647, when religious commentator John Trapp wrote, “This is to be taken with a grain of salt.” Although nobody is sure what he meant, it would seem that the current meaning emerged in the early 20th century, according to Gary Martin, a trusted source of information on idioms.
There are so many more, and to be honest, I have been down too many rabbit holes already, so I will just leave you with more food idioms to look up at your leisure, because I have bitten off more than I can chew, and I have a lot on my plate right now! 😉
- Like two peas in a pod
- Bringing home the bacon
- I have bigger fish to fry
- Selling like hotcakes
- Cream of the crop
- He/She is one smart cookie
- Don’t cry over spilled milk
- Spill the beans
- Chew the fat
- In a pickle (or if you prefer sweet, instead of sour) In a jam
Happy idioming!
Dawn Smith-Pfeifer is the editor for On Your Table. Send any comments or questions to her at onyourtable@ndfb.org.