What’s in a Phrase?

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As a town of farms, we may have forgotten how much a part of the language agricultural saying/references have become. See how many of these you know

  1. The lines in a worried forehead resemble grooves in the earth made by a plow. A forehead can be described as ___.
  2. Like well-farmed land, the fertile mind of an intellectual person is carefully tended and yields a bountiful harvest. We say such people are _______.
  3. Among farm equipment is a cultivating implement set with spikes or spring teeth that pulverizes the earth by violently tearing and flipping over the topsoil. That’s why to identify an emotionally lacerating experience as _________.
  4. Rooted in the Latin de-, “from” and lira, “furrow” is a word that metaphorically compares behavior that deviates from a straight course to the action of swerving from the conventional path in plowing: __________
  5. In bygone days, the Old English math meant “mowing”. Nowadays a word that means “results, effects or consequences” is _________.
  6. European peasants, forbidden to cut down or pick from trees, were allowed to gather gratuitous fuel and food blown down by acts of nature, a bounty the required little effort on the part of the lucky recipients. By extension, we today use a word that describes an unexpected stroke of luck: __________
  7. The arduous job of hoeing long rows of uncooperative terrain gives us the American expression that means “a difficult task: __________
  8. Late spring frosts or pests of the insect or human variety can kill an aborning tree or flower before it has a chance to develop. When we terminate a project in its early stages, we say that we __________
  9. Hay is made by setting mown grass out in the sun to dry. When we want to make the most of an opportunity, we try to _________.
  10. Anyone who has tried to use tightly stretched wire to bind bales of hay knows how inefficient and ornery the stuff can be. When someone or something behaves in an uncontrolled manner, we say he or she or it _________.
Answers
  1. Furrowed
  2. Cultivated
  3. Harrowing
  4. Delirium, delirious
  5. Aftermath
  6. Windfall
  7. A hard or tough row to hoe
  8. Nip in the bud
  9. Make hay while the sun shines
  10. Goes haywire

Now try these clothing metaphors: Complete the following phrases using an article of clothing in the answer.

  1. To have something __
  2. Hot under the __
  3. Cute as a __
  4. Too big for his __
  5. A __– legger
  6. To be __-winked
  7. A stuffed _
  8. To play it close to the __
  9. A yellow __
  10. A wolf in sheep’s _
  11. A turn _
  12. Town and _
  13. A big _
  14. A bee in her __
  15. __ and dagger
  16. An off-the- __ remark
  17. The cat’s _
  18. Goody two- __
  19. To pull oneself up by one’s _
  20. Before we go, let’s have a __.

More Answers

  1. Up your sleeve
  2. Collar
  3. Button
  4. Britches
  5. Boot
  6. Hood
  7. Shirt
  8. Vest
  9. Jacket
  10. Clothing
  11. Coat
  12. Gown
  13. Wig
  14. Bonnet
  15. Cloak
  16. Cuff
  17. Pajamas
  18. Shoes
  19. Bootstraps
  20. Nightcap

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