Body Idioms And More

Written by a physician, Body Language – from Head to Toe is a “dictionary” of American idioms and other expressions that contain the name of a body part. The use of body part-related expressions is both interesting and fun. This book contains about 2,000 such idioms, words, and expressions, such as “with the back against the wall,” “brainstorming,” “sweet tooth,” and “tongue in cheek.” Says author Per-Olof Hasselgren, “As a surgeon, I understand the importance of anatomy and the knowledge of organs and tissues. This book reflects my longstanding interest in idioms and other expressions referring to body parts, and it ‘connects’ anatomy with the spoken and written language.” This book was written for three main reasons. First, anatomy matters, particularly in surgery. During the last several years, collecting such expressions became a hobby for the author. Second, as someone moving to this country from another part of the world, Dr. Hasselgren is interested in the peculiarities of the American language. Idioms, slang, and other expressions are specific for any given language and quite often cannot be directly translated. Third, when one starts to be aware of them, written and spoken body language can become quite entertaining.

From "lamebrain" to "feet of clay," a heaping handful of English idioms, similes, metaphors, and other colorful turns of phrase.

The English language is full of metaphors and similes. This book groups 70 metaphors into 5 categories: animal metaphors, sports metaphors, body metaphors, weather metaphors, and natural disaster metaphors. Each metaphor is explained in the following way: 1. The most common version of the metaphor, and its meaning. 2. Examples of the metaphor in use by English speakers. 3. Questions and discussion points. 4. Other forms and further information Each example is taken from a corpus of natural, authentic English used by native speakers. Sources include newspapers and magazines, blogs and journals, and more. So, are you a chicken (p.11) or a black sheep (p. 20) ? Was it a false start (p.27) or a slam dunk (p.35)? The ball's in your court (p.24) ! Don't be gloomy (p. 59), keep a cool head (p.44)! Learn all 70 of these natural English metaphors and increase your English skills to native-like ability.

Give me a hand . . . hold your tongue . . . scream your lungs out . . . what's a kid to do if he wants to keep all his body parts in place? Well, one thing is for sure, he'll have to be creative. Like, if you want to keep your heart from breaking, just make sure it's well padded and protected by tying a pillow around your chest. Want to keep your hands attached? Simple-stick them on with gloves and lots of glue. Just be careful not to laugh your head off!

Chip Block, the hero of Parts, is back, and still worried about falling apart based on the things he hears. This time he’s made a list of all the strange, crazy things he’s heard people say: “I lost my head.” “My nose is running.” “I sang my heart out. . . .” It’s scary stuff, but he has a plan for making sure he doesn’t accidentally leave any of his parts behind. A hilarious sequel to the wildly popular Parts and More Parts.

A young boy is worried about what will happen to his body when he hears such expressions as "I'm tongue-tied," "don't give me any of your lip," and "I put my foot in my mouth."