Horsing around?...

So, apologies for only one post last week. I'm currently enduring the trauma of having to wait 20 whole days for my broadband connection to be switched to my new house - the stuff of nightmares for a supergeek, let me tell you...

But here I am, and what's caught my eye this week is a quirky little piece about the way that the language of horses pervades common speech. I don't mean neighing and whinneying; I mean how the English language draws idiomatically on terms used in the world of horse-rearing and horse-riding.

Now the use of idioms is always interesting. My current A2 class did a piece of research last year which appeared to show that idiom use is age related: the older you get, the more you use. Whether this is due to a lifelong language acquisition process, or whether it is the product of language change, is something we never did manage to resolve, so all suggestions are gratefully received.

Check out the link. Slightly hyperbolic title, nuh?.... Explore other idiomatic patterns?...

Whether you are long in the tooth or full of beans, the language of horses dictates our lives

Wikipedia on idioms