An idiom is a phrase that is common to some, but may be puzzling to others. It usually is not understandable based solely on the words within the phrase.
We use idioms every day, sometimes without even realizing that what we’re saying is nonsensical without the meaning behind them.
The idiom “turn a blind eye” means to refuse to acknowledge a known truth. The most commonly accepted origin is that “turning a blind eye” comes from a comment made by British Admiral Horatio Nelson. In 1801, he led the attack alongside Admiral Sir Hyde Parker in the Battle of Copenhagen. Nelson was blind in one eye. Parker communicated to Nelson at one point via flags that he needed to retreat and disengage. Nelson, however, was convinced that he could prevail if they pushed on. Nelson then, holding the telescope to his blind eye, pretended not to see the signal… making a sly comment to a fellow officer about reserving the right to use his blind eye every now and again.
“Feeling under the weather” means to feel sick. When a sailor was feeling ill, he would go beneath the bow, which is the front part of the boat. This would hopefully protect him as he was literally under the bad weather that could further sicken him. Therefore, a sailor who was sick could be described as being “under the weather.”
“Beat around the bush” means to circle the point to avoid the point of conversation. This phrase originated with small game hunting in Britain. Hunters would beat bushes in order to flush out the birds. Therefore, they were beating around the bush before getting to the main point of the hunt.
The idiom “spill the beans” means to leak a secret. This one is likely derived from an ancient Greek voting process which involved beans. Voters would put one of two coloured beans into a vessel, with a white bean meaning yes and black or brown meaning no. If someone spilled the beans, the secret results of the voting would be revealed before intended. Hence, spilling the beans is related to revealing secret information.
To “get the wrong end of the stick” means to not understand the situation completely. The expression refers to a walking stick held upside down, which does not help a walker much. It originated in the 1400s as “worse end of the staff” and changed to the current wording in the late 1800s.
Perhaps when you first heard some of these idioms, you got “The wrong end of the stick.”
