List of idioms in the English language (M)
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[edit] M
Please note that the sub-article listing the idioms starting with the letter (A) has been deleted in accordance with the result of Articles for Deletion debate that took place. All other such articles (like this one) will be deleted in the near future (as of 30 November 2006). Readers interested in idioms are requested and required to look up the individual entry in Wiktionary, or peruse the Wiktionary category and not add to this article, or create new ones on the same topic.
| Idiom | Where Used | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Mad as a box of (soapy) frogs | UK | extremely mentally unstable; psychotic; detached from reality. |
| Mad as a hatter | UK | extremely mentally unstable; psychotic; detached from reality. |
| Make hay (while the sun shines) | UK (only in full), USA, AUS | To take advantage of a favorable opportunity. To work diligently toward a goal. |
| Make love | Global | To court or to have sexual intercourse. Used by Shakespeare; from French (faire l'amour) or Italian (fare l'amore). |
| Make a mountain out of a molehill | Global | Interpret great significance (generally negative) from a (seemingly) minor event; to assume something is much worse than it actually is. This is most often used in criticism |
| May/December | USA | Describes a couple where there is a significant age difference (i.e. 20+ years) between the participants. Often implies that the older 'December' participant should have pursued his or her own age group instead of taking the younger and more desirable person out of circulation |
| Mind one's Ps and Qs | Global | To be very careful and/or to behave correctly. It is tied to the fact that the lowercase letters "p" and "q" mirror each other. This is a term from typesetters in the printing industry. In the days of lead type, letters were set individually into a page, and they were placed one by one, upside down. They were pulled from a typecase, in which each letter had a designated space to reside. Problems came when pages were being taken apart and letters put away. If someone was in a hurry or was not paying attention to what he was doing, he could end up with p's and q's in the wrong slots in the typecase, which he wouldn't notice until the next time he was putting together a page, when he would unknowingly pick out the wrong letter. (This could also happen with b's and d's, but as they are more common than q's, typesetters were more accustomed to finding them, and they were mixed up less often.) Hence, pay attention to what you're doing now, so that you don't give yourself problems later on. Alternatively, in England this phrase is also associated with "p'ease" and "'k you" baby talk for 'Please' and 'Thank you', hence "Mind your P's and Q's" is sometimes used to mean "Remember to say 'Please' and 'Thank you.'" Another less widely accepted origin of this phrase purports to have originated in England where, when patrons at a bar were becoming unruly, the bartender would remind them to, "Mind your pints and quarts." This has been shortened to the phrase, "Mind your P's and Q's." An alternative explanation is that during the eighteenth century dancing masters taught ladies and gentlement how to behave. This including correct stance and bowing correctly. One had to be careful when bowing low, so that one's wig did not fall off. This is expressed in French as minding one's "pieds" (feet) and "queues" (tails of their wigs) when greeting other dancers in the ballroom. Reference :http://podiatry.curtin.edu.au/ballet.html |
| Mind like a steel trap | AUS, USA | An intelligent person who is quick to grasp concepts. Refers to an animal trap that shuts quickly. Similarly the mind is quick to remember and understand information. |
| (There is) more than one way to skin (or kill) a cat | Global | Something can be achieved in several different ways. Often used upon the realization that one attempted method has failed or is about to fail (e.g. "This method has failed, but there's more than one way to skin a cat!") |
| Monday-morning quarterback | USA | Someone who criticizes a strategy after already knowing the outcome. In the USA, football games are usually shown on TV on Sundays. A Monday-morning quarterback is thus somebody who purports to know all the calls the quarterback should have made in Sunday's game, but only because he has seen the effect of calling, or not calling, those plays. |
| Month of Sundays | AUS, UK | A long time - 28, 29, 30 or 31 weeks depending on your definition of a month. |
| Move up (in the world) | Global | Advance to a higher level and succeed |
| Mother nature | Global | Nature and its benevolence towards human beings |
| Much of a muchness | AUS, UK | Indicates that the choices available to the speaker are not greatly different in their effect e.g. "Would you like tea or coffee? Oh, it's all much of a muchness when I'm thirsty." |
| Mum's the word | Global | The issue or topic at hand is of great secrecy and one cannot reveal any more than one already has |
| Mutton dressed up as lamb | UK | 1. A person (usually female) who behaves and/or dresses as though they are younger than they actually are. 2. A female who dresses in a vulgar/unflattering manner to be attractive to men, with the opposite effect. |
| My dogs are barking | USA | When someone's feet are tired or sore from standing or walking. |
| My old (wo)man | Global | A slightly derogatory term for husband/wife or father/mother |
