Furthermore, the meaning that should Adam stand next to the modern Homo Sapien, (Latin for wise man), there would be a striking similarity between the two appears to have been entirely overlooked. I think it is a source of sadness that to accidentally or intentionally not associate, (often due to political correctness and popularist agendas), with the Hebrew Bible has led to an organisation with “Cambridge” in it’s title ignoring the obvious connection of the idiom with Adam in the Book of Genessis in that Bible. Haha… It’s fun thinking about these sayings. You can also call yourself Babsi (also as a man) if you want to make fun of your homieness. )Ī Babsi is a woman from the countryside who lives for baking, making decorations and the sort. It’s an insult to somebody who’s a bit slow of the mark. Du Voll-Horst! (You complete Horst (it’s a male first name, e.g. Alternatively, there is also a version with Heti and Pleti. (They invited Hinz und Kunz (apparently abbrevations of Heinreich and and Konrad/Konstantin). Just means that the person is not very attractive. I don’t know the Hempels, but we use it for describing chaos in general. (Looks like under family Hempel’s couch). In my variety of German we use quite a lot of phrases with names: Just eat your meal and stop being such a Moaning Minnie!ĭo let us know about phrases with names in your own language! And look out for my next post, on phrases that contain place names. She insists on wearing a coat in this hot weather – she’s such a Contrary Mary. I felt such a Plain Jane when I was a teenager. Finally, a Moaning Minnie is someone who complains a lot (not always a female!): It’s a crazy, Rube Goldberg kind of device, but it works.Īll the names up to this point have been male, but there are a few phrases with female names – all rather derogatory! A Plain Jane is a girl or woman who is ordinary looking and not beautiful, and a Contrary Mary is a girl or woman who often disagrees with other people or does the opposite of what other people want them to do. The original method for attaching the motor was pretty Heath Robinson. The British version is Heath Robinson and the American is Rube Goldberg: We don’t want any old Tom, Dick and Harry turning up.īritish and American English both use the names of cartoonists famous for their eccentric and complex drawings as adjectives to describe crazy and over-complicated machines, inventions or systems.
We sometimes use the phrase Tom, Dick and/or Harry in a rather negative way to mean ‘anyone’: There he was, Johnny-on-the-spot, ready with his tool box. We found our business threatened by this Johnny-come-lately. Her first boyfriend was a bit of a Jack the Lad.Ī Johnny-come-lately is a rather critical term for someone who has only recently started doing something (especially if they are already successful), while the American term Johnny-on-the-spot is used for someone who is ready to do something, especially help someone, immediately: All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy! However, there is no common female equivalent of the British phrase a Jack the Lad, which means a very confident young man who doesn’t take life seriously and doesn’t care much about other people: Similarly, the phrase all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, meaning that it’s good for us to have fun, could be changed to … makes Jill a dull girl.
Why would I let him stay in my house? I don’t know him from Adam. We can use this phrase for men and women, though for a woman we might say something like don’t know someone from Eve/ Adam’s wife: If you say that you don’t know someone from Adam, you mean that you don’t know them at all and don’t know who they are. Today’s post focuses on phrases that contain general personal names – there are a surprising number of them! Maciej Toporowicz, NYC/Moment/Getty Images
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