Top 5 Expressions

Being a fan of languages and puzzles, I am often most happy with a good expressions or metaphor in place of the literal. While this has often got me into trouble, not least when a girlfriend of 3 months told me she understood very little of what I was saying (lucky her), I have persevered with 'the patience of a saint' to much enjoyment.

Here are a collection of some of my favourites:
5 - "The proof is in the pudding"

The truth is in the dessert? Nope. Apparently the goodness of the dessert is in its eating, meaning that the truth about something will be revealed in its execution.

Like so many of our food-related services, this expression seems to have been shortened somewhat.

4 - "Doubting Thomas"
An absolute beauty and another doubt-based expression. Used to infer that a person is a disbeliever / cynic, but why Thomas? Well, it seems that St Thomas the Apostle is behind this for doubting the resurrection of Christ, thereby condemning all future namesakes to be associated with distrust, setting them up for a career in politics but little else.

3 - "Smoking the curtains"


A French expression meaning you are out of your mind. It infers that you have been smoking something / anything (curtains, carpet, chairs, tables etc) to make you so. Makes the list for its randomness and playfulness.

2 - "Flat out like a lizard drinking"

An evocative beauty. If to be 'flat out' means to be busy/occupied, then to be flat out like a lizard drinking is to be very busy. Obvious. Really.

1 - "Dont come the raw prawn"

This would flumux most, and seems to frequently do so. The meaning is a request not to be lied to. How this relates to Crustaceans, I couldnt really say. Perhaps raw prawns are slippery or less palatable (to some), but this expression tops the list for its haphazard logic and the reaction it evokes in most.

Other notables...

"Mean as cats piss"
Think of drinking cats piss. Nasty, eh?
"Full as a boot"
Couldnt possibly eat another thing.
"Mad as a cut snake"
Another evocative beauty. Imagine how a snake would react if you cut it. Australia seems to have a number of expressions to indicate the loss of ones sensibility, including "gone troppo" which has left me with a lietime distrust of anyone from Queensland.
"On the tooth"
To be hungry.