If you saw a bull in a china shop, what would you expect it to do? There’s an advert on TV at the moment that claims the bull should be going berserk.
But I’d expect the bull to merely be clumsy. The idiom is used to describe someone making destructive mistakes in a situation that actually requires tact and diplomacy.
That idiom doesn’t mean the same as “a red rag to a bull”, which describes something that provokes anger (even though bulls aren’t actually annoyed by the colour red, it is the movement of the matador’s cloak that provokes the charge. The muleta is coloured red to hide the bloodstains.)
I’d suggest that the makers of the “bull in china shop” advert have mistaken what the idiom means. This happens a lot. I list some idioms here, with rebuttals of meanings I have heard attached to them. Some are subtle differences, but being subtly wrong is still being wrong.
The eye of the storm doesn’t mean the stormiest part, it describes a small area of calm while a storm rages all around.
Running about like a headless chicken isn’t confusion. The idiom means to be busy but not achieve much because you are acting in a disorganised manner.
Fast and loose isn’t to cheat. It is to be inconsistent and unreliable. Head in the clouds describes a person with unrealistic expectations, it doesn’t mean day-dreaming in an aimless way.
Waiting with bated breath means you are greatly anticipating a forthcoming event. It doesn’t imply that you are sceptical that the event will ever take place.
To beg the question means that you have already assumed that what you are trying to prove is true. It doesn’t mean that you don’t know the answer to something, or wish to discuss it.
Your north star is what guides you, it isn’t the a goal you are working towards. A fait accompli doesn’t quite mean no choice. It means that an action has been completed before those affected are in a position to question it.
Bright eyed and bushy tailed doesn’t mean inexperienced. It means eager, alert, and expectant. Your chickens come home to roost isn’t fate, or bad luck. It is when the results of previous bad deeds or words come back to have an effect upon you.
Cold turkey has come to mean abruptly stop taking drugs. But its original meaning was plain speaking.
All grist to the mill means all things can be a source of profit or advantage. It has nothing to do with all things being subjects for discussion. Fair to middling means slightly above average. It isn’t a euphemism for extremely good.
Now you may disagree with some of these. Fair enough. Nuances of meaning and shades of interpretation are what makes idioms so fascinating.
Word of the week
Quire (noun)
Four sheets of paper folded to form eight leaves. EG: “I could fill a quire with incorrect idioms”.
Read the latest Oh my word! every Saturday in The Courier. Contact me at sfinan@dctmedia.co.uk
