Re: Common World Idioms

Christophe wrote:
>I
still couldn't imagine what logic would make it possible to guess this
meaning from such an idiom as "red handed".

Probably, as I think someone has already said, with blood on one's
hands......

>Another idiom that mystified me for years was "to kick the bucket". I only
learned the meaning of this idiom a year ago, after more than 10 years of
English classes...

Don't recall ever hearing about its origin-- must google! It's very old;
oddly, I've always associated it with cows kicking over the bucket while
being milked, but don't see what that has to do with dying.  On Apr. 12,
1945, my little 9yr old cousin came running home from school and shocked his
mother by saying "Guess who just kicked the bucket!?" (A:  President
Roosevelt)

Although it's perfectly ordinary Spanish, the phrase "Como decíamos
ayer..."-- 'as we were saying yesterday'--resonates with lovers of Spanish
lit.  (The poet Fray Luis de León was removed from his teaching post and
held for months (if not more) by the Inquisition; after being finally
acquitted and allowed to return, he began his first lecture with those
words. )

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