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In this blog, I want to share with you a few idioms/phrases related to gold. Did you know:-

1. The Midas Touch

The meaning of Midas touch is to have the ability to be successful, especially the ability to make money easily. The idiom of Midas touch is originated from the story of King Midas. It was an ancient Greek story. King Midas had a lot of gold and good fortune. But he never satisfied with what he had. The more he had, the more he wanted. He stored all his gold in a vault, and he would count his fortune everyday.

One day, while he was counting his gold, a stranger came upon him. The stranger told Kind Midas that he would grant any wish made by the King. Without much thought, the King said "I want everything that I touch to turn into gold". The stranger asked King Midas whether he was sure about his wish. With a firm voice, King Midas said "Yes! I want the ability to turn anything that I touch into gold". With that, the stranger told King Midas that by the sun rise tomorrow morning, everything that King Midas touch will turn into gold. 

The next morning, when King Midas woke up, he touched his bed, and it turned into gold. He was so happy. He looked outside his window and saw his daughter was playing happily. He wanted to share his good news with his daughter, but first, he wanted to have his breakfast. But, alas, anything he touched turned into gold, so he can't eat anything. Before long, his daughter came bouncing and hugged him, and the worst thing happened. She turned into a gold statue. 

King Midas was sad and hungry. He can't smile anymore, because everything that he touched had turned into gold. Out of the blue, the stranger that granted his wish came. King Midas apologised to the stranger and asked for forgiveness. The stranger reversed back the wish, and King Midas got back his daughter.

2. Chasing Pot Of Gold At The End Of Rainbow

The meaning of this phrase is that chasing the elusive dreams, always seems to be tantalizing but one step ahead, never within reach. This metaphor is always being associated with the story of leprechaun. According to an Irish folklore, every leprechaun has a pot of gold.

A leprechaun is a devious fairy, but for any human that can catch it, he/she can be the luckiest person. To protect the leprechaun’s pot of gold the Irish fairies gave them magical powers to use if ever captured by a human or an animal. A leprechaun would use this magic to escape capture by granting three wishes or by vanishing into thin air!

3. As Good As Gold

The idiom 'as good as gold' meant to be 'excellent, very good indeed, well behaved'. The term as good as gold also means something as genuine as gold. In earlier years, 'as good as gold' meant to carry more economic meaning because when the banknotes being first introduced, they were not to be considered as carry much weight as now. This was because at that time, gold and silver carried more weight.

However, at later stage, 'as good as gold' is more widely used to indicate 'well behaved, or excellent'. 

I am sure there's many more 'gold'. I will try to add as time permits, or you may add in the comment.

My other Did You Know? series:-

1. Did You Know?;  2. Continuation;  3. Another Continuation;  4. Not Another Continuation!; 5. Gosh! Will It Never Ends?;  6. Oh No! Not Another One!;  7. Here Comes Another One;  8. Another One?;  9. One, Two, Eighty Six?; 10. Punishment? OMG!; 11. Is This A Swan Song?;  12 John Has It All?; 13. It's All In The Myth;  14. This Is Random;  15. It's A Dog's World;  16.  It's Also A Cat's World;  17. Is It A Mouse World Too?;  18. Dutch Flavour;  19. It's The Greek Flavour;  20. It's All Greek