ESL Blogs

In this blog, I just want to share with you some of more familiar and often used expressions. 

Did You Know?

1. October baby

When a person is said to be an October baby, it means that she/he was born prematurely; to be exact, she/he was born on her/his eight month. The origin of this expression was based on the meaning of October. October is the 'eight month' in the Ancient Roman calender. In the Ancient Roman, March; or it is called Martius back then, is the beginning of the year. Therefore, October is the eight month. 

2. Indian Summer

Indian summer is usually refer to a period warm or mild weather in late autumn or early winter. It also refers to a pleasant, tranquil, or flourishing period occurring near the end of something. Nowadays, it usually refers to uncommon heat wave. Contrary to some that may believed this term does not refer to the India, the Country. However, it refers to the Red Indian, the native American. According to the Phrase Finder, the expression first recorded in the  Letters From an American Farmer, a 1778 work by the French-American soldier turned farmer J. H. St. John de Crèvecoeur (a.k.a. Michel-Guillaume-Jean de Crèvecoeur).

3. Always the bridesmaid, never the bride

This expression means that said about someone who is never the most important person in a situation. It was first originated in a music tune by Fred W. Leigh which had a line it stating, "Why Am I Always A Bridesmaid?"

Based from another a source, it was said that the expression was a sad one. It was because previously, a bridesmaid role was to supply the bride with a young, unwed lovelies. Thus, a bride by virtue of having successfully get a husband, was viewed to be successful in her life task, whereas, her attendants; the bridesmaids, as having failed.

The expression was made popular by an advertisement by the mouthwash brand Listerine in 1924. The advertisement portrayed a forlorn woman who was unlucky in love and never being able to find love and settle down. The manufacturers marketed the mouthwash by insinuating that everyone around her knew the real reason which was bad breath, but was embarrassed to tell her.

Other Did You Know series :-

1. Did You Know?;   2. Did You Know - Continuation;   3. Did You Know - Another Continuation;   4. Did You Know - Not Another Continuation!;   5. Did You Know - Gosh! Will it never ends?;   6. Did You Know - Oh No! Not Another One!;   7. Did You Know? - Here Comes Another One!;   8. Did You Know? - Another One?;  9. Did You Know? - One, Two, Eighty Six?;   10. Did You Know? - Punishment? OMG!;   11. Did You Know? - John Has it All?;   12. Did You Know? - Is this a Swan Song?;  13. Did You Know? - It's All in the Myth!