Let me tell you a well-known trick for remembering idioms with their meanings and usage. If you learn about the origin of the idiom, it will be very easy for you to remember them and use them as and when your writing skills demand ! In the last edition, I shared the origin of ‘Achilles’ heel’ idiom which was interesting and deserving enough to pique your curiosity. This time, I come with a hilarious origin tale – ‘Murphy’s law’. Don’t get deceived– this is not a scientific law ! 😉
This is a humorous adage which means that anything that can go wrong will go wrong !
Origin – Edward A. Murphy, Jr. was one of the engineers on the rocket-sled experiments that were done by the U.S. Air Force in 1949 to test human acceleration tolerances (USAF project MX981). One experiment involved a set of 16 accelerometers mounted to different parts of the subject’s body. There were two ways each sensor could be glued to its mount, and somebody methodically installed all 16 the wrong way around. Murphy then made the original form of his pronouncement.
Murphy’s Original Law – If there are two or more ways to do something, and one of those ways can result in a catastrophe, then someone will do it.
Murphy’s Law – If anything can go wrong — it will.
Murphy’s First Corollary – Left to themselves, things tend to go from bad to worse.
Murphy’s Second Corollary – It is impossible to make anything foolproof because fools are so ingenious.
For more info, read here
( It was a blast from the past – reminded me of the tough old days when I had to learn the physics laws ! 🙂 )
Today, when we want to remind people that even if someone’s plan is well thought of and properly planned, yet there is scope of an error – we say ‘ Do not forget the Murphy law’ ! 😀
You can find hilarious interpretations of Murphy’s making rounds on the internet ! Do check them out !
Happy learning !
| Idiom | Meaning | Sentence |
| Shy of | Having less of something that is needed or expected | She was two days shy of her 19th birthday. |
| Go south | To go down, to fall | The economy was growing but the things went south after the recession. |
| One’s goose is cooked | One is finished; one has been found out and is in trouble. | If I get caught, my goose is cooked. |
| To be in the eye of the storm | To be very much involved in an argument or problem that affects a lot of people | International aid agencies were in the eye of the storm when war broke out in the country. |
| Fit the bill | To be suitable for a particular purpose | The city needs a strong leader, and the new mayor just doesn’t fill the bill. |
| Nothing to write home about | Mediocre; not as good as you expected. | I went to that new restaurant last night. It’s nothing to write home about. |
| Blue collar | Relating to manual work or workers, particularly in industry | Blue collar workers in the factories and shipyards were demanding wage increases. |
| White Collar | Relating to the work done or the people who work in an office or other professional environment. | The ratio of white-collar workers to production workers in the manufacturing industry was declining. |
| Scratch the surface | To examine only the superficial aspects of something. | We don’t know how bad the problem is. We’ve only scratched the surface. |
| Bring something/someone to knees | To destroy or defeat someone or something. To reduce to a position of subservience or submission. | The strikes brought the economy to its knees. |
| Of age | Old enough to be considered an adult. | He’s of age now; he can buy his own car. |
| Acid test | A test which will really prove the value, quality, or truth of something | The acid test for the product will be whether people actually buy it. |
| Cut the ground from under someone’s feet | To make someone or their ideas seem less good, especially by doing something before them or better than them ( to weaken someone’s position) | The opposition claimed today’s speech was an attempt by the government to cut the ground from under their feet. |
| Chase one’s tail | To be very busy doing a lot of things, but achieving very little | He’s been chasing his tail all week collecting data but the report is still not ready |
| Think on one’s feet | To think and react quickly, especially in a situation where things are happening very fast | A good sales man must be able to think on his feet to close the deal. |
| To not let grass grow under feet | Don’t delay in getting something done, always on the move | As soon as he finished all the registration formalities, he put the house on sale. He doesn’t let the grass grow under his feet. |
| Be waiting in the wings | Waiting for an opportunity to take action, mostly to replace someone else in their job. | The senior manager is going to retire in next 2 months. Two of his juniors who are waiting in the wings will have a fierce competition. |
| Fever pitch | A state of extreme excitement. | The football crowd was at fever pitch. |
| Cut someone to the quick | Hurting someone deeply or offending them. | Joe had worked for 10 years with all his loyalty for his company. He was cut to the quick when his boss held him responsible for the theft. |
| Have one’s heart in the right place | To have good intentions, even if there are bad results. | Good old Tom! His gifts are always tacky, but his heart’s in the right place. |
| Murphy’s law | Anything that can go wrong will go wrong If there are two or more ways to do something, and one of those ways can result in a catastrophe, then someone will do it. | We may think we’ve covered all the details for the benefit, but remember Murphy’s law |
| Go up in smoke | If a plan or some work goes up in smoke, it is spoiled or wasted | Then his business went bankrupt and 20 years of hard work went up in smoke. |
| On an even keel | Stable, balanced | You should know the syllabus and plan well ahead so that your exam preparation goes on even keel |
| When the dust settles | When things have calmed down | When the dust settles, we can start patching up all the hurt feelings. |
| On the boil | If a situation or feeling is on the boil, it is very strong or active | The corruption scandal is being kept on the boil by a series of new revelations. |
| White elephant | A possession that is useless or troublesome, especially one that is expensive to maintain or difficult to dispose of. | The old building is a white elephant of the housing society. |
| Put to sword | If someone/something is put to sword, he/she/it is killed or executed. | The notion that the country’s economy is stable is being put to sword by the current market conditions. |
