English Language Phrases Using Body Parts - to amuse, confuse and clarify

 

I am a native English speaker and so is my husband. When we have coffee breaks or meals together we frequently comment on each other's use of common or unusual uses of English words grammar and phrases. today I noticed a phrase using body parts and started making my own list. I reached forty-seven. Fascinating. There must be many more.

Let's start at the top of the body and work down. If you are learning English, or want to teach children and foreigners in a fun way, you can use the song Heads And Shoulders Knees And Toes.

HUMAN BODY PARTS

Heads

I'll give you a heads up (start)

please get it into your little head (meaning brain, not head, condescending, implies you are stupid, ill informed)

I can't get it/her/him out of my head (always thinking of it, can't forget)

Hair

if you don't get in my hair (annoy me)

Face

let's face it / face up to it (recognize it, admit it, be courageous, or confront it)

Neck

it's a pain in the neck (annoying)

Eye

get some shut eye (sleep)

Nose

don't be nosey (inquisitive)

he/she is a nosey Parker (inquisitive and interfering)

Mouth

bad mouthing somebody (speaking ill of them)

paying lip service (following the exact rule but not the intention of the rule)

get your teeth in it (get started, get involved in a task or problem)

on the tip of my tongue (trying to remember, I was about to think it or say it)

you took the words out of my mouth (you said first what I was thinking and about to say)

Chin

chin up (be cheerful and confident or courageous)

don't stick your neck out (don't get noticed, get involved)

Neck

necking (kissing)

UPPER BODY

Shoulder

put your shoulder to it

Heart 

she's/he's/it's in my heart (fond feelings towards him or her)

heartfelt (strongly felt, emotional, sincere)

Don't be half-hearted (using little effort)

Stomach

we couldn't stomach it (felt uneasy and queasy - could not face it!)

I had a gut feeling (instinctive, not rational but strong, unnerving, worrying, insistent feeling, a conclusion based on no evidence about a person or situation but experience of previous similar situations)

ARMS

Arm

at arm's length (distant)

Hand

 keep it handy (useful, nearby). You have to hand it to him/her/it (you must concede, give him/her/it credit)

Fingers

at my fingertips (nearby)

Nails

Nail it (not from fingernail but hammering a nail, meaning got the meaning)

LOWER BODY

Butt 

He's a pain in the butt (pain in the buttocks)

put it where the sun don't shine (hide it)

let's sit on it/don't sit on (do nothing)

LOWER LIMBS: Legs and feet

Knee

 a knees up (dance)

Run

 give somebody a run for their money ( )

Sit

 a sit down (rest); don't sit on it (procrastinate, take no action)

getting away with it (going uncaught and unpunished, not confronted)

confronted (opposed and stopped and spoke accusingly to somebody)

Back

glad we've seen the back of him/her/it (glad they it or he or she are gone)

Leg

give somebody a leg up (help, help somebody up the social or work or professional or career ladder)

Foot

playing footsie (playing by nudging toes and feet, kicking for attention and entwining ankles)

get off on the wrong foot (start aggressively or confrontationally, with an argument or disagreement or insult, or dispute, or misunderstanding)

Put your best foot forward (do your best, start energetically)

Toe

tip-toeing around it/the problem (avoiding the problem, not speaking clearly and not taking firm action)

a slip-up (a mistake)

Action

let's kick off (let's start)

TREE PARTS

Family Tree (diagram of ancestors and descendants)

Chip: He's a chip off the old block (just like his parent(s) or family or ancestors)

Leaf: let's turn over a new leaf (start again with something new)

Branch: in our branch office (subsidiary)

You could compile your own list, laboriously, by going through each body part in a large dictionary.

Then you could do the same in your favourite foreign language if you are bilingual or learning, to see if the other language uses the same phrase, something similar, or a totally different equivalent idiom.

When I did an online search for body parts I found a website on idioms and I was surprised and pleased to see that their list and mine were totally different. 

To give just one example, break a leg, said in the theatre before a first night performance, an old superstition, not a hostile remark, but thwarting an ill-wishing devil.

Useful Websites

https://examples.yourdictionary.com/reference/examples/common-idioms-using-body-parts.html

About the Author

Angela Lansbury is an author, personal tutor, class teacher, and workshop trainer for adults and businesses.