1. To get off/on your high horse (also
to climb off/on your high horse)
To
stop/put on a superior or arrogant manner
Seated high up on a horse, you
automatically have to look down to talk to people who are walking. Whether you
mean it or not, those looking up can easily assume you are talking down to them
in a rather snooty manner.
Another factor is that horses
have always been expensive and therefore the province of the rich – a group not
universally noted for their humility.
Example: I
wish that politician would get off his high horse and deal with real people and
real problems.
2. To change
horses (in) mid-stream
To change your ideas, focus in
the middle of a project, race or other venture.
The appealing image of trying to
swap horses without getting soaked has undoubtedly kept this phrase in the
public eye.
Example: The
company is stuck with this software because it’s too tough to change horses in
midstream.
3. To flog a
dead horse
To try and revive interest in a
subject that nobody cares about OR to talk about something that has been
discussed at great deal.
Imagine in your mind this
horrible image of beating a dead horse in order to make it work.
Example:
Whether you like it or not, Kim has been promoted. So stop flogging a dead
horse, will you?
4. To be on
your hobby horse
To talk about a favourite
subject – usually one that bores everyone else because you’ve talked about it
too much!
Example: Warn
Syed not to mention car race or we’ll have Grandpa on his hobby horse again.
5. Horses for
courses
Something you say to mean that
what is easy for some, is difficult for others.
Trainers test a horse for its
stamina, speed and other attributes and then decide what sort of races they
think the horse will do well at. Many people also believe that certain horses
do better at particular tracks.
Example: You
can’t switch from accounts to customer service because our CEO believes in
horses for courses.
6. To pony up
To pay. Usually used in the
sense of paying an outstanding bill or debt.
This expression is linked to the
late 1790s where a pony was slang for 25 guineas, an English gold coin.
Example: It’s
George’s turn to pony up for this round.
7. Don’t look
a gift horse in the mouth
It is unwise to be ungrateful
for a gift. Also a warning that it is rude to evaluate a gift.
Based on the fact that
equestrians can tell how old (and therefore how valuable) a horse is by looking
at its teeth.
Example: When
Salina got a whopping great Hari Raya bonus she didn’t look a gift horse in the
mouth and suggest they have overpaid her.
Adapted from: Mind Our English, Star2, Wednesday 27 July 2011
