This Lunar New Year, we are welcoming the Year of the Horse. In Chinese culture, the horse is a symbol of energy, speed and success.
Horses can be found everywhere in the English language, too. From describing how much you eat to telling someone to slow down, here are six horse-related idioms to help you race ahead of the competition.
1. Hold your horses
Meaning: a fun way to tell someone to stop or wait. Back when horses pulled carriages, pulling back on the reins – the straps used to control and direct horses – would stop them from moving.
Example: Hold your horses! The group is still trying to catch up, so don’t run ahead without them.
2. Straight from the horse’s mouth
Meaning: describes information that is not just a rumour because it comes from the most reliable source, the person directly involved
Example: I know for a fact that the exam is cancelled. I heard it straight from the horse’s mouth – the principal told me herself.
3. Wild horses couldn’t drag me away
Meaning: a very dramatic way of saying that nothing could force you to leave something
Example: I love this library. Wild horses couldn’t drag me away from these books.
4. Eat like a horse
Meaning: to have a very large appetite
Example: I always eat like a horse after football practice because I have been running nonstop for hours.
5. Put the cart before the horse
Meaning: to do things in the wrong order. A horse pulls the cart, so if you put the cart in front, you aren’t going anywhere.
Example: Buying a video game before you even own the console is putting the cart before the horse.
6. Stop horsing around
Meaning: to stop behaving in a silly, noisy or rough way
Example: Please stop horsing around and focus on your worksheet, or you will have to stay back after class.
