10 expressions with wacky origins

Wonder why ‘mad as a hatter’ means crazy or ‘painting the town red’ denotes a wild night out? We’re spilling the beans on how these quirky sayings came about. Don’t turn a blind eye.

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The most recent episode I watched is “The One with Monica’s Thunder.” In the episode, the friends plan to celebrate Monica and Chandler’s engagement. However, when Ross and Rachel kiss, they take everyone’s attention away from Monica and Chandler, thus stealing their thunder.

This episode got me thinking that not only is “to steal someone’s thunder” a great expression, but that English is full of some pretty strange sayings.

We typically offer them without thinking twice, but when you consider certain phrases, it’s hard to imagine why we use them.

If you’ve ever wondered where our wacky idioms come from, here are 10 interesting origins:

1. Steal someone’s thunder

Meaning: To use someone else’s idea or take attention away from him

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