How Cliché: Mmm
Make heads nor tails: failing to understand something. Cicero claimed this one, or a similar phrase, as denoting confusion, although he is attributed as saying, “Neither head nor feet.” Tails could refer to the other side of the coin, because before it is flipped and seen no one knows if it will be heads or tails lending itself to confusion as to the exact outcome of matters.
Make no bones about it: no hesitation. An ancient saying that has different possibilities of meaning with one referring to how dice used to be made from bones and when someone threw them in a decisive manner.
March to the beat of a different drummer: to follow beliefs or a style diverging from the usual. A noted source is traced to Thoreau’s Walden: If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it sis because he hears a different drummer.” This idea of individualism was embraced by the 1960s era, especially, and has even been found in the business world where in a New Yorker article, Connie Bruck wrote, “We saw ourselves…as the tough guys, very smart, who were marching to our own drummer.”
Mincing words: to speak plainly. Shakespeare used the phrase, “not to mince matters” in his plays, to mean “let’s moderate what is being said.” Over time “matters” became “words.”
Misery loves company: it’s easier to bear pain when shared with others. This idea hails back to ancient Greek and Roman times, and has traveled to modern times and has been broadened as Brian Moore suggests: “If misery loves company, then triumph demands audience.”
Monday-morning quarterback: someone who criticizes after the fact. This phrase is also known as “twenty-twenty hindsight.” When football became popular in the 1930s and mainly available on the weekends, it was not unusual for discussions to take place on Monday where “experts” would review the game, offering their “expertise” how the game should have gone. It now refers to someone who tends to second-guess decisions made.
Moon made of green cheese: response indicating something is outlandish to consider. The idea is attached to how “green” the new moon appears in the night sky.
More than meets the eye: seeing only the top part or surface of something that has more depth. Going back to the nineteenth century in England when a fictional detective noted when viewing a dead body that “there is more here than meets the eye.” Today this cliché is pulled out to indicate that a matter needs to be looked at more carefully.
Mum’s the word: keeping something secret. Shakespeare once again. In Henry VI the line reads, “Seal up your lips, and give no words but–mum.” Mum means to keep silent and refers to the “mmm” sound the lips make when pressed together.
Mutual admiration society: shared feeling of regard between individuals. While it might have been a term of sincerity when first used, it is now considered sarcastic.
Mmmm, so many clichés got left on the editing floor. Which “M” phrases were you hoping to see?
Pam Webb 