6 Popular English Idioms That Came From Other Languages
Languages are the ultimate borrowers, always keen to take from their linguistic cousins, and the English language is certainly no exception. Over the centuries — through travel, trade, empire, invasion, and cultural exchange — it has absorbed many words from languages both ancient and comparatively modern, including Latin, French, Arabic,
Chinese, and a dozen other tongues. Many of these words have stuck, becoming commonplace in their adoptive language. But English doesn’t borrow just individual words — it also has borrowed whole idioms. The result is a language peppered with expressions that feel distinctively English today, but that have their origins...
