This proverb, a fish rots from the head down, means that when organizations or nations fail, or become corrupt, the leadership is to blame; weaknesses and other problems come from leaders. This saying appears in many nations and languages and is probably quite ancient, although nobody knows where it started. Some claim that the oldest […]

The phrase to give the benefit of the doubt means “to believe or trust, when one is uncertain.” Usually we say this about trusting a person—we give a person the benefit of the doubt. The benefit is our trust. The doubt means that we don’t know if we should or should not trust this person. So […]

To be on cloud nine means to be very happy—blissful—such as when falling in love, or getting one’s dream job. The phrase appears to have mystical origins. Mysticism is the practice of experiencing the divine—God, Buddha, Brahma, Tao, etc.—through meditation. This experience has often been described as like walking on air or being in the clouds—to feel […]

To bite the bullet is a verb phrase that means “to do something painful or accept a painful experience, in order to get the benefit.” For example: Last year, I finally bit the bullet and decided to return to school. You should just bite the bullet and buy a bigger house. The idea of this phrase comes from a […]