With Words, Body Language - Number 7

Other names for the stomach, but not used much now, are the balcony, bay window, the basement, the false front, the front exposure, the frontage, the front porch, and the kitchen. It is also known as the bag, the basket, the bread basket, the dinner pail, the pot, the feedbox, the feedbag, the grublocker, or the furnace tank.

The parts of the body are used often in English idioms. Body idioms include phrases such as bad blood, jump down one's throat, straight from the shoulder, to pull one's leg, and to put on a brave face. Two web sites publish a list of body idioms in English with definitions at http://elt.britcoun.org.pl/h_idioma.htm or http://user.itl.net/~wordcraf/jse/body_i...

The origins of these idioms are varied. According to Charles Earle's 2107 Curious Word Origins, Sayings & Expressions from White Elephants to A Song & Dance, the phrase "to save (or lose) face" means to "maintain (or lose) one's dignity, prestige, or at least a semblance of such dignity or prestige or esteem before others; to avoid humiliation or disgrace. The Chinese use only tiu lien, which means 'to lose face,' though they have another expression, 'for the sake of his face.'. It was the English residing in China who coined 'to save face,' and it is that expression, along with 'to save one's face,' that is in more common use."

to be continued

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