wet one's whistle
Meaning: To have a drink.
Language: English
Literally: (Already vivid in English)
Category: Body & Senses
Origin: The 'whistle' is a metaphor for the mouth or throat; wetting it with drink is a playful way to describe drinking.
More idioms — Body & Senses
- bad blood — Persistent hostility or deep resentment between people.
- pull teeth — To accomplish something with great difficulty, requiring much effort and persistence.
- feet first — Dead, or in the manner of a corpse.
- ne pas fermer l’œil de la nuit — To be unable to sleep; to stay awake all night.
- prendre à la gorge — To seize someone or something forcefully; to make breathing or speech difficult; to trigg…
- regarder la pointe de ses souliers — To lower one's eyes in embarrassment or shame.
More English idioms
- out of spoons — Exhausted of energy or resources, usually mental or emotional.
- bad apple — A person of bad character whose presence corrupts or damages others or a group.
- thrash out — To discuss and resolve a contentious issue thoroughly through frank dialogue.
- play Cupid — To act as a matchmaker by trying to bring two people together romantically.
- cut a rug — To dance with energy and style, particularly in early twentieth-century jazz or swing sty…
- stumbling block — An obstacle or barrier that impedes progress or causes difficulty.
From our tongue twisters
- Betty Botter bought some butter, but she said the butter's bitter. — A 'b / t / tt' plosive drill that bounces between Betty, butter, and bitter.
- She sells seashells by the seashore. — The definitive 's' versus 'sh' alternation — the tongue has to switch place of articulati…
- Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. — A relentless 'p' plosive drill; a peck is an old dry measure of about nine litres.