Tag Archives: Straight from the Horse’s Mouth

50 sayings that are off to the knackers yard!

Posted on April 21, 2022 by Stephen Liddell

A few years ago I wrote a book called My New Book – Straight from the Horse’s Mouth : 100 Idioms, their Meanings and Origins which always sells quite by my standards, especially at Christmas. Words and sayings have been such … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Heritage, history, Life, writing | Tagged English, Idioms, Sayings, Straight from the Horse's Mouth | 3 Comments

It’s not exactly rocket science nor brain surgery come to that!

Posted on December 20, 2021 by Stephen Liddell

I remember a few years ago as I waited with anticipation for a tourist who was going to be the very first to experience a brand new tour. I had offered to meet him at his hotel but he insisted … Continue reading →

Posted in Life, writing | Tagged books, Idioms, It's not brain surgery, It's not rocket science, Straight from the Horse's Mouth | Leave a comment

My offering of Christmas goodies! Books and Video Tours

Posted on December 9, 2020 by Stephen Liddell

I must be the most useless blogger the world has ever seen at least when it comes to self-publicity. Here I am with a new book that came out at the end of August and I’ve never even mentioned it … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Life, London, Travel, writing, WW1, Ye Olde England Tours | Tagged 101 Most Horrible Tortures In History, Christmas, Lest We Forget, Secret Gardens of the City of London, Straight from the Horse's Mouth, Virtual Video Tour | Leave a comment

A piss-poor history of urine

Posted on October 28, 2019 by Stephen Liddell

I’m going to try not to use the P word too much in this post, as tempting as it is as that would be taking the Pee but urine has actually had a long history of practical uses especially in … Continue reading →

Posted in Funny & Humour, history, Life, WW1 | Tagged Idioms, Medicine, Piss Poor, Straight from the Horse's Mouth, The Plague, Urine | 9 Comments

To be on Tenterhooks in Spitalfields

Posted on October 9, 2019 by Stephen Liddell

Have you ever heard of the phrase “on tenterhooks”? It has come to mean being in a state of tension, uneasiness, anxiety, or suspense, and that is because tenterhooks were once very common sights indeed. Tenterhooks aren’t the big hooks you … Continue reading →

Posted in Heritage, history, Life, London | Tagged Aldgate, Cloth, English language, Spitalfields, Straight from the Horse's Mouth, Tenter, Tenterhooks, Whitechapel, Words | 1 Comment

Words that are becoming extinct

Posted on November 21, 2018 by Stephen Liddell

Like many of us, I am a big fan of and user of words. One of my most popular blog posts is 102 great words that aren’t in English but should be102 great words that aren’t in English but should … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Heritage, history, Life | Tagged Betrumped, Endangered words, English, Etymology, Idioms, Straight from the Horse's Mouth, Words | 5 Comments

Farewell 2017, hello 2018!

Posted on December 29, 2017 by Stephen Liddell

Well this is my final blog post for the year. It’s been a busy old year with over 116,000 readers at the time of writing so thank-you everyone for giving me reasons to carry on blogging and sharing my questionable … Continue reading →

Posted in Life, Opinion, writing, Ye Olde England Tours | Tagged 2017, 2018, books, Happy New Year, Straight from the Horse's Mouth, Travel, writing, year in review | 6 Comments

Predicting the weather with Old Wives Tales

Posted on July 20, 2017 by Stephen Liddell

Most of us are familiar with Old Wives Tales, traditional pearls of wisdom from sources lost through the ages but seemingly tapping into an eternal truth that is only revealed to older married women whose only qualification is a lifetime … Continue reading →

Posted in Heritage, Life | Tagged English, Idioms, Life, Old Wives Tales, Red Sky At Night, Sayings, Straight from the Horse's Mouth, Weather | 5 Comments

Two choicest Idioms – Butter Up & As Mad As A Hatter

Posted on June 26, 2017 by Stephen Liddell

A few weeks ago my new book, Straight From The Horse’s Mouth was released in Paperback and Kindle formats and I have been waiting for it to work its way through onto Apple iBooks. As it is now live, … Continue reading →

Posted in Funny & Humour, Life, News, writing | Tagged Alice In Wonderland, Butter Up, English language, Funny, ibooks, Idioms, Kindle, Mad As A Hatter, Paperback, Straight from the Horse's Mouth, writing | 2 Comments

My New Book – Straight from the Horse’s Mouth : 100 Idioms, their Meanings and Origins

Posted on May 29, 2017 by Stephen Liddell

Today is one of those wonderful days that can be the highlight of my creative year, the launch day of my latest book. I’ve always enjoyed words and sayings, some of them archaic that seemingly make no sense to us … Continue reading →