Chapter 14: Idiomatic expressions from a Veggie's point of view

Some of you may be wondering about the title of this chapter. At the end of this chapter, the title will become clear (I hope).

Anyways, some of the idioms that we use in American English can sound somewhat ridiculous if you think about them. I will include a list of some idiomatic expressions, along with my thoughts on some (not all) of them.

First is the phrase "up a creek without a paddle". Personally, I would rather be up a creek than down it because downstream, or down the creek if you will, is where all the waterfalls are. But if you are up a creek, you still have time to get to shore before arriving at said waterfalls.

Next, the term 'pet peeve'. You can have pet dogs, cats, rats or any other animal. You can even have pet rocks! So now imagine the absurdity of having a pet peeve. Can you put a leash on it and take it for a walk? What does it eat/drink?

I follow that with the phrase "drive me up the wall" or "drive me crazy". They mean the same thing, they are just different ways of saying it. If something (or someone) is driving you crazy, I just say one thing: Take away its license. If that doesn't work, take away the keys. Then you must question when and how did this person or object learn to drive?

Next on the list is 'shoot the breeze'. This presents to me a rather comical mental picture of a redneck hillbilly (stereotypical of course) with a shotgun aimed at the wind that's gusting through his yard. Need I say more?

Some other expressions are "head over heels" and 'train of thought', along with a classic "human race". "Head over heels" makes me think of a loaf of bread, and the thought of bread that has a head is just creepy. I know that you can make bread into shapes including heads, but that's different.

Switching gears now (which by the way is another idiomatic expression that sounds ridiculous). My wife showed me a video of  what I will call a rant about vegetables. This made me think of a song I heard years ago that goes along the same lines. So I included it in a video playlist, and then added one more video that goes with the phrase "train of thought". So hopefully you now understand the title of this chapter...