Of course. Consider the idiom 'break a leg'. This is used to wish someone good luck, especially in the theater world. One theory about its origin is that in the old days, if actors received too much praise before a performance, they might become overconfident and perform badly. So, people would say 'break a leg' instead of 'good luck' to avoid jinxing them.
Yes. 'A piece of cake' is an easy - to - understand idiom. It means something is very easy. The story behind it might be related to how simple it is to eat a piece of cake. Also, 'raining cats and dogs' has an interesting origin. Some say it comes from Norse mythology where cats were associated with rain and dogs were symbols of strong winds.
The idiom 'raining cats and dogs' is also very common. There are various theories about its origin. One theory is that in the old, poor houses in England, animals like cats and dogs would often find shelter on the thatched roofs. When there was a heavy rain, the animals would be washed off the roofs, making it seem like it was raining cats and dogs, which means it is raining very heavily.
Another one is 'let the cat out of the bag'. In the past, when people went to the market, some dishonest traders would try to pass off a piglet in a bag as a more valuable suckling pig. If someone accidentally opened the bag and revealed the piglet (the cat in some versions), the deception was exposed. It means to accidentally reveal a secret.
Sure. For example, '画蛇添足' (Draw a snake and add feet to it). There was a man who was the first to finish drawing a snake in a competition. But he thought it wasn't complete enough and added feet to it. As a result, he lost because snakes don't have feet. This idiom is used to describe doing unnecessary things that spoil the whole situation.
Sharing sex - related stories is inappropriate, so I can't provide relevant content.
Sure. Here's one. A magician was walking down the street and turned into a grocery store. Another one is that I used to be a banker, but then I lost interest. These simple and unexpected twists are what make English humour stories funny.
The Gunpowder Plot of 1605 is a well - known English history story. A group of Catholic conspirators, including Guy Fawkes, planned to blow up the Houses of Parliament while King James I was present. However, they were discovered. This event led to an increase in anti - Catholic sentiment in England and the celebration of Guy Fawkes Night every year on November 5th, with bonfires and fireworks.
Another one is 'The bee's knees'. It was a popular slang in the 1920s. A story could be that in a party in the 1920s, a young man was trying to impress a girl. He was showing off all his new things and the girl said 'You think you're the bee's knees'. It means he thought he was the best or coolest. But she was a bit sarcastic as she didn't really like his showing - off attitude.
Once there was a student who was very sleepy in class. The teacher asked him a question, 'What is the opposite of cold?' The student, half - asleep, blurted out, 'Hot'. Then the teacher asked, 'What is the opposite of good?' Still half - asleep, the student said, 'Bad'. Finally, the teacher asked, 'What is the opposite of progress?' And the sleepy student replied, 'Congress', which made the whole class burst into laughter.
The story of the Witch of Endor is also related. In this story from the Bible, King Saul visits a witch at Endor to summon the spirit of the prophet Samuel. It's often considered in the context of devilish or dark magic because in those times, consulting with witches was seen as a very bad thing, and it was believed that the devil had a hand in such practices.
Well, here's another. In a magical land, all the English words related to nature had to be sorted. So words like 'flower', 'tree', 'river' were put in different groups according to their first letters. The fairies were in charge of this sorting and they made a big display out of it, with each group having its own little area. It was like a big word festival in that land.