Can You Unscramble These Common Phrases?

If you knock the ball out of the park in baseball, you get a home run, which is the best thing you can do in baseball. This term is also used in non-sports activities to convey something went exceptionally well. "My presentation knocked it out of the park!"

Although the idea of it being hard to teach someone older something new has been around since the early 1500s, you CAN actually teach an old dog new tricks.

This phrase was originally used to disband crowds who had amassed to see Elvis Presley. Since Elvis is no longer with us, the phrase is used to mean 'the show is over, it's time to go home now.' In other words, it is still used to disband crowds.

If you're looking a horse in the mouth, it's to find out the horse's age by noting how long the teeth are (older=longer). That is not a polite thing to do when the horse is a gift. Instead, you should be grateful and not try to gauge its worth in front of the gift-giver.

Don't get hissy if you didn't get this right. When you let the cat out of the bag, it means you're letting a secret escape your lips. Let's hope you're not being catty by telling that secret.

When the sun shines under a rain cloud, it looks as if it has a silver lining. This phrase is used to remind people to be optimistic, even in difficult times. As in the sun will shine after it rains.

Being faced with two tough choices is difficult, especially when neither are satisfactory. It's the best of two evils.

There are a lot of these phrases that mean it's an easy task. For instance, "easy as pie", "easy as 1,2, 3" and "like taking candy from a baby".

Today, the "heat" of the kitchen means a situation that is high pressure. So if you can't handle the pressure of the environment, you should probably leave.

A series of annoying occurrences that eventually lead to one final thing that causes a person to lose their patience.

If you're bringing everything with you but the kitchen sink, you've got most everything you own packed up and ready to roll. If your thoughts or ideas cover "everything but the kitchen sink" it means your vision includes nearly everything possible.

Some believe this expression came about because in the olden days, liver was not as desirable to eat as other foods. So if you feel like chopped liver, you feel like your feelings or opinions are being given less attentinon than others.

These are definitely words of wisdom. It means that it's easy for someone acting foolish with their money to lose it ... quickly.

Everyone likes to dream about what might happen if several positive events unfold, but this adage tell you not to rely on it happening, until it actually does.

This common phrase means you shouldn't worry about things that have already happened because you can't change them. It's in the past.

It means you are exaggerating. A molehill is small, and a mountain is big. If you're making a mountain out of a molehill, you are escalating a small issue into a much bigger problem than it is.

When unscrambled, "Birds of a feather flock together" means that people tend to hang out with others who have similar interests or values.

This saying means you should not judge someone or something by how they look. There is more to a person than their appearance.

This saying is comparable to "not the sharpest crayon in the box". It means the person you are referring to isn't witty or sharp but somewhat stupid.

If you ever read the fable about the tortoise and the Hare, you know this one. The idiom means that if you want to reach your goal, you need to be persistent and focused, like a tortoise.

Did you know the original phrase is "A little learning is a dangerous thing." It's found in Alexander Pope's poem "An Essay on Criticism" in 1709.

When you're using this phrase, you're describing a dilemma where it is not clear who or what caused something.

There is more than one wording of this common phase, it is also referenced as "when the rubber hits the road". Either way, it means when the event actually happens and it becomes serious business.

Tripping over your feet or on nothing at all? Constantly knocking over things? Your friends might refer to you as a bull in a china shop. It's a person who breaks things because they are clumsy.

Most people think this means one shouldn't be a hypocrite. However, the actual meaning is closer to, don't criticize if you can't take criticism yourself, or "if you can't take it, don't dish it out".

Things that go up must eventually return to the earth due to gravity. However, today people use it to describe the stock market and other types of fluctuations.

You're a generalist, not a specialist if you're a Jack of all tracks and master of none. It means you have adequate skills in many things, but you're not an expert in any of them.

This sage advice warns you to be careful when you criticize. Make sure you don't have the same faults as the person you are disparaging.

If you're out in a lightning storm, don't heed this advice. Today, this saying means an unusual event is unlikely to happen to the same person twice. Let the odds be with you.

If someone asks you about a movie that was hyped up in the press, you might say, "It's not all it's cracked up to be." In other words, it's not that great, or as great as people think it is.

This sage phrase means you can provide all possible opportunities to someone, but you can't make them take advantage of them. It has to be of their own free will.

The origin of this phrase may be from opera, which is usually a very long performance and doesn't end until the star has their solo. However, its first recorded use is believed to be from Ralph Carpenter in the Dallas Morning News, March 1976, in relationship to sports. He meant that the game's outcome isn't set in stone until the very end, because things could change.

The origin may come for this Italian proverb, "He that deceives me once, it's his fault; but if twice, it's my fault." It means if you fall for a deception or trick once, the person who orchestrated it is to blame. But if it happens again, you haven't learned from experience and you're to blame.

This saying is comparable to a person who gives bad advice or unreliable information. Like a broken clock, that person can still be correct at times.

This is sage advice. It means that if you eat healthy, like eating fruits and vegetables, it may keep you from having to see a doctor for health issues.