From "pull someone's leg" to "be caught red-handed", English has many "body-part" idioms (习语). How many of them have you learned? Do you know how they came into being?
Back in the 18th century, it was popular to have your portrait (肖像) painted. The cost depended on how many arms and legs were to be painted. The cheapest choice was to have only your head and shoulders painted. The price increased as the picture became larger to include your arms and legs. Now, can you guess the meaning of "cost an arm and a leg"?
The idiom "pull someone's leg" came from the approach used by street thieves in London. Usually, the thieves worked in pairs. One of them used a rope to "pull" a person. The other thief then robbed (抢劫) the person as he or she lay on the ground. Today, nobody is likely to pull your leg with a rope. But you should still watch out. Someone might be thinking about pulling your leg by playing a trick on you!
Where there were bad guys, there should be laws. But the law that gave birth to the idiom "be caught red-handed" wasn't created in London. A few hundred kilometers away, in Scotland, anyone who killed a stolen animal would be punished. However, that person had to be caught "red-handed"-with the animal's blood still on his or her hands.
The idiom "give someone the cold shoulder" has something to do with an English custom. At the end of a party, the host would serve a cold cut of beef. This was not a direct way of telling the guests that they should leave. So if someone gives you the cold "shoulder", you will have to walk away.
