{"id":44148,"date":"2016-07-31T13:07:26","date_gmt":"2016-07-31T11:07:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cct-seecity.com\/?p=44148"},"modified":"2022-01-22T19:19:44","modified_gmt":"2022-01-22T18:19:44","slug":"english-idioms-the-world-and-its-places","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cct-seecity.com\/en\/2016\/07\/english-idioms-the-world-and-its-places\/","title":{"rendered":"English idioms: the world and its places"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong><span class=\"_5u8n\" spellcheck=\"false\" data-offset-key=\"1leij-0-0\"><span data-offset-key=\"1leij-0-0\"><span data-text=\"true\">LONDON<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><span data-offset-key=\"1leij-1-0\"><span data-text=\"true\"> &#8220;The old lady of Threadneedle Street&#8221; is a nickname for the Bank of England. It&#8217;s an idiom.&nbsp;<\/span><\/span>The English language is rich in idioms. An &#8220;idiom&#8221; is a combination of words with a special meaning that cannot be inferred from its separate parts. We have found <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.it\/gp\/product\/B08VJCC57Q\/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=3414&amp;creative=21718&amp;creativeASIN=B08VJCC57Q&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=cct01-21&amp;linkId=f3227a856bb605cafdfb4c83ee5c6486\">the first edition (published in 1986)<\/a> of&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.it\/gp\/product\/0140514813\/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=3414&amp;creative=21718&amp;creativeASIN=0140514813&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=cct01-21&amp;linkId=7a83afa8f38045c893f5a807dee68f25\"><em>The Penguin Dictionary of English Idioms<\/em><\/a>&nbsp;\u2013 [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.it\/gp\/product\/0140514813\/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=3414&amp;creative=21718&amp;creativeASIN=0140514813&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=cct01-21&amp;linkId=7a83afa8f38045c893f5a807dee68f25\">you can find it in a most recent and updated version on Amazon<\/a>] \u2013 and here we want to share with you some idiomatic expressions related to this category: <em>&#8216;<strong>The world and its places<\/strong>&#8216;<\/em>. We are sure curious people like you will enjoy these short and clear explanations, with meanings and examples&#8230; <span style=\"color: #808080;\">[In <a style=\"color: #808080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cct-seecity.com\/en\/2016\/06\/english-idioms-town-and-around\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">another post<\/a>, you can find the category <em>&#8216;<a style=\"color: #808080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cct-seecity.com\/en\/2016\/06\/english-idioms-town-and-around\/\">Town and around<\/a>&#8216;<\/em>.]<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-51696\" src=\"https:\/\/www.cct-seecity.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/English-idioms-the-world-and-its-places-1-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"English idioms - the world and its places\" width=\"730\" height=\"548\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.cct-seecity.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/English-idioms-the-world-and-its-places-1-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.cct-seecity.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/English-idioms-the-world-and-its-places-1-730x548.jpg 730w, https:\/\/www.cct-seecity.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/English-idioms-the-world-and-its-places-1-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.cct-seecity.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/English-idioms-the-world-and-its-places-1.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 730px) 100vw, 730px\" \/><\/p>\n<hr>\n<p><iframe style=\"width: 120px; height: 240px;\" src=\"https:\/\/rcm-eu.amazon-adsystem.com\/e\/cm?ref=tf_til&amp;t=cct01-21&amp;m=amazon&amp;o=29&amp;p=8&amp;l=as1&amp;IS2=1&amp;asins=0140514813&amp;linkId=b0b19f91737954b8e202b716957d8b8d&amp;bc1=000000&amp;lt1=_blank&amp;fc1=333333&amp;lc1=0066c0&amp;bg1=ffffff&amp;f=ifr\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><br \/>\n<\/iframe><\/p>\n<hr>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\">WORLD<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>it\u2019s a small world<\/strong> &#8211; to be surprised at meeting a person one knows in an unexpected place. \u2018Fancy meeting you here, in the middle of a highland moor! It\u2019s a small world.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>to make\/get the best of both worlds<\/strong>&nbsp;&#8211; to enjoy the advantages of two different situations or ways of life. \u2018As a day-pupil at a nearby boarding-school, Peter has the bene\ufb01t of a good education, while enjoying the advantages of living at home with his parents. He gets the best of both worlds.\u2019<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>to carry the world before one<\/strong> &#8211; to enjoy a resounding success. \u2018Stephen carried the world before him with his new invention.\u2019<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>to set the world on \ufb01re<\/strong> &#8211; to achieve fame. \u2018I see you\u2019ve set the world on \ufb01re with your latest symphony, Jack.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>to make a noise in the world<\/strong>&nbsp;&#8211; to be talked about, to become famous.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>to come up in the world<\/strong> &#8211; to improve one\u2019s professional and social standing. \u2018You\u2019ve come up in the world since we last met.\u2019<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>to come down in the world<\/strong>&nbsp;&#8211; to&nbsp;lose one\u2019s professional and social standing.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>to make one\u2019s way in the world \/ to make one\u2019s way<\/strong>&nbsp;&#8211; to advance in one\u2019s job. \u2018My three sons are all making their way in the world without any help from me.\u2019<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>a man of the world &#8211;<\/strong> a man with a good understanding of men and women, and experienced in the ways of the world. \u2018If you are in trouble, Valerie, would you like to talk to my father; he&nbsp;is a man of the world and very under- standing.\u2019<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>to take the world as one \ufb01nds it<\/strong>&nbsp;&#8211; to adapt oneself to the ways of the world without trying to change it, to respect social convention. \u2018It\u2019s best to take the world as you \ufb01nd it, then you won\u2019t be disappointed.\u2019<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>for all the world like somebody\/something<\/strong>&nbsp;&#8211; exactly like&#8230; \u2018Angela stood there in her mother\u2019s long white dress, for all the world like her mother when she was Angela\u2019s age.\u2019<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>for all the world as if<\/strong>&nbsp;&#8211; just like; e. g. \u2018When I visited my old university, I felt for all the world as if I were back in my student days.\u2019<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>not for all the world<\/strong>&nbsp; in no circumstances. \u2018I wouldn\u2019t leave London for all the world.\u2019<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>it\u2019s not the end of the world<\/strong> &#8211; things could be worse. \u2018It\u2019s disappointing not getting into university but it\u2019s not the end of the world. You have a good job waiting for you.\u2019<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>to do someone a world of good<\/strong>&nbsp;&#8211; to make a huge improvement to some- one. \u2018You don\u2019t look well, Susan. Three weeks at the sea-side will do you the world of good.\u2019<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>on top of the world<\/strong>&nbsp;&#8211; elated by one\u2019s own success. \u2018No one thought Tony would win the by-election; he is on top of the world.\u2019<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>out of this world<\/strong> (slang) &#8211; fantastically beautiful, marvellous. \u2018Just wait until you have seen the house. We must buy it; it is out of this world.\u2019<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>with the best will in the world<\/strong>&nbsp;&#8211; no matter how much one tries. \u2018With the best will in the world, we can\u2019t help you if you won\u2019t co-operate with us.\u2019<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>the old world<\/strong>&nbsp;&#8211; Europe, Asia and Africa, as distinct from North and&nbsp;South America.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>in a world of one\u2019s own<\/strong>&nbsp;&#8211; in a make-believe world of one\u2019s own, in a world of fantasy. 1 don\u2019t think my sister recognizes me any more. She is living in a world of her own.\u2019<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>dead to the world<\/strong> &#8211; in a deep sleep, very dif\ufb01cult to awaken. \u2018Alec must&nbsp;have drunk an awful lot. He is lying on his bed, dead to the world.\u2019<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>the world to come<\/strong> &#8211; the life after death.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\">PLACE, PLACES<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>in place<\/strong> &#8211; suitable, appropriate.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>out of place<\/strong>&nbsp;&#8211; unsuitable, inappropriate. \u2018The elegantly dressed woman felt out of place at the party where all the other women were wearing jeans.\u2019<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>all over the place<\/strong>&nbsp;&#8211; in disorder, untidy. \u201c\u2018Keep to your positions,\u201d the football manager shouted angrily at the players. \u201cYou are all over the place!\u201d \u2019<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>to keep someone in his place<\/strong>&nbsp;&#8211; to keep in order, to keep under control. \u2018The teacher only had to look at the children to keep them in their place.\u2019<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>to put someone in his place<\/strong> &#8211; to discourage familiarity. \u2018When the young lad took the lady by the hand, she promptly took her hand away from his, intending to put him in his place.\u2019<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>there\u2019s a time and place for everything<\/strong>&nbsp;&#8211; a good thing can be spoilt by bad timing or an unsuitable setting. \u2018I love the Moonlight Sonata, but I should hate to hear it at breakfast! There\u2019s a time and place for everything.\u2019<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>not to be one\u2019s place to<\/strong> (always used in the negative) &#8211; not to be right or proper to&#8230; \u201c\u2018It\u2019s not my place to give you advice,\u201d the clerk said to the manager.\u2019<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>to know one\u2019s place<\/strong>&nbsp;&#8211; to accept the limits of one\u2019s position in society. In England up to the beginning of World War II, there was a deferential society in which everyone had a certain place&nbsp;or station in life, and respected their social superiors. This has now been largely replaced by an egalitarian society, with people claiming the same rights and privileges as the upper classes.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>a place in the sun<\/strong>&nbsp;&#8211; a share of the good things in life. \u2018No one can dispute with us the place in the sun which is rightly ours\u2019 (said by Kaiser Wilhelm Il, the German emperor, in 1911 during the Agadir crisis).<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>pride of place<\/strong>&nbsp;&#8211; the best position, often the most central or conspicuous, for the honoured guest, the most valuable objet d\u2019art, and so on. \u2018He had a number of interesting ornaments on his mantelpiece, but pride of place was given to a silver snuff-box he had inherited from his father.\u2019<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>to fall into place<\/strong>&nbsp;&#8211; to make sense, to follow a logical order. \u2018The work was dif\ufb01cult at \ufb01rst but, after a few weeks, everything fell into place.\u2019<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>in high places<\/strong> &#8211; having power and in\ufb02uence. \u2018You had better be careful how you talk to me; I have friends in high places.\u2019<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>to come to the right place<\/strong>&nbsp;&#8211; (1) to approach the best person for advice or help. (2) (vulgar) to sound a warming. \u2018If you are looking for trouble, you have come to the right place.&#8221; meaning: \u2018If you don\u2019t behave yourself, you\u2019ll be sorry.\u2019<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\">IN LONDON<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>to put someone in Chancery<\/strong> &#8211; (1) to hold a person\u2019s head under one arm, leaving you free to punch him. (2) to put someone into an awkward position from which it is dif\ufb01cult to extricate himself. The reference is to the Court of Chancery which at one time had a reputation for delaying lawsuits and ruining the parties in dispute.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>the old lady of Threadneedle Street<\/strong>&nbsp;&#8211; a nickname for the Bank of England.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>to talk Billingsgate<\/strong>&nbsp;&#8211; to talk like \ufb01shmongers at Billingsgate. Billingsgate was formerly the principal \ufb01sh market in London, and notorious for its bad language.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>not to set the Thames on \ufb01re<\/strong>&nbsp;&#8211; not to distinguish oneself in any way, to be quite ordinary. \u2018Martin gets a lot of pleasure from his painting but I\u2019m afraid he\u2019ll never set the Thames on \ufb01re .\u2019<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>to be\/end up in Carey Street<\/strong> &#8211; to go bankrupt. \u2018We shall end up in Carey Street at the rate we are spending money.\u2019 The Courts in Bankruptcy are situated in Carey Street, off the Strand.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>bedlam<\/strong> &#8211; a mad commotion. \u2018The&nbsp;chairman was quite unable to keep order. Everyone was on his feet shouting and swearing. Absolute bedlam.&#8221; Bedlam, a corruption of \u2018Bethlehem\u2019, was the name of a mad house in the Middle Ages. (Today it would be called a mental hospital.)<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>You are not at the Ritz!<\/strong> &#8211; the Ritz is a&nbsp;hotel in Piccadilly (London) which has made a name for the excellence of its cooking and accommodation. When servicemen complained about the bad cooking in the army during World War II, they were often told that there was a war on and that they were not \u2018at the Ritz\u2019.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\">IN ENGLAND<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>to send to Coventry<\/strong> &#8211; to punish someone for disloyalty to his companions or workmates by refusing to speak to him. \u2018Sending to Coventry\u2019 is a common practice in schools and trade unions. The idiom has its origin in the Civil War between King Charles I and&nbsp;Parliament (1642-6). In his <em>History of&nbsp;the Great Rebellion<\/em>, Volume 2, VI,&nbsp;83, Clarendon says that Royalist prisoners captured at Birmingham were sent to Coventry, a Parliamentary stronghold, where some of them were &#8216; beheaded; whence the association of \u2018sending to Coventry\u2019 with the punishment of disloyalty, which later took the form of not speaking to the offender.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>to carry coals to Newcastle<\/strong>&nbsp;&#8211; to bring a&nbsp;thing to a place which is famous for its production, like trying to sell wine to the French, or kimonos to the Japanese, and so on.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>a Norfolk dumpling<\/strong>&nbsp;&#8211; a person who is&nbsp;dull and stupid. The inhabitants of East Anglia have this reputation, for reasons which are not apparent.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\">IN SCOTLAND<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>off to Gretna Green<\/strong> &#8211; couples who were under age (in English law) would run away together to get mar- ried at Gretna Green, a small town on the English-Scottish border. The con- ditions for marrying under Scottish law being less strict than under English, this was a favourite device for couples who had not obtained the consent of their parents.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\">IN IRELAND<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>to be full of Blarney \/ to talk Blarney<\/strong> &#8211; to make wild promises, to \ufb02atter and deceive. The Irish have a reputation for making wild promises. From kissing the Blarney Stone in Killarney.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>beyond the Pale<\/strong> &#8211; socially unacceptable; any form of serious misbehaviour. \u2018I won\u2019t invite those boys; I saw them throwing stones at Jane yesterday. They are beyond the Pale.\u2019 The word \u2018Pale\u2019 is derived from the Latin \u2018palus\u2019, a stake, stakes having been used, in the fourteenth century, to mark out the boundary between the land settled by the British colonists in Ireland and the rest of the country. The people living beyond the Pale were regarded by the colonists as uncivilized. The same phrase was adopted by the English in their own country to indicate people of \u2018inferior class\u2019, who were not received in polite society. There was also a Pale of Settlement for the Jews in Czarist Russia from 1792.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\">IN BELGIUM<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>to meet your Waterloo<\/strong> &#8211; to suffer a \ufb01nal, decisive defeat. The phrase has been taken from Napoleon\u2019s defeat by Wellington and Bl\u00fccher at the Battle of Waterloo. It is usually applied to an unexpected defeat after&nbsp;a string of successes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\">IN ITALY<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Rome was not built in a day<\/strong>&nbsp;&#8211; nothing of value has ever been achieved without great effort.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>to \ufb01ddle while Rome burns<\/strong>&nbsp;&#8211; to occupy oneself with tri\ufb02es during a crisis. Legend has it that the Emperor Nero \ufb01ddled while Rome burned.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>all roads lead to Rome<\/strong>&nbsp;&#8211; Rome has always possessed a special importance &#8211; as capital of the ancient world, then as capital of Christendom. As the seat of the papacy, Rome commands the allegiance of six hundred million&nbsp;Catholics.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>See Naples and die<\/strong>&nbsp;&#8211; Naples is the&nbsp;most beautiful city in the world and, when you have seen Naples, you may die happy. There is a small town near Naples called Mori, the Italian for \u2018die\u2019, where thousands once died of typhoid and cholera, so this is a joke phrase.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>the Venice of the North<\/strong>&nbsp;&#8211; there are&nbsp;three cities in the north of Europe&nbsp;which boast that they are comparable with Venice: Bruges, Amsterdam and&nbsp;Stockholm.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>to cross the Rubicon<\/strong>&nbsp;&#8211; to do something irrevocable. In ancient Rome, generals were guilty of treason if they failed to disband their armies before crossing the Rubicon. Caesar took the decision to cross the Rubicon with his&nbsp;army to seize power.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\">OTHER COUNTRIES IN EUROPE<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>castles in Spain<\/strong> &#8211; unreal wealth and splendour which only exists in the mind of the dreamer.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>the gnomes of Zurich<\/strong> &#8211; Swiss bankers, so called because they were the guardians of huge treasures under the earth, i.e. in the vaults of their banks. The name was intended humorously.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>an Olympian detachment<\/strong>&nbsp;&#8211; an impersonal, unemotional view of human con\ufb02ict. From Olympus, the home of the Greek gods where Zeus reigned. The gods of ancient Greece were endowed with all the human passions and weaknesses &#8211; love, jealousy, vindictiveness and anger; so the modern meaning of the idiom has changed.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>a Marathon<\/strong>&nbsp;&#8211; a long-drawn-out contest, an event which calls for great endurance. \u2018The conference began at eight this morning and went on all day until eleven o\u2019clock at night. It was a real Marathon.&#8221; The name has been taken from the Battle of Marathon between the Greeks and the Persians, fought in 490 BC. The messenger, who announced the result of the battle, fell dead on his arrival in Athens after running nearly 23 miles.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\">IN THE EAST<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Sodom and Gomorrah<\/strong> &#8211; synonym for a centre of vice (Genesis XVII, 19).<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>the Gadarene Swine<\/strong>&nbsp;&#8211; to stampede&nbsp;with the herd (or crowd) to destruction. From the Bible, when Jesus told the people how the evil spirit that had been cast out entered the Gadarene swine, causing them to hurl them- selves in a \ufb01t of madness over the&nbsp;edge of the cliff to their destruction (Matthew VIII, 28\u201434).<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>a perfect Babel \/ a Babel of sounds<\/strong> &#8211; an uproar in many different languages.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>the walls of Jericho didn\u2019t fall down in a day<\/strong> &#8211; if you want to defeat your enemy, you will have to fight very hard.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>like the walls of Jericho<\/strong>&nbsp;&#8211; any sudden unexpected collapse. \u2018To Ferdy, they [the English hostesses] fell like the walls of Jericho.&#8221; (from Somerset Maugham\u2019s Short Stories, Volume 2, \u2018The Alien Corn\u2019). The allusion is to the collapse of the walls of Jericho when the Israelites blew their horns outside the city.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>\u2018His&#8217; road to Damascus\u2019, \u2018Her road to Damascus\u2019<\/strong>&nbsp;&#8211; a dramatic change of mind on some burning issue. When Saul of Tarsus, who had for a long time been a vigorous persecutor of the Christians, was on the road to Damascus, he heard the voice of God and immediately became an ardent disciple of Christ, adopting the name of Paul.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Mecca<\/strong>&nbsp;&#8211; a place which has a strong appeal for the enthusiast. \u2018Between the wars, Paris was the Mecca of&nbsp;painters and artists.\u2019 Mecca is the birthplace of the prophet Mohammed, and a holy place for Muslims.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\">IMAGINARY PLACES<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>an El Dorado<\/strong>&nbsp;&#8211; an imaginary country&nbsp;where the traveller can make a fortune without any effort.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>to live in Eden<\/strong>&nbsp;&#8211; a place of sheer bliss&nbsp;and delight. The place where Adam and Eve were created.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>to consign to Limbo<\/strong>&nbsp;&#8211; to put out of&nbsp;one\u2019s mind once and for all. Limbo was a place adjoining hell which accommodated unbaptized infants.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>in the land of Nod<\/strong>&nbsp;&#8211; asleep. Note the related phrase \u2018to nod off \u2019, meaning to fall asleep.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Shangri-Ia \/ like Shangri-la<\/strong>&nbsp;&#8211; a state of mind lacking in drive or interest, dull placidity. Shangri-la is the paradise described in James Hilton\u2019s <em>Lost Horizon<\/em> (1933) up in the mountains of a Buddhist country. In Hilton\u2019s city, the people lived in perfect peace and serenity, with no quarrelling or strife, but also with an absence of emotion or ambition.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>a fool\u2019s paradise<\/strong> &#8211; a comfortable but false illusion which could have deceived only a fool. \u2018I knew all along that the business would never re- cover. You have been living in a fool\u2019s paradise all these years.&#8217;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr>\n<p><iframe style=\"width: 120px; height: 240px;\" src=\"https:\/\/rcm-eu.amazon-adsystem.com\/e\/cm?ref=tf_til&amp;t=cct01-21&amp;m=amazon&amp;o=29&amp;p=8&amp;l=as1&amp;IS2=1&amp;asins=0140514813&amp;linkId=b0b19f91737954b8e202b716957d8b8d&amp;bc1=000000&amp;lt1=_blank&amp;fc1=333333&amp;lc1=0066c0&amp;bg1=ffffff&amp;f=ifr\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><br \/>\n<\/iframe><\/p>\n<hr>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #808080;\">[In <a style=\"color: #808080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cct-seecity.com\/en\/2016\/06\/english-idioms-town-and-around\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">another post<\/a>, you can find the category <em>&#8216;<a style=\"color: #808080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cct-seecity.com\/en\/2016\/06\/english-idioms-town-and-around\/\">Town and around<\/a>&#8216;<\/em>.]<\/span><\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/www.cct-seecity.com\/en\/2016\/06\/english-idioms-town-and-around\/&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>LONDON &#8220;The old lady of Threadneedle Street&#8221; is a nickname for the Bank of England. This and many other curious English idioms related to the category &#8216;The world and its places&#8217;.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":51696,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[39,3222,75,1351],"tags":[87,862,10084,10086,10088,10085,10087,3633,10089,983,5995,745],"coauthors":[11881],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.13 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>English idioms: the world and its places | CCT-SeeCity<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"LONDON &quot;The old lady of Threadneedle Street&quot; is a nickname for the Bank of England. This and many other curious English idioms related to the category &#039;The world and its places&#039;.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cct-seecity.com\/en\/2016\/07\/english-idioms-the-world-and-its-places\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"English idioms: the world and its places | CCT-SeeCity\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"LONDON &quot;The old lady of Threadneedle Street&quot; is a nickname for the Bank of England. This and many other curious English idioms related to the category &#039;The world and its places&#039;.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.cct-seecity.com\/en\/2016\/07\/english-idioms-the-world-and-its-places\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"CCT-SeeCity\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CCTseecity\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-07-31T11:07:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-01-22T18:19:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.cct-seecity.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/English-idioms-the-world-and-its-places-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"CCTeam\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@cctseecity\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"CCTeam\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"14 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.cct-seecity.com\/en\/2016\/07\/english-idioms-the-world-and-its-places\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.cct-seecity.com\/en\/2016\/07\/english-idioms-the-world-and-its-places\/\",\"name\":\"English idioms: the world and its places | CCT-SeeCity\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.cct-seecity.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-07-31T11:07:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-01-22T18:19:44+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.cct-seecity.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0096493526ad57897f53b591d4179f24\"},\"description\":\"LONDON \\\"The old lady of Threadneedle Street\\\" is a nickname for the Bank of England. This and many other curious English idioms related to the category 'The world and its places'.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.cct-seecity.com\/en\/2016\/07\/english-idioms-the-world-and-its-places\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.cct-seecity.com\/en\/2016\/07\/english-idioms-the-world-and-its-places\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.cct-seecity.com\/en\/2016\/07\/english-idioms-the-world-and-its-places\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.cct-seecity.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"English idioms: the world and its places\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.cct-seecity.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.cct-seecity.com\/\",\"name\":\"CCT-SeeCity\",\"description\":\"The Guidezine for curious people\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.cct-seecity.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.cct-seecity.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0096493526ad57897f53b591d4179f24\",\"name\":\"CCTeam\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.cct-seecity.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/46f119b77d70fb290d42ebde6d2cf16c\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.cct-seecity.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/CCT-fb-face-200x200.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.cct-seecity.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/CCT-fb-face-200x200.jpg\",\"caption\":\"CCTeam\"},\"description\":\"The editorial staff of this Guidezine! :)\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.cct-seecity.com\/\",\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CCTseecity\",\"https:\/\/instagram.com\/cctseecity\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/cct-seecity\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/cctseecity\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.cct-seecity.com\/en\/author\/ccteam\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"English idioms: the world and its places | CCT-SeeCity","description":"LONDON \"The old lady of Threadneedle Street\" is a nickname for the Bank of England. This and many other curious English idioms related to the category 'The world and its places'.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.cct-seecity.com\/en\/2016\/07\/english-idioms-the-world-and-its-places\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"English idioms: the world and its places | CCT-SeeCity","og_description":"LONDON \"The old lady of Threadneedle Street\" is a nickname for the Bank of England. This and many other curious English idioms related to the category 'The world and its places'.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.cct-seecity.com\/en\/2016\/07\/english-idioms-the-world-and-its-places\/","og_site_name":"CCT-SeeCity","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CCTseecity","article_published_time":"2016-07-31T11:07:26+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-01-22T18:19:44+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2000,"height":1500,"url":"https:\/\/www.cct-seecity.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/English-idioms-the-world-and-its-places-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"CCTeam","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@cctseecity","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"CCTeam","Est. reading time":"14 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.cct-seecity.com\/en\/2016\/07\/english-idioms-the-world-and-its-places\/","url":"https:\/\/www.cct-seecity.com\/en\/2016\/07\/english-idioms-the-world-and-its-places\/","name":"English idioms: the world and its places | CCT-SeeCity","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.cct-seecity.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-07-31T11:07:26+00:00","dateModified":"2022-01-22T18:19:44+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.cct-seecity.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0096493526ad57897f53b591d4179f24"},"description":"LONDON \"The old lady of Threadneedle Street\" is a nickname for the Bank of England. This and many other curious English idioms related to the category 'The world and its places'.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.cct-seecity.com\/en\/2016\/07\/english-idioms-the-world-and-its-places\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.cct-seecity.com\/en\/2016\/07\/english-idioms-the-world-and-its-places\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.cct-seecity.com\/en\/2016\/07\/english-idioms-the-world-and-its-places\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.cct-seecity.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"English idioms: the world and its places"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.cct-seecity.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.cct-seecity.com\/","name":"CCT-SeeCity","description":"The Guidezine for curious people","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.cct-seecity.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.cct-seecity.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0096493526ad57897f53b591d4179f24","name":"CCTeam","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.cct-seecity.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/46f119b77d70fb290d42ebde6d2cf16c","url":"https:\/\/www.cct-seecity.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/CCT-fb-face-200x200.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.cct-seecity.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/CCT-fb-face-200x200.jpg","caption":"CCTeam"},"description":"The editorial staff of this Guidezine! :)","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.cct-seecity.com\/","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CCTseecity","https:\/\/instagram.com\/cctseecity\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/cct-seecity","https:\/\/twitter.com\/cctseecity"],"url":"https:\/\/www.cct-seecity.com\/en\/author\/ccteam\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cct-seecity.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44148"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cct-seecity.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cct-seecity.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cct-seecity.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cct-seecity.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44148"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.cct-seecity.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44148\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59251,"href":"https:\/\/www.cct-seecity.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44148\/revisions\/59251"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cct-seecity.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/51696"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cct-seecity.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cct-seecity.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44148"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cct-seecity.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44148"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cct-seecity.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=44148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}