Idiom Families
The Big Idea
THE BODY IS A TOOLKIT - eyes watch, ears improvise, chests store feelings, legs get pulled for jokes
The Body
The oldest idiom source: body parts as instruments. Keep an eye on something, play it by ear, get worries off your chest, pull someone's leg. The literal body-action is always vivid - which is exactly why these stick.
Fuku's Note
Every language builds idioms from the body, but assigns different jobs: English pulls legs where Japanese has a light mouth (kuchi ga karui) for someone who spills beans! Mapping body idioms across languages is a favorite Fuku's Note topic.
Ryu's Tip
Act these out - literally. The research says self-enactment beats flashcards for body idioms, and nobody forgets the day they physically played it by ear.
Idioms in this family
cost an arm and a leg
To be extremely expensive
get something off your chest
To finally express a worry or confession that has been troubling you
keep an eye on
To watch someone or something carefully; to monitor
play it by ear
To improvise; to decide what to do as the situation develops instead of planning ahead
pull someone's leg
To tease someone by telling them something untrue as a joke