Everyday Food Phrases Explained

Food Expressions We Use All The Time

Food-related phrases, idioms, and expressions are rich in everyday language, often adding color and flavor to our conversations. Many of these sayings have roots in cultural history, kitchen practices, or even farming traditions, and they’ve evolved to represent more than their literal meanings.

From “bringing home the bacon” to “a piece of cake,” these food-inspired phrases reflect universal experiences of eating, cooking, and sharing meals, making them relatable across languages and cultures. This blog post will explore the meanings behind some of the most common food-related idioms and colloquialisms used in everyday conversation.

Whether you’ve ever wondered why we say someone is "full of beans" or what it means to be in “a pickle,” we’ve got the answers. These expressions add personality to language and reveal fascinating insights into how food and communication are intertwined. By understanding their origins and meanings, you can appreciate the humor, wisdom, and cultural significance they bring to our daily dialogues.

So, let’s dive into the world of food idioms and uncover how these expressions have become part of our linguistic diet.

Apple of My Eye

This expression means someone so precious to you that they rival your ability to see.

Way back when, people fallaciously believed that the eye’s pupil was a solid object and, therefore, referred to it as an apple. William Shakespeare used the phrase with this implied meaning in his play, A Midsummer Night's Dream, saying, “Flower of this purple dye, Hit with Cupid's archery, Sink in the apple of his eye.”

The first use of the saying in Old English Is attributed to King Aelfred of Wessex in “Gregory’s Pastoral Care.” Its first usage in the modern English language is in Sir Walter Scott’s Old Mortality of 1816.

The word pupil comes from the Latin word pupilla, a diminutive form of the word pupus (“boy”) or pupa (“girl”) and was applied to the dark pigmented-center of the eye because of the tiny reflect image of the self one sees when looking deep into another’s eyes.