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Showing posts with the label idioms

You Can't Go Home Again

            As a child I remember hearing idioms such as "a penny for your thoughts", "too big for your breeches", and "you can't go home again".   What????   I thought adults were such morons.   First of all, I was always certain that my thoughts were worth more than just a penny.   "breeches" was a term we hadn't used and so I had no idea what that was.   And "you can't go home again"?   Of course, you can.   In my childish mind, I took the phrase literally.   If I went to a neighbor's house, for instance, I was expected to come home.   Even as a college student I knew that I'd be going home again.   It wasn't until many decades later that I finally figured it out.             "Home" is not necessarily a residence and family.   The "home" referred to is the past.   It's not just time that has put the dista...