Fotos: marekuliasz, Franck Boston/Shutterstock.com42 Spotlight 1/2020 LANGUAGE
LANGUAGE
What’s in a name?
Erraten Sie, was Lieschen Müller mit Fritz, Jack und Henry gemeinsam hat?
Richtig, sie hat als stehender Begriff Eingang ins Wörterbuch gefunden.
VANESSA CLARK stellt Personen vor, die Sie in ganz alltäglichen
englischen Redewendungen treffen.ADVANCEDarbitrary [(A:bItrEri]
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hat’s in a name?” asks Juliet of her Romeo — meaning that names are no more than
arbitrary labels. Well, if your name is Jack or Joe or John or Jane, your name does have
more to it. Those names — and a lot of others — are used in many idioms and everyday
expressions. Here, we explore some of the most common name phrases in the English
language. See how many of them you might already know and which ones are new to you!Idioms with first names
Alec
“He’s a smart alec” might sound like a compliment about a per-
son’s intelligence, but it’s not. A “smart alec” is annoying because
he thinks he knows everything and always has a clever answer.Billy
Sitting alone in the school canteen? In a UK school, you risk being
called a “Billy no-mates”.Bob
If something is easy to do, British people often say, “Bob’s your
uncle!” For example, “Put the bread in the toaster, wait for it to pop
up... and Bob’s your uncle!” It’s rather like the French expression
“Et voilà!”Charlie
The word “charlie” is slang for cocaine.Fritz
What does it mean if a machine is “on the fritz”? Surely, this German
name must be associated with top-quality engineering. Sadly, that
is not the case. “On the fritz” means “broken” or “malfunctioning”.
This informal North American expression dates back to around
1900, but its origins are unknown.Henry
In British English, a “Hooray Henry” is a young, upper-class, white
male. He has been to a top private school and feels most at home at
posh social events. Self-awareness is not his strength.