W
hat the heck is an aphorism anyway?  And what in tarnation is an idiom? Well… both are forms of figurative language that we hear bandied about a lot. That is, words and phrases that mean one thing when understood literally but are used to describe something else entirely. It’s one of the things that makes language so tricky.

Aphorisms and idioms have a lot in common, that’s for sure. But what’s the difference between them? Where do they come from? And when did we start using them?

Let’s Start With Aphorisms

Without getting bogged down in a sea of definitions, the most obvious characteristic of an aphorism (aside from its brevity) is that it offers a universally valid comment on some aspect of life. We’re all familiar with at least a couple of them.  “Blood is thicker than water,” “Charity begins at home,” and  “Go the extra mile” are just a few examples.

Like a lot of words in the English language, the origin of the word aphorism dates back to ancient Greece. In this case, to ἀφορισμός /aphorismos. The term aphorismos is derived from the verb ἀφορίζω / aphorizo, which means to divide, mark off, or distinguish. It’s a compound word that consists of the prefix ἀπό /apo (which means “from”), and the verb ὁρίζω / horizo (which means to define, to bound).

Now that we’ve finished geeking out over the word’s origin, let’s take a look at the first aphorisms that were used – the first to go by that name, anyway.

The earliest aphorisms came from Hippocrates (you know, the guy with the medical oath). At the time medicine was considered an integral part of philosophy, so Hippocrates was a philosopher as well as a physician. His aphorisms were a collection of short medical teachings and sayings. For example:

To a patient who is feeble, wan and spent, harsh treatments can bring only detriment.

When the term aphorism was revived in the Renaissance, it continued to look to its scientific origins. However, it soon came to denote the formulation of a philosophical or moral principle as well. And, this gradually took over as its accepted everyday meaning. By the eighteenth century, the shift was so complete that Hippocrates’ medical-based pearls of wisdom were dismissed, leaving us with the current definition of the term.

What About Idioms

As noted above, an idiom is a phrase that carries a figurative meaning rather than making literal sense. Expressions like “spill the beans,” meaning to reveal a secret. Or “it’s a cakewalk,” referring to something so easy success is guaranteed. And then there’s “down a rabbit hole,” to describe getting sucked into a situation that keeps you chasing information for hours.

Idioms occur in all languages. And there are estimated to be about twenty-five thousand of them in English alone. The term idiom comes from the Greek idios, meaning private, particular to oneself, or one’s own.

The oldest known idiom is thought to be “a clean slate” meaning a fresh beginning, one  free of past mistakes or failures. This expression originates from the treatment of debt in the Code of Hammurabi (one of the earliest written legal codes), from about 1800 BC. If you were unable to repay a debt due to circumstances beyond your control, a hailstorm flattened your fields of grain for example, your debt could be cancelled.  An early form of bankruptcy, if you will.

What does that have to do with a clean slate? Well…  back in the Babylonian days, debts were recorded on clay tablets (like the Code of Hammurabi itself).  And in the event of a debt-cancelling scenario like the one mentioned above, the clay tablet recording your debt would be “washed.” That is, dissolved in water. As a result, you would start the next growing season with a fresh, new, “clean slate,” one with no indication of your previous debt.

Have a gander at our ever-growing list of aphorisms and idioms. What they mean. And where they come from. Some of them will have you thinking twice because they don’t mean what you think they mean. While others are simply a barrel of laughs.

#Aphorisms and Idioms         #Teacher Resources