Nose and Ear Expressions

A person’s nose is important for breathing and smelling. The nose is also used in many popular expressions.

Some people are able to "lead other people by the nose." For example, if a wife "leads her husband by the nose," she makes him do whatever she wants him to do.

Some people said to be "hard-nosed." They will not change their opinions or positions on anything. If someone is "hard-nosed," chances are he will never "pay through the nose," or pay too much money, for an object or service.

It is always helpful when people "keep their nose out of other people’s business" -- they do not interfere. The opposite of this is someone who "noses around all the time." This kind of person is interested in other people’s private matters. He is considered "nosey."

Someone who "keeps his nose to the grindstone" works very hard. This can help a worker "keep his nose clean," or stay out of trouble.

One unusual expression is "that is no skin off my nose." This means that a situation does not affect or concern me. We also say that sometimes a person "cuts off his nose to spite his face." That is, he makes a situation worse for himself by doing something foolish because he is angry.

More problems can develop if a person "looks down his nose" at someone or something. The person acts likes something is unimportant or worthless. This person might also "turn up his nose" at something that he considers not good enough. This person thinks he is better than everyone else. He "has his nose in the air."

In school, some students "thumb their nose" at their teacher -- they refuse to obey orders or do any work. Maybe these students do not know the correct answers. My mother always told me, if you study hard, the answers should be "right under your nose," or easily seen.

I think we have explained the nose expressions.

What about ears?

Well, I hope you are "all ears," or very interested in hearing more expressions. We might even "put a bug in your ear," or give you an idea about something. We also advise you to "keep your ear to the ground." This means to be interested in what is happening around you and what people are thinking.

If you are a good person, you will "lend an ear" to your friends. You will listen to them when they have a problem they need to talk about. Our last expression is "to play it by ear." This has two meanings. One is to play a song on a musical instrument by remembering the tune and not by reading the music. "Play it by ear" also means to decide what to do at the last minute instead of making detailed plans.

The Gem State

Every American state has a nickname. Here are some more of them.

Idaho is known as the "Gem State." This is not because it has diamonds but because it believes it is the jewel of the western Rocky Mountains.

Illinois is the "Land of Lincoln." It is named for Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president who led the nation through the Civil War in the 1860s.

The Midwestern state of Indiana is called the "Hoosier State," but nobody is quite sure why. One story is that the word was used to mean poor farmers or uneducated people. No wonder the state legislature instead calls Indiana the "Crossroads of America."

Iowa's nickname -- the "Hawkeye State" -- is in honor of Black Hawk, an Indian chief who spent most of his life in neighboring Illinois!

Kansas also has a "hawkish" nickname: the "Jayhawk State." Jayhawkers were free-state guerrilla fighters opposed to the pro-slavery fighters in the years before the Civil War.

Kentucky is the "Bluegrass State." Bluegrass is really bright green but looks bluish from a distance. Louisiana is the "Bayou State." A bayou is a slow-moving stream. Hundreds of them flow through this southern state -- and many are full of alligators!

Maine, in the nation's northeast, is the "Pine Tree State" because it is covered in evergreen woods. And directly across the country, on the Pacific Coast, is the state of Washington. It also has lots of evergreen trees so, not surprisingly, it is the "Evergreen State."

The eastern state of Massachusetts is the "Bay State." This body of water separates most of the state from famous Cape Cod.

Six state nicknames are taken from native animals. Michigan is the "Wolverine State." A wolverine is a small, fierce mammal. The badger is a similar and equally fierce creature, and Wisconsin is the "Badger State."

Neighboring Minnesota -- the "Gopher State" -- is named for a much nicer animal that builds hills and tunnels. However, the "Land of Ten Thousand Lakes" is written on Minnesota's vehicle license plates.

North Dakota gets its nickname -- the "Flickertail State" -- not from some bird, but from a little squirrel. South Dakota takes its nickname -- the "Coyote State" -- from an animal that thinks flickertails are good to eat!

And Oregon -- the "Beaver State" -- borrows its nickname from the large, flat-tailed rodent that uses trees to build dams.

The Garden State

Nebraska is the only state to have a nickname that honors sports teams. The state university's athletic teams are nicknamed "Cornhuskers" in recognition of one of the area's chief crops. The state borrowed the Cornhusker nickname from the university.

The western desert state of Nevada is called the "Silver State." It was once home to many silver mines and towns that grew up around them. Today, most of them are empty ghost towns.

New Hampshire -- in the northeast area called New England -- is the "Granite State" because of that colorful rock.

New Jersey is between the big cities of New York, New York and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It got its nickname -- the "Garden State" -- because New Jersey truck farms once provided vegetables to those big cities.

New York -- which always thinks big -- was called the "Empire State" because of its natural wealth. The most famous Manhattan skyscraper got its name from the state. It is, of course, the Empire State Building.

If you get a chance to see a red sunset over the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of New Mexico, you will know why that southwestern state is called the "Land of Enchantment."

North and South Carolina were one colony until 1729. South Carolina's nickname is the easier of the two: It is the "Palmetto State" because of a fan-leafed palm tree that grows there. North Carolina is the "Tar Heel State." That is because many of the men who worked to gather substances from trees wore no shoes. They would make turpentine from tar and get the black, sticky tar on the heels of their feet.