Trip the Light Fantastic

When I prepare my weekly blog post, I usually think about the issues and then somewhere along the line, decide on the title.  This week it's different.  For some reason 'Trip the Light Fantastic' was playing on my mind so I decided that would be the title before I had any idea of the content - arse about face you might think, and you're right!  So having determined the title, I had to find out more about it.  To "trip the light fantastic" is to dance nimbly or lightly, or to move in a pattern to musical accompaniment.  Thanks Wikipedia!  The oracle goes on to inform me that "........it is an example of a constructionally idiosyncratic idiom."  This means it is not possible to understand what it means from the words that are used.

I will return to 'Trip the Light Fantastic' later in this post but first the discovery that it was a "constructionally idiosyncratic idiom" got me thinking about idioms.  You're pulling my leg.  It's raining cats and dogs.  This iPad cost me an arm and a leg.........and so on.  Isn't it bizarre to use a combination of words that mean something due to common usage, whereas the literal meaning is quite different.  How confusing for foreigners learning the language.  Not just for foreigners learning English of course, in French "donner sa langue au chat", which literally means "to give one's tongue to the cat", actually means "to give up".

Idioms might be confusing when learning a language but on the other hand I feel idioms add a kind of richness to the language.  Putting words together like "pulling my leg" can have two totally different meanings.  Someone could be grabbing me by the ankle and pulling my leg.  Alternatively someone could be joking.  The combination of three simple words - pulling-my-leg - can convey more than one message.  The whole really is greater than the sum of the parts!

Returning to 'Trip the Light Fantastic', I really don't know why this idiom came to mind because I haven't come across it for many years.  It occurs to me that it might have marketing applications.  Like a producer of electronic equipment always trying to maintain competitive advantage by being nimble in the market, might describe the agility of the company as "we always trip the light fantastic".  Or maybe it would be closer to the literal meaning of the phrase for a light switch manufacturer!

So when something simple like an idiom comes to mind, don't discard it.  There's always a chance it could teach you something about linguistics, be a catchy strap-line for your business venture or maybe the title of your next blog post.  No, I'm not pulling your leg!!