The Encyclopedia Britannica explains that as far back as the 17th century the Irish would say a person “was as likely to find a pot of gold as to find the end of a rainbow.” A colorful rainbow appears in the sky when the sun shines through water droplets.
In many places around the world, wintertime brings snow, ice, and really cold temperatures. Some places can even experience a deep freeze! But even if you do not live in an area with really low temperatures, you can still use “freeze" idioms and expressions.
Short-lived Success is a Flash in the Pan
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Words and Their Stories, from VOA Learning English.
On this program we take a closer look at common words and expressions in the English language.
Today we will talk about how to describe something that shows promise of being great, but then turns out to be…not so great.
We can call this a
flash in the pan.
First, let’s look at the words in this expression. A flash is a sudden burst of light or fire here one second and gone the next. And a pan is a kind of container usually used for cooking. But it has other meanings, too. We will talk about that later.
Today we talk about fire. Any kind of fire – from a campfire to a lit match – gives off smoke. This fact about fire relates to today’s idiom: There is no smoke without fire.