Hiya!
Today is a very special day for me, not only because it's Father's day and I'm a father myself, but, rather, because my eldest son turned 4 today. Indeed, I first became a father on Father's day four years ago. Isn't it awesome? To celebrate this special day and to pay homage to fathers, I have decided to write an entry on some English idioms containing the word 'father'.
1. Father knows best: This idiom is used to indicate that a father (and extensively a mother) instinctively knows what to do in a given situation. This expressions strengthens fathers' experience in life.
E.g. - My dad considers I should not go parachuting because it's really dangerous.
- You know, father knows best.
2. Like father, like son: This expression is used to refer to the fact that children take after their fathers.
E.g. - He is a great basketball player, much like his father.
- You know what they say: like father like son. (Spanish: de tal palo tal astilla).
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| From: Idiom Land — “Like father, like son” means “sons are very... (tumblr.com) |
3. Old enough to be one's father: This expression is said of a man who is much older than his partner, which people find shocking.(Spanish: si podría ser tu padre).
E.g. Jane's new boyfriend is old enough to be my father!
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| From: Everyday Idioms!!!: Old Enough To Be Your Mother/Father (languagesystems.edu) |
4. The sins of the father are visited upon their children: This expression coming from the Bible implies that children typically suffer the consequences of their parents' wrongdoings.
E.g. - His father was a ruthless man. No one in the company would be pleased that his son takes over. The sins of the father are visited upon the children.
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| From: Norman Vincent Peale Quote: “The Bible tells us that the sins of the fathers are passed to succeeding generations. The virtues of the fathers can be ...” (quotefancy.com) |
5. Success have many fathers. Failure is an orphan: This self-explanatory idiom indicates that no one want to admit failure, but everybody is happy to show success to the rest of the world.
6. To be the founding father of // To be the father of: This idiom is used mataphorically when a man was decisive in the creation of something, in other words, when something would have never been possible without a given man's intervention, e.g. Alexander Fleming was the (founding) father of modern medicine.
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| From: The Founding Fathers | CK-12 Foundation (ck12.org) |
Last but not least, I'd like to refer to the fact that the word 'father' in English is not jsut a noun, but it is also used as a verb (by means of conversion). In that case, 'father' means 'begetting', in toher words, giving life to someone (or something), e.g. he fathered three children // he fathered the business plan.
I hope you've learnt a lot from this entry. If you want to know more vocab on parenthood, check out my entry on parenthood vocab.
See you around.
