Idioms Kids Ask About — a Parents' Cheat Sheet
A five-year-old who checks the window for falling cats isn't being silly — they're being precise. Kids take language at its word, and idioms break the deal. Here are the eight phrases children question most, each with a say-this answer you can use tonight and the real history for you.
"Why is it raining cats and dogs?"
Say this: "No animals are falling! It's a 300-year-old joke about really heavy rain — people said it because it sounded funny, and it stuck."
For you: nobody knows the true origin. The thatched-roof story is fake; the phrase likely comes from flooded streets or pure 1600s absurdist humor.
Full story →"How do you break ice at a party with no ice?"
Say this: "Long ago, ships got stuck in frozen rivers, and someone had to smash the ice so everyone could move. Starting a conversation is like that — one person goes first, then it's easy."
For you: figurative since 1579; Shakespeare helped spread it.
Full story →"We don't have horses. Why hold them?"
Say this: "Before cars, everyone drove wagons pulled by horses. If your horses went too fast, you pulled the reins to hold them back. Now we say it to people instead."
For you: the image goes back as far as Homer; fixed as an American phrase in the 1800s.
Full story →"Was there really a cat in a bag?"
Say this: "The story says tricky sellers at old markets would promise you a piglet in a sack, but sneak a cat in instead. If the cat got out — the trick was revealed!"
For you: that story is plausible but debated. Be ready for the follow-up question: "Why didn't the bag meow?" Excellent point, kid.
Full story →"The moon isn't blue. Why once in a blue moon?"
Say this: "Five hundred years ago, saying 'the moon is blue' was like saying 'pigs can fly' — a thing that never happens. Slowly it changed to mean 'almost never.' And guess what — after a giant volcano, the moon really did look blue!"
For you: 1528 first record; the astronomy definition is a 1946 magazine mistake. The Krakatoa fact is a guaranteed dinner-table win.
Full story →"Why is there an elephant in the room?"
Say this: "Imagine an elephant standing right here and everyone pretending not to see it. That's what it feels like when there's a big problem nobody wants to talk about."
For you: traces to a Russian fable about a man who tours a museum and notices everything except the elephant.
Full story →"Why did curiosity kill the cat? That's sad."
Say this: "Don't worry — the full saying has a happy ending most people forgot: 'curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back.' Being curious is worth it."
For you: the "satisfaction" second half is real and documented — and it turns a warning into an endorsement. The best-kept secret in the whole jar.
Full story →"Why is easy 'a piece of cake'?"
Say this: "Because eating cake is the easiest job in the world. Long ago there were dancing contests where the prize was a real cake — winning one was fun, not hard."
For you: first printed 1936 (Ogden Nash), spread by WWII pilots; the cakewalk contests are where "takes the cake" comes from too.
Full story →Three tips for idiom questions
Answer the literal question first. "No, cats don't fall from clouds" isn't condescending — it's the confirmation a literal-minded brain needs before the metaphor can land. Admit mysteries. "Nobody knows, people have argued about it for 300 years" is a thrilling answer, not a failure. And keep a couple in your pocket — kids who get one good origin story tend to come back asking for another, which is frankly the whole business model of this website.
When they're ready for the bigger picture, our hub post How Idioms Are Born (and Die) explains where all these phrases come from — and the Merriam-Webster kids' dictionaries are good for age-appropriate definitions.
Quick FAQ
How do I explain what an idiom is?
Try: "It's a group of words that means something different from what it sounds like. When I say it's raining cats and dogs, no animals are falling — it's a funny old way of saying it's raining hard."
Why do kids take idioms literally?
Figurative language develops gradually — most children start decoding common idioms between ages 6 and 10. Literal readings before that are developmentally right on schedule.
Is "nobody knows" an okay answer?
It's a great answer. Plenty of idioms genuinely have unknown origins, and kids find real mysteries more exciting than tidy fake stories.
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The IdiomJar team researches phrase origins from dictionaries, digitized newspaper archives, and the work of etymologists — and clearly labels anything that's folklore rather than fact. Read more about how we work.