An Assortment of Forgotten Realms Figures of Speech
"The air tastes of ___"
Definition: A phrase used to describe the general feel in a room.
Origin: Tabaxi; used by other species with a vomeronasal organ, especially carnivores; see By the taste of the air.
Example: "Very quiet in the salon today, I see. The air tastes of secrets."
"All dwarves are men and all elves are women."
Definition: A sarcastic expression, typically used to chide someone for having an overly simplistic or naïve worldview.
Origin: Dwarves; nowadays the phrase sees use by all common species. It stems from a misconception once spread widely by human explorers, who noticed that the dwarves they encountered all grew beards and the elves they met generally tended to be willowy, long-haired, and beardless. These explorers thus projected their notions of gender onto species to whom they didn’t apply. Dwarves in particular quickly grew to resent this.
Example:
"No matter what, good always prevails."
"Oh, yes, and all dwarves are men and all elves are women, right?"
"Bird-spittle"
Definition: A lie; something impossible or preposterous; synonymous with “bullshit.”
Origin: Werewolves. The phrase is derived from the story of Týr and Fenrir. The rope used to bind Fenrir is said to have been made from supposedly impossible things, among them “the spittle of a bird,” “the roots of a mountain,” and “the sound of a cat’s footfall.” As animosity between werewolves and other therianthropes has decreased, recent decades have seen the phrase be used more widely.
Example:
"But he said he loved me!"
"Bird-spittle. He's a charlatan. He lies like you and I breathe."
"By the taste of the air"
Definition: By the looks of it; as far as one can gather.
Origin: Tabaxi. The phrase refers to flehmening, a process by which a creature guides scents into its vomeronasal organ. Thus it is occasionally used by other species with such an organ.
Example: “By the taste of the air, it seems he fancies you!”
"Chirpy"
Definition: Cheerful, chipper, excitable, and/or talkative.
Origin: Aarakocra, though it’s widely-applicable enough that it sees use by most species now.
Example: “Well, aren’t you chirpy?”
"Did you fall into a rosebush?"
Definition: Used when someone looks disheveled or distressed. Can be used to say "You look like shit" or ask "What happened?", depending on the context and the speaker's tone.
Origin: Pixies, although nowadays it more commonly sees use by forest gnomes.
Example: "Well? How'd it go? You fall into a rosebush on the way back?"
"Do you take me for a turnspit?"
Definition: Used to complain about excessive work and/or unfair treatment, especially to one who expects the speaker to willingly accept it.
Origin: Khenra. The phrase refers to the practice of using dogs to spin wheels that rotate meat on a spit, a practice once common in Faerûn but now under increasing controversy for its cruelty. The use of turnspit dogs, alongside other forms of animal labor, remains popular in Amonkhet.
Example: "How's sixty hours a week sound?"
"Sixty hours! And for what? For the same pittance you give me now? Do you take me for a turnspit?"
"Dragon-high"
Definition: Very intoxicated, particularly on an herbal substance.
Origin: Wizards. A reference to both the high altitudes dragons can reach in flight and the smoke that spirals from red dragons' mouths and nostrils.
Example: "...Are you alright?"
"Man, I'm dragon-high right now.""A dragon sang it to me"
Definition: Refers to hearsay; synonymous with “I heard it through the grapevine.” Often used sarcastically when one does have a concrete source for their information, but doesn’t want to reveal it; the humor comes from the fact that dragons are proud creatures who will very rarely sing for anyone but themselves or their kin.
Origin: Merchants and adventurers. The phrase has its roots in a phenomenon observed by travelers: when dragons fly long distances, especially in pairs (unusual) or groups (even more so), they will sometimes sing in harmony to pass the time. On the rare occasion when a dragon is seeking traveling companions, they’ll sing an incomplete song until another voice joins them. The songs tend to describe the singers’ specific journey or destination; thus they are largely improvised. Despite this, it seems all dragons somehow intuitively know the words.
Example:
"Ah. Is that why your family is so ashamed of you?"
"...How do you know about that?"
"A dragon sang it to me."
"Fate's a clever huntress."
Definition: Fate strikes when one least expects it— and often with lethal precision. Sometimes used to gloat, suggesting that fate has dropped an opportunity into the speaker's lap as a cat catches a bird for its master. This use of the phrase is often met with She's a poacher, is what she is, especially by someone who feels the aforementioned opportunity should have gone to them or someone else instead. When uttered by an enemy, the phrase becomes a threat— or an invitation to fight.
Origin: Tabaxi, specifically the jaguar folk living in Chult.
Example:
"If it isn't you."
"Indeed. Fate's a clever huntress, isn't she?
"Fell into the pitcher"
Definition: Refers to a downward spiral or a specific obsession. Today, younger people often use it humorously to refer to harmless fixations or information rabbit holes; originally, it was a euphemism for addiction, specifically alcoholism.
Origin: Chultan merchants. The phrase refers to the pitcher plant, a carnivorous species of plant that lures insects and small animals with its nectar.
Example:
"Poor guy. I haven't seen him since he fell into the pitcher five years ago."
"I fell into the pitcher last night, and now I know more about the Spellplague than I ever needed to."
"A friend in the tree is a stranger in the nest."
Definition: Even the closest friends should not be left alone with one’s children. Parents know their children best and should not trust anyone else to do the same, or to have their children’s best interests at heart.
Origin: Spotted gnolls. Despite their community-oriented society and their emphasis on collective problem-solving, spotted gnolls are infamously slow to trust when it comes to letting others around their cubs.
Example:
“You let them stay with Gnatpick? Overnight?”
“I would trust Gnatpick with my life!”
“That doesn’t mean you should trust her with your cubs, too! What do I always say?”
“A friend in the tree is a stranger in the nest…”
"Lay in the flowers, get up with fleas"
Definition: Used to decry or confront a traitor. The phrase is a play on the term "Lie down with dogs, get up with fleas"; whereas, in the original saying, the consequence is expected, the crux of this variation is that the speaker feels they are being punished for trusting someone.
Origin: Hound archons. Sometimes therianthropes and antherions also use the phrase; however, they use it to criticize someone for being ungrateful.
Example: "You invited me into your home. What else was I to do? If I am laying down in the flowers, I should not expect to get up covered in fleas."
"Shaken from the branch"
Definition: Irritable; synonymous with “woke up on the wrong side of the bed.” Sometimes the phrase “mid-song” is added to describe someone who is especially ill-tempered.
Origin: Aarakocra. Harpies and sirens have a similar phrase, “[one] tumbled from the branch.” Kenku have been known to reference it by mimicking the sound of a tree branch rustling, sometimes followed by a thud.
Example:
"What do you want?"
"Someone was shaken from the branch this morning, eh?"
"Don't fucking touch me!"
"Ooh, and mid-song, too!"
"Shake the cuckoo from the nest"
Definition: To identify or excise a traitor from a group of people.
Origin: Rangers and druids, seemingly irrespective of species. The phrase refers to brood parasitism; thus the word “cuckoo” is sometimes replaced with the name of a similar species, like “cowbird” or “phoebe.” Over time, the idiom has been shortened to simply “Shake the cuckoo.”
Example:
"Whoever's been setting these fires, they're one of us."
"Then we'd best shake the cuckoo before it's too late."
"Skip or sink"
Definition: Often used to rush someone; 'if you don't get moving, you'll fall behind.' Alternatively, can be used to encourage adaptability in a crisis.
Origin: Harengon; the latter definition comes from a reinterpretation of the phrase that emerged when other species heard it. The phrase refers to one of two things a stone might do in water.
Example:
- "Well? Come on! Skip or sink!"
- "Here's her chance to show us what she's made of. Either she'll skip or she'll sink."
"Soft-footed"
Definition: Weak-willed or weak of constitution; specifically refers to being unable to travel long distances, carry heavy burdens, or tolerate severe weather.
Origin: Centaurs. Can be used to describe a medical condition, like a disease affecting the hooves; poetically, to describe someone with a delicate disposition; or in a more derogatory sense. The latter is especially common among high-ranking military officials.
Example:
- "I've been diagnosed with softness of the foot. I'll have to wear this shoe for two weeks."
- "She was a slender, soft-footed mare who never had a bad thing to say about anyone."
- "I asked for warhorses! Not a bunch of soft-footed ponies!"
"A storm for every desert, an eye for every storm"
Definition: Bad situations are inevitable, but they also all have their positives. Sometimes shortened to one half or the other.
Origin: A folk song commonly sung by blue dragons on wing.
Example: "What do I have to smile about? I just got fired."
"From a job you hated anyway. An eye for every storm!"
"Taken by the Bagman"
Definition: Gone, presumably never to be seen again. Similar to the phrase "A wizard did it."
Origin: Mages. Refers to an entity rumored to lurk in Bags of Holding: a mage who went mad after getting lost in one and never finding his way out.
Example: "Would any of you happen to know where my crossbow went?"
"I haven't seen it. Must have been taken by the Bagman."
"Two-tongued"
Definition: Sometimes refers to someone inconsistent and hypocritical; other times, it's used to decry an outright liar.
Origin: Yuan-ti. The phrase is a play on the forked tongues common in snakes and other reptiles.
Example: "He told me it was fine yesterday. Now the two-tongued bastard's not talking to me."
"Wellspitter"
Definition: A gossip, specifically one who spreads rumors with malicious intent.
Origin: Yuan-ti. The phrase has a double meaning. It refers both to someone who verbally poisons the well (thereby spitting in it), and someone who spits well— that is, someone so skilled with words that they can make even the wildest rumors seem believable.
Example: "Don't play dumb! I know what you told him, you wellspitter!"
"A wildfire ago"
Definition: Many years ago; play on “a while ago.”
Origin: Phoenixes; refers to their process of death and rebirth, which occurs intermittently between very long lifespans. Sometimes “a conflagration ago,” a play on “a generation ago,” is used to denote an especially significant stretch of time.
Example: “Many wildfires ago, I knew a man who claimed he could sell anything.”
"A wizard did it"
Definition: A humorous pseudo-explanation for something that is otherwise inexplicable. Who left that door open? Why is your flintlock jammed? Where did that missing sock go? The answer to all of these questions is “A wizard did it.” Especially helpful if the speaker happens to be the one actually responsible.
Origin: Difficult to pinpoint. Every region and species seems to have its own variation. Recent findings suggest it dates back to a vast compendium of ancient lore.
Example: "Why is my familiar pink?"
"I dunno. Wizard must've done it."
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