Babes in the Wood

When I went to Australia the first time, I stayed with my parents' good friend Trevor the first week. He introduced me to Australian cooking (for example vegemite sandwiches), how to navigate both Sydney and the Blue Mountains (by train), how to dress like an Aussie (I got the boots) but most of all to English proverbs.

This was the first time I really noticed sayings like "it's raining cats and dogs", "I'm not my brother's keeper", "more than you can poke a stick at" and "like babes in the wood". Although I had already begun working with metaphors in my research (interface metaphors) and in research projects focusing on intelligence tests (analogies), this was a new kind of usage. A real treat!