Isn’t it funny how many sayings involve bones? In English, we have the saying used in the title of this post which implies certainty about something. You also have “dry as a bone”, “bare bones”, “chilled to the bone”, “cut [something] to the bone”, and “feel/know [something] in one’s bones”. You could even throw someone a bone! (For non-native English speakers, here’s a great site with a list of idioms using body parts.)

It should come as no surprise that other languages have sayings that involve bones as well. Today, let’s look at the phrase: яс хаях (pronounced: yas khayakh; literal translation: “to throw a bone”). Any guesses as to its meaning? It means to cause a quarrel. The reasoning behind the saying is that if you throw a bone between two dogs, it will cause them to fight over it. So if you’re creating a conflict, you’ve tossed a bone.

And that’s all we have for today!