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A little while back, my colleague, Liz Walter, published a post on phrases that contain the word ‘blood’. Today, I’m picking up the ‘parts of the body’ theme with a post on idioms with the word ‘bone’. There are a surprising number of them!
Perhaps not surprisingly, two informal idioms with ‘bone’ describe thinness. A person or animal that is all/just/nothing but skin and bone/bones or is a bag of bones is extremely thin:
In her final months, she was nothing but skin and bone.
The poor dog was just a bag of bones when they finally found him.
Two other ‘bone’ idioms relate to arguments. If you have a bone to pick with someone, you want to tell them off because of something they have done. Meanwhile, an issue that causes an argument between people is sometimes called a bone of contention:
Hey, I have a bone to pick with you – you told Juan I found him attractive, but I told you that in confidence!
The main bone of contention is the length of the contract.
Other idioms with ‘bone’ are used to describe different aspects of a person’s character. If you want to emphasize how good and kind someone is, you might say they don’t have a bad bone in their body. Meanwhile, in UK English, someone who is extremely lazy can be described as bone idle:
Isabel would never do anything like that – she doesn’t have a bad bone in her body!
Sam was a pleasant enough boy, but he was bone idle.
The remaining idioms in this post relate to a variety of themes. Looking at the title idiom, if you have a strong belief about something, often something that is going to happen, and this belief is based on feelings rather than facts, you might say that you feel it in your bones:
I knew the day was going to be a success. I could feel it in my bones.
If you make no bones about something, you are honest about it, and make no attempt to hide the truth:
He makes no bones about the fact that the film was autobiographical.
Meanwhile, if you are extremely cold and want to convey this with a very emphatic idiom, you can say you are chilled to the bone:
We’d been walking in the rain all afternoon and were chilled to the bone.
Someone who works their fingers to the bone works very hard, usually for a long period of time, until they are exhausted:
She worked her fingers to the bone raising those children.
The bare bones are the most important facts about something, without the details:
That’s the bare bones of the story – there are two or three additional subplots.
Someone who is like a dog with a bone is determined to do something and despite difficulties or opposition, will not give up:
His lawyer was like a dog with a bone.
Finally, something that is bone dry or as dry as a bone is completely dry:
I forgot to water the plants before my trip, and now the soil is bone dry.
After an hour in the hot sun, the clothes were as dry as a bone.
Perhaps you know of a ‘bone’ idiom that I haven’t covered here? If so, do share below.
A dictionary entry also showed ‘to the bone’ being ‘to the bare minimum’, as in ‘Social services have been cut to the bone.”
There is also ‘bone weary’
What does the bone weary mean? Thanks in advance.
Extremely tired
“Bone idle” maybe connects (as it were!) with “lazybones”??
Yes definitely
Another expression related to bone: “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.”
A nice addition. Thanks for that.
I think of bones as thin, but I also see them as the main frame-work/foundation of the body. So when someone says “bone-tired” or “bad to the bone” (like the song) to me, it means they are exhausted or “bad” to the foundation of themselves.
The bones of the house is it’s foundation; the home may need work but if the foundation is wrecked, much harder to fix.
Yes – a good point!
“To bone up” means “to study”.
Quiet bone shattering news
What does it mean? Thanks in advance.
bad to the bone, meaning bad in a cool way like a fearless, confident person.