Idiomatic Lingua Franca

Penguin recently published a new edition of The Penguin Dictionary of English Idioms. I'm rather disappointed it doesn't have any etymological information for these idioms but it is still enjoyable to browse through them.

It is amazing how much spoken English is idiomatic as you usually don't begin to appreciate this until you are stuck in a room with non-native or non-fluent English speakers and begin to notice that they are giving you the smile and nod of 'I have no idea what you just said'. Idioms are difficult to nail a definition or a single meaning to very often. The author of this dictionary does a fine job in spite of its incomplete and somewhat superficial treatment of the wide range of idioms in the English language. The index could be much better as well. A few entertaining idioms the Perl crowd might appreciate;

• to swallow a camel and strain at a gnat - to tolerate a great wrong while protesting at a minor lapse.
• like turkeys voting for Christmas - someone planning for his or her own downfall or destruction. "The standards at this school are extremely poor, but no teachers are going to complain. It would be like turkeys voting for Christmas as the school would then be shut down."
• as sick as a parrot - a cliche often used by football managers, meaning 'very disappointed'.
• warts and all - with all its faults and imperfections, a realistic portrayal. The phrase comes from Oliver Cromwell's statement that he wanted his portrait to show him accurately, 'warts and all'.
• there is method in his madness - although he seems to be acting illogically, he has, in fact, a purpose in everything he does.
• to cross one's bridges before one comes to them - to worry unnecessarily about something that may never happen.
• to keep something in purdah - to keep from public view. The idiom derives from the veil or curtain that kept Muslim women from view by separating their living quarters from the rest of the household.
• a mouse potato - someone who spends a lot of time amusing him- or herself by playing computer games, programming, etc.
• to know one's onions - to know one's job. to be extremely capable.
• the pumpkin has not turned into a coach - the early promise has not been fulfilled, and disenchantment has followed.
• to put in a nutshell - to explain in a few words, to give a bare summary.
• the ship of the desert - the camel.
• U and Non-U - upper class and non upper class, based on Nancy Mitford's system of distinguishing social classes according to the words they use. For example: it is 'U' to say lavatory and 'Non-U' to say toilet; 'U' to say napkin, 'Non-U' serviette; 'U' to have a bath, 'Non-U' to take a bath.
• a screenager - a teenage computer expert
• damned if you do, damned if you don't - it is impossible to satisfy everyone.
• remember Ozymandias - be humble, don't boast, for even the great will one day fade from memory.