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Constructing => General Discussion => Topic started by: kwanjul on December 03, 2019, 10:41:12 PM

Title: As strong as a bull
Post by: kwanjul on December 03, 2019, 10:41:12 PM

Has anyone here heard of the phrase "AS STRONG AS A BULL?" It comes up when I Google it. I personally have never heard anyone say it. I was wondering if it would be a valid 15-letter entry. Thoughts?

Title: Re: As strong as a bull
Post by: mmcbs on December 04, 2019, 09:14:33 AM

Absolutely. This is a standard phrase, not used as much as our society has become less agrarian. Thefreedictionary.com is an excellent choice to look up phrases such as this (it has an idiom section). Also books.google.com/ngrams is a good source to gauge the usage/currency of the term.

Title: Re: As strong as a bull
Post by: johnmartz on December 04, 2019, 02:15:16 PM

I'm personally far more familiar with either AS STRONG AS AN OX or the grammatically-incorrect STRONG LIKE BULL.

Title: Re: As strong as a bull
Post by: mmcbs on December 04, 2019, 02:35:41 PM

"Strong as an ox" does ngram a little more popular than "bull", which doesn't make a lot of sense because an ox is a castrated bull. Maybe it rolls off the tongue easier.

Title: Re: As strong as a bull
Post by: axlrosen on December 07, 2019, 07:49:30 AM

Expecting idioms to make logical sense will not make you happy as a clam  :)

My personal experience is exactly aligned with johnmartz's, although in crossword form STRONG AS AN OX would be slightly more pleasing than AS STRONG AS AN OX.