The main sources of phraseological units

The main sources of native phraseological units are:
1. Terminological and professional lexics. E.g. physics: center of gravity (центр тяжести), specific weight (удельный вес): navigation: cut the painter (обрубить канат), lower one's colours (спустить свой флаг) military sphere: fall into line (стать в строй).
2. British literature, e.g. the green-eyed monster — ‘jealousy’ (W.Shakespeare); fall on evil days — ‘live in poverty after having enjoyed better times' (J.Milton): how goes the enemy? (Ch. Dickens) — ‘what is the time?’
3. British traditions and customs, e.g. baker's dozen — ‘a group of thirteen’. In the past British merchants of bread received from bakers thirteen loaves instead of twelve and the thirteenth loaf was merchants' profit.
4. Superstitions and legends, e.g. a black sheep — ‘a less successful or more immoral person in a family or a group'.
5.historical facts and events, personalities, e.g. as well be hanged (or hung) for a sheep as a lamb — ‘something that you say when you are going to be punished for something so you decide to do something worse because your punishment will not be any more severe’.
6. Phenomena and facts of everyday life, e.g. carry coals to Newcastle — ‘to take something to a place where there is plenty of it available'.
The main sources of borrowed phraseological units are:
1. The Holy Script, e.g. the left hand does not know what the right hand is doing — ‘communication in an organization is bad so that one part does not know what is happening in another pan.
2. Ancient legends and myths belonging to different religious or cultural traditions, e.g. to cut the Gordian knot — ‘to deal with a difficult problem in a strong, simple and effective wav’
3. Facts and events of the world history, e.g. to cross the Rubicon to do something which will have very' important results which cannot be changed after.
4. Variants of the English language, e.g. a heavy hitter — ‘someone who is powerful and has achieved a lot’ (American).
5. Other languages (classical and modern), e.g. second to none — ‘equal with any other and better than most* (from Latin: nulli secundus).