If You Can Keep Your Head…

If You Can Keep Your Head†¦ If You Can Keep Your Head If You Can Keep Your Head By Maeve Maddox Back when I was an eighth-grader, children were required to memorize poems. I can still recite much of If by Kipling. The poem begins If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you, If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you But make allowance for their doubting too, and ends If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,†¨ Or walk with kingsnor lose the common touch,†¨ If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;†¨ If all men count with you, but none too much,†¨ If you can fill the unforgiving minute†¨With sixty seconds worth of distance run,†¨ Yours is the Earth and everything thats in it,†¨ Andwhich is moreyoull be a Man, my son! I recall really liking that one. Back then, girls just translated the gendered stuff internally and applied the masculine virtues to themselves. If you can keep your head. Have you ever noticed how many idioms and expressions make use of the word head? (One of our Forum members, Heaven, got me started on this.) Head as a Noun As a noun, head can mean: foam on a glass of beer This meaning existed as early as 1545. water closet on a ship from 1748, based on location of crew toilet in the bow (or head) of a ship leader of a tribe or other collection of people source of a river (head waters) upper end of a bed business end of an arrow, spear, ax part of a boil or pimple that is ready to burst (Things come to a head and then break loose.) obverse of a coin (tails is the reverse of a coin) one person/animal as in head count and twenty head of cattle top part of grain Ex. a head of corn, a head of wheat Head as a Verb to set ones course: Ex. We headed for home. (originally a nautical term) to have authority over: Ex. He heads a giant corporation. Head in combination with other elements header a dive headfirst into a pool header information typed at the top of a page headfirst -head foremost headstrong (1398) stubborn, determined to have ones way headquarters (1647) where military (or other) leaders have their offices headroom (1851) space above the head, as in a train. headphone This modern sounding coinage was first noted in 1914. headlight (1861) Before there were automobiles, trains and ships needed lights in front. headmaster/headmistress head teacher behead execute by chopping off the head NOTE: to decapitate is to chop off someones head. It derives from caput, Latin for head. Capital punishment was originally decapitation. A state capital is the states head or chief city. The word chief, while were at it, also means head. It comes into English from French. It came into French from, you guessed it, Latin caput. Then there are the idioms: Keep your head. Remain calm in stressful circumstances. Lose your head. Lose control because of some overpowering emotion. have a level head able to remain calm and exercise good judgment Get a head start. Begin before other participants. Give him his head. Let him do as he pleases. (from horseback riding) Hes in over his head. He is involved in some activity which he is unable to deal with. The image is that of drowning. Ive only scratched the surface, but if I dont quit citing examples of head idioms, Ill go out of my head. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Expressions category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:20 Types and Forms of HumorOn Behalf Of vs. In Behalf Of5 Ways to Reduce Use of Prepositions