II. The Origin and Characteristics of English Idioms
 
2.1 The Origin of English Idioms
British people have lived in a geographical environment, surrounded by oceans, so their early life heavily relies on the ocean. They fought with the sea and created a culture of “sea”. For example, the “fish” is a word that is often used to describe human beings, so we can say “There are plenty more fish in the sea”; “the fish begins to rot from the head”, which can’t be translated as “sorry to rot smelly fish” but should be regarded as “the fish begins to stink at the head”. 文化语境视角下的英语习语汉译探析(2):http://www.youerw.com/yingyu/lunwen_35740.html