FOOD IDIOMS

A BAD EGG:

This idiomatic expression has different meanings: It’s related to a person who is often in trouble, or somebody you can’t trust because he/she is dishonest. In Spanish is something like "manzana podrida" o "huevo podrido".

ORIGIN:                                       

This expression makes reference to the disappointment felt when cracking an egg. When you have an egg, you don’t know the quality of this until you break it, so, we can compare it with people: you don’t know how a person is only with the outward appearance. It’s only with a close friendship that we can to know the true character and personality of one person. This expression was used in common usage before its first appearance written in Milwaukee Daily American, September 1856. The next sentences belong some examples about its uses: a) “…There are also on the list a number of notorious blacklegs whom Woods keeps in pay. He is a bad egg.” (Milwaukee Daily American.) b) I don't want my little brother hanging around with the bad eggs on the street.

TO BRING HOME THE BACON:

 It means to earn the income. In Spanish it means "ganarse el pan" o "hacerse con el triunfo".

                                 ORIGIN:                                                                                     

  It appears for first time in a small town of Essex in 1100s. According to this legend, the Church of this town would award a side of bacon to any man who could honestly said that he hadn’t argued with his wife for a year and a day. They were considered as a role model. Others beliefs started in the 1500s at country fairs: one of this was related to catch a greased pig and if you win, you got to “bring home the bacon” because you kept the pig. But since the 1600s, the word “bacon” has been used as a slang term for one’s body, because people often associate the body with one’s ability to work and earn money, so the word bacon took this connotation too. Example: “My husband has had to bring home the bacon ever since I broke my leg.” 

 TO HAVE YOUR CAKE AND IT TOO: 

It means to have or do two good things at the same time that are impossible to have or do at the same time. In Spanish it is "no se puede tener todo lo que se quiere" Examples: You can't have your cake and eat it - if you want more local services, you can't expect to pay less tax. 

ORIGIN:                                 

The phrase was actually used as early as 1538 in a letter from Thomas Howard, the third Duke of Norfolk, to Thomas Cromwell, chief minister to King Henry VIII. The idiom was later published in A Dialogue Conteynyng Prouerbes and Epigrammes by John Heywood in 1562. Centuries later this expression is common in books, plays and other writings. Between the19th and 20th centuries, the idiom would read in some variation of “You can’t EAT your cake and HAVE it too,” but in the end, the basic sentiment is the same.