I got a charley horse in my leg last night.
charley horse
idiomA muscle cramp, usually a strong one, in the thigh, leg, arm, or core.
Origin
disputed originUncertain, although first attested in American baseball slang of the 1880s, possibly related to cramps suffered by the pitcher Charles Gardner Radbourn, who was nicknamed "Old Hoss", or possibly from period use of Charlie as a generic name for horses similar to Rover for dogs and Felix for cats.
She woke up with a painful charley horse and had to walk it off.
The runner collapsed mid-race, clutching his thigh where a sudden charley horse had seized the muscle.
- 01
beat a dead horse
To persist or continue far beyond any purpose, interest or reason.
- 02
close the stable door after the horse has bolted
To attempt to prevent a problem that has already occurred; to design and implement a preventive mechanism that is too late (after the first failure instead of before).
- 03
dark horse
Someone who possesses talents or favorable characteristics that are not known or expected by others.
- 04
enough to choke a horse
An excessive quantity.
- 05
flog a dead horse
To attempt to get more out of something that cannot give more; to attempt to arouse fresh interest in something that is either hopeless or already settled.
- 06
get back on the horse
To return to an activity after a period of abstaining from the activity.
- 07
get back on the horse that bucked one
To return to something that previously caused harm.
- 08
get off one's high horse
To stop acting in an imperious, overbearing or bossy manner.