“Tearing down the house” is a popular idiom meaning enthusiastic praise, originating from live audience response in theaters. It is an opaque idiom, and has developed an extended meaning used in non-theatrical contexts. The phrase has been used in popular media and entertainment contexts, such as the film “Bringing Down the House.”
The expression “tearing down the house” is common in both the United States and the United Kingdom. It is a popular idiom that refers to huge praise or favors from the audience and originates from live audience response in theaters and theaters. It’s a facetious phrase meaning applause or applause so loud it could, in theory, bring the theater down.
An idiom is any phrase with a figurative meaning that differs from the literal meaning of the words used in the idiom. In the case of “tearing down the house,” the idiom does not refer to the actual destruction or collapse of a structure. The sentence is classified as an opaque idiom, meaning that its literal translation offers little insight into the idiomatic function of the sentence. A non-native speaker, for example, may have difficulty deciphering the meaning.
In addition to opaque idioms like this sentence, there are also transparent idioms. These idioms more directly reflect their literal meanings. For example, the idiom “a pat on the wrist” is transparent, as both literal and figurative meanings describe a form of punishment.
“Bring the house down” gained popularity as an idiom before the advent of television or any other electronic form of entertainment. A theater is often known as a ‘house’, with the first enclosed theaters built in England in the 1500s. It is not certain when this idiom originated, but it may have been during this time period as theaters were built with simple roofs of straw and were relatively fragile structures.
Since its inception, this phrase has developed an extended meaning. It is now used to refer to any enthusiastic praise, in or outside a theatre. It is used in non-theatrical contexts, such as when an athlete makes a key play that leads to huge cheers from a crowd. Some use the phrase non-colloquially to mean the actual collapse of a house, such as from a natural disaster.
The popularity of the idiom has led to its use in popular media and entertainment contexts. In 2003, a film called “Bringing Down the House” was released, starring American actors Steve Martin and Queen Latifah. Latifah plays a woman, fresh from prison, who breaks into Martin’s character’s life and causes trouble. The film’s title is a play on “bring the house down,” signifying the disruptions caused by Latifah’s character.
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