Idioms: in the aisles

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Idiom(s) of the day: roll in the aisles

Variation(s): rock/reel/laugh in the aisles; have/knock/lay/send sb (rolling/reeling) in the aisles

My category (Russian-to-English translation): Счастье (Happiness)

Explanation(s):

Collins Cobuild Dictionary of Idioms, 2004 (CCDI):

If you say that people in an audience or group are rolling in the aisles, you mean that they are laughing so much at something that they find it hard to stop.

Lingvo (www.lingvo.com):

Babylon (www.babylon.com):

an audience that is laughing or rolling in the aisles is laughing a lot

Random House Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary v4.7:

(of an audience) convulsed with laughter.

Translation(s):

CCDI:

Смеяться, хохотать до упаду; хвататься за бока, животики (от смеха, со смеха).

Lingvo (www.lingvo.com):

привести зрителей в восторг, вызвать бурю восторга; произвести фурор, иметь большой успех у кого-л; насмешить, развеселить кого-л

Babylon (www.babylon.com):

Multitran (www.multitran.ru):

заставить публику кататься со смеху; насмешить публику до слез (have the public rolling in the aisles)

нечто, сказанное со сцены, что заставляет публику "умирать" от смеха (in the aisles)

покорить аудиторию талантом (knock (lay) them in the aisles)

производить на людей приятное впечатление

аплодирующий и веселящийся (rolling in the aisles)

Multilex (www.multilex.ru):

Examples:

CCDI:

It’s all good knockout stuff that has them rolling in the aisles.

On the evidence so far, it’s unlikely that the story-lines will have us reeling in the aisles.

Lingvo (www.lingvo.com):

We looked forward to a school play which would really lay them in the aisles. (‘Times’) — Мы с нетерпением ждали такой пьесы для школьников, которая действительно привела бы их в восторг.

Take an old tune, come up with some snappy new lyrics... We'd lay 'em in the aisles from coast to coast. (E. O'Connor, ‘The Last Hurrah’, part III, ch. XII) — Возьмем модные душещипательные стишки и будем петь их на старый мотив... Увидишь, какой это будет иметь фурор от побережья до побережья.

I made the speech of a lifetime. I had them tearing up the seats and rolling in the aisles. (P. G. Wodehouse, ‘Quick Service’, ch. XII) — Такую речь произносят только раз в жизни. Мои слушатели пришли в восторг и повскакали с мест.

‘Whacko!,’ she said critically looking at herself in the mirror. ‘That ought to lay 'em in the aisles.’ Though she said "them", she thought "him". (D. Cusack. ‘Picnic Races’, ch. 13) — - Шикарно! - воскликнула Иден, придирчиво рассматривая себя в зеркало. - Увидев меня, они попадают в обморок. Иден сказала "они", но думала она лишь об одном человеке.

‘Leave everything to me,’ he said. ‘I'll lay 'em in the aisles.’ (E. O'Connor, ‘The Last Hurrah’, part I, ch. V) — - О гостях позабочусь я, - сказал Кьюк. - Уж я их развеселю.

The way he tells these jokes will knock them in the aisles — Все буквально стонут от того, как он рассказывает свои анекдоты

I was splendid as a public speaker and laid them in the aisles — Как оратор я был просто великолепен, и слушатели были от меня просто в восторге

He had them rolling in the aisles — Публика от его выступления покатывалась со смеху

That should lay them in the aisles — Это должно произвести настоящий фурор

That performer usually has them rolling in the aisles — Публика всегда восторженно принимает этого актера

The audience was rolling in the aisles — Зрители покатывались со смеху

Babylon (www.babylon.com):

Oxford English Dictionary (OED) v4.0:

b.5.b Colloq. phr. to have, lay, send (people) (rolling) in the aisles: to make (an audience) laugh uncontrollably; to be a great theatrical success. Also transf.

1940 Wodehouse Quick Service xii. 136, I made the speech of a lifetime. I had them tearing up the seats and rolling in the aisles. 1943 D. W. Brogan Eng. People vii. 202 This trick had the population, white and coloured, rolling in the aisles. 1954 N. Coward Future Indef. i. 17 This, to use a theatrical phrase, had them in the aisles! In fact, two of my inquisitors laughed until they cried. 1959 Sunday Express 11 Oct. 6/5 A book that sends my English friends rolling in the aisles. 1959 Times 14 Dec. 13/4 We looked forward to a school play which would really lay them in the aisles.

Random House Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary v4.7:

British National Corpus (BNC), Mark Davies (http://corpus.byu.edu/bnc/): in the aisles, total 28

It's going to knock them in the aisles.

A teller of tall tales has been brought in to help would-be vicars keep the congregation rolling in the aisles.

But her vast collection of hoary old Jewish jokes, most of them pinched from the Dead Sea Scrolls, are greeted with paroxysms of guffaws and rolling in the aisles.

Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA), Mark Davies (http:// www.americancorpus.org/): in the aisles, total 136

The ironic remark, he wrote, "rolled them in the aisles."

His grand finale was, and this supposedly laid them in the aisles, an impersonation of Mock Duck firing his guns blindly until he would roll over, ass over teakettle.

At the end of Pete's speeches, when he had them laid out in the aisles, he would suddenly switch gears and turn to a poem entitled Rules for the Game of Life.

Riley thought of them holding their stomachs and merrily convulsing in the aisles.

He fetched and carried around the mayor's house in the daytime, and rolled audiences in the aisles at night.

My companion project: An Idiom a Day (www.twitter.com/AVDemid):

Always use your wiles

To rock ’em, shock ‘em,

Send ‘em reeling in the aisles.

Use a lot of styles

To move, unlock ‘em

Have ‘em laughing in the aisles

Want their faces lit with smiles?

Do your best to mock ‘em,

Sock it to them in the aisles.

Let the folks forget their piles

And convulse with laughter

When they read your files.

Have ‘em rolling in the aisles

Once your jokes knock’ em

Lay ‘em out in the aisles.