Photo credit: historytoday.com
Today we had a fire alarm at work and everyone was leaving reluctantly because of below zero temperature outside and no time to grab a coat, though the prospect of such an unforeseen break from work made it much more bearable. As we were leaving the building, my colleague said ‘Look, everyone is smiling from ear to ear, it says a lot about this place’. I completely agree on this one, that’s why I am leaving in three weeks.
I am pretty sure that the explanation of this phrase is not needed, but I cannot resist the temptation of searching for some examples:
– Put out the bunting, crack open the beers, stand there in the kitchen smiling from ear to ear, because he’s home – our student son is home and the family is together again. And after supper, after the washing up is done, the others – his younger siblings – drift off to watch television, and he says: “Would you like to see my tattoo?” (The Guardian).
– He came to me to discuss it in 1985, smiling from ear to ear but unshaven, from the hospital where he had been up all night waiting for his son Max to be born (The Guardian).
– Craig Kinsley, a rookie Team USA javelin thrower, was smiling from ear to ear as he joined the first athletes dumping their bags in the Olympic Village. “I’ve just updated my Facebook status,” he said. “England,London, Olympic Village, heaven.” (The Guardian).
Confessions of the Linguistic Spy 