English Idiom: Catch red-handed
For some reason, I have a vague memory of a children’s program from about 35 years ago, which was using a skit to teach the idiom red-handed to young viewers like I was at the time.
A little boy was continually sneaking his hand into the cookie jar to steal cookies even though his mother told him not to snack before supper.
One day she put red paint in the cookie jar (after taking the cookies out, of course).
The naughty little boy put his hand in the jar and – you guessed it – he was caught red-handed.
If you catch someone red-handed, it means that you find them in the act of doing something. Often that ‘something’ is bad or not allowed.
Just like sometimes the police are in the right place at the right time to catch a purse snatcher in the act of stealing a purse before they can make a getaway.
