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Idiom: Stick a fork in (something)
We have a very lovely idiomatic phrase today.
If you listen to the podcast, you’ve heard my buddy, Art Lish, sometimes say, ‘Stick a fork in it‘ at the end of the podcast.
He also says, ‘That’s another one in the books,’ ‘This one is done and dusted,’ or ‘That’s all for today, folks.’
You see, they are all ways to say something is finished or over.
It can also mean that someone has been defeated in a game, debate or argument etc.
I always thought the idiom came from cooking potatoes.
When my mother was boiling potatoes, she would stick a fork in them to see if they were fully cooked.
If the potato stuck to the fork, it was not cooked, but it was ready to eat if it came off the fork easily.
It makes sense, right?
Well, apparently, according to the Internet, because I always research these posts first, ‘stick a fork in it‘ probably comes from cooking steak.
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Just like with potatoes, people commonly stick a fork in a steak to see if it is cooked or not.
Honestly, though, who cares if it’s a potato or steak?
When you use up all your lives in a video game and have to retire, you can say, “Stick a fork in me,” and everyone will know what you mean – you’re finished.
For me, this is the beauty of the English language.
Understanding a large part of what people say depends on the context and cultural knowledge.
Yes, TOEIC will give you the most commonly used words, but to fully understand, you must use the language in real, authentic conversations.
I’m past my word limit. Stick a fork in it. This post is done.
Flesch-Kincaid Readability Test
This post is understandable by someone with at least a 7th-grade education (age 12).
On the Flesch-Kincaid reading-ease test, this post scores 79.
The easier a passage is to read, the higher the score on a scale of 0 – 100.