Tag: digress
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Get the hint
Phrase: Get the hint Have you ever been in a situation where your better half is dropping hints left, right, and center, but you just can’t seem to pick up on them? Well, my friend, you need to get the hint. The phrase ‘get the hint‘ is commonly used when someone is trying to communicate…
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Put your thumb on the scale
Idiom: Put your thumb on the scale Well, they did it again! There’s an upper house election coming up this summer, and the Japanese government once again tried to put their thumb on the scale. When you place your thumb on the scale, you try to influence the outcome of something, such as contract bidding,…
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Hipster
Word of the Day: Hipster When you hear the word hipster, what comes to mind? Some older men use the term as an insult, as in, “Just another damn hipster!” However, thankfully, not all people think that way. Hipster, coined in the 1940s and popularized in the 2000s, is a young adult subculture interested in…
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Devil’s advocate
Idiom: Devil’s advocate Now and then, an English teacher has to play devil’s advocate in the classroom. I’ve been an English language conversation teacher longer than I care to say. One thing I’ve learned is that having differing opinions on something helps to keep a conversation going. Here, I will digress for a moment and use this as a…
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Drop-a-dime
Phrase: Drop-a-dime If you are a fan of old movies, you may have heard the term drop-a-dime more than once. Back in the day, before the invention of smartphones or cell phones, for that matter, people had to use public payphones. I’m forty-four, and I remember walking up to the local payphone on the corner to apply…
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Nothing to sneeze at
English Expression: Nothing to sneeze at OK, this is a strange one. When we need to take something seriously or we should not ignore something then we can say that it’s nothing to sneeze at. Finding a lump, strange-looking blemish or anything unusual with your body or skin is nothing to sneeze at. Anybody…
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The cream rises to the top
Idiom: The cream rises to the top The idiom the cream rises to the top means that the most skilled people and best ideas are more noticeable than the others because they rise to the top and stand out. Have you ever enjoyed a glass of fresh milk? I don’t mean pasteurized milk in a carton sold…
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Get your goat
Idiom: Get your goat If you get someone’s goat, it does not mean that you steal or borrow their goat. Why would you want to borrow someone’s goat anyway? What would you do with a stolen goat? Make cheese, maybe? I mean, what can you do with a goat? I had a goat when…
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The fruits of one’s labours
Idiom: The fruits of your labours Ah, yes, the fruits of your labours. I’m sure that on Christmas morning, Santa sits down to breakfast very satisfied with the fruits of his labours or the results of all the work that he, his eight reindeer and the elves had done during the year, ending with Santa’s…
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Swanky
Word of the Day: Swanky It is a lot of fun to stay in a swanky hotel. The Savoy in Covent Garden, London, is the first example of this type of hotel that I can think of. It probably sticks in my mind because a Canadian politician once stayed there at the Canadian taxpayers’ expense.…
