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Hot off the press
Idiom: Hot off the press Whenever a new post is published here at ArtisanEnglish.jp, I send a notice. The notice lets everyone who applied to receive them know that a new post is available hot off the press. That is your idiom for the day, folks – hot off the press. Anyone who knows me knows that…
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Fall into place
Phrase: Fall into place I don’t know if you remember a TV show named The A-Team from the 1980s. That show had a character called Hannibal, and during almost every show, there was a line that he said, “I love it when a plan comes together.” The meaning of the phrase fall into place is very similar…
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Right the ship
Idiom: Right the ship I bet when you saw this picture, you immediately thought about how they would right the ship. You were probably somewhat surprised, right? Imagine the reaction of the people on board the vessel when they suddenly found themselves listing at a 60° angle. Well, this is a real incident. I remember it…
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Sine qua non
WotD: Sine qua non Here it is again, Latin. A Sine qua non is something essential for something else to be possible. You can’t make a hamburger without beef. Therefore beef is a sine qua non for making burgers. Now, you’re not going to see this term every day. Heck, you may only see it once a year if…
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Ostracize
Word of the Day: Ostracize Kids ostracize each other often. Spouses do it, too, from time to time. Even professionals working in offices or different environments are ostracized by their co-workers. To ostracize someone means to avoid them intentionally or to exclude them from participating in group activities. At the extreme end of the scale, it’s a form of bullying. In a…
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In the cards
Idiom: In the cards Where do you stand on turning to astrology to learn what may be in the cards for your future? I’ve recently done a lesson titled Looking for an Answer with most of my students about fortune-telling. Many millennials seem to be turning to fortune-telling to give them some idea of what the future…
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Delegate
Word of the Day: Delegate They say that nobody likes a micromanager. I’ve read that a good manager knows how, when and to whom to delegate tasks. Everyone wants to have the freedom to make decisions on their own. Having this ability would enable employees to gain confidence and thus become more valuable employees with more possibility…
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Hierarchy
Word of the Day: Hierarchy It’s intriguing how the hierarchy of the food chain matches the authority of human society. A hierarchy is a system in which things are arranged according to importance. The stronger / bigger something is, the more important it is. In both systems, things are arranged according to how important they are. Usually,…
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Save your bacon
Idiom: Save your bacon You can be the breadwinner for a family and put food on the table by bringing home the bacon, but did you know someone can save your bacon as well? Food plays an integral part in English idioms. Bacon plays a vital role in American food culture. You can take any dish, add bacon and cheese, and it…
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Mansplain
Word of the Day: Mansplain Yes, it’s true. When men mansplain, they explain the obvious to a woman, often a more intelligent woman, and that woman thinks he’s an idiot. As you can see, the word mansplain is made up of two words ‘man’ and ‘explain.’ If you are a woman reading this right now, I am not mansplaining. …
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