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Leg up
Word of the Day: Leg up Leg up refers to an advantage that a person has over someone else. It usually comes in the form of help that they receive. You can think about it as lending a helping hand. If you ask someone for a reference letter when you are looking for a job or…
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Like two peas in a pod
Phrase: Like two peas in a pod The expression like two peas in a pod is used to compare two very similar things. Probably, we’ve all had the experience of knowing two people who were excellent friends. They were almost like twins. They did everything together. They dressed the same way. They wore their hair in the…
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White elephant
WotD: White elephant Perhaps your first thought is that you have never seen a white elephant. I’m here to tell you that you have and you’ve seen them more than once. If you’ve never been to a zoo, you have seen a white elephant – perhaps more than once. White elephants are expensive things that have no useful purpose.…
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A recipe for disaster
Phrase: A recipe for disaster Some people are excellent cooks, and some people are terrible cooks. Very rarely, however, has someone died from lousy cooking unless the situation involved a recipe for disaster. There are moments you look at what someone is doing and say, ‘That is not going to work out well.’ In other words,…
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Freeloader
WotD: Freeloader Freeloaders are a roommate’s worst nightmare. Believe me. There’s nothing worse than someone who drinks your alcohol, watches your TV, eats your food, uses your toilet paper, and never cleans up, contributes to the grocery bill, or replaces anything. In a nutshell, a freeloader is a person who uses and abuses your hospitality without any thought…
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Take to heart
Idiom: Take to heart When you take something to heart, you take it very seriously, or you take it very personally. The idiom can be positive or negative depending on the situation involved. I do my best to be positive, so let’s first examine the idiom’s positive aspects. Good advice is something that we should all take…
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Gold Standard
WotD: Gold Standard The first thing to know is that the gold standard has two possible meanings. Back in the day before the Great Depression, all currency was supported or backed by what was then called the gold standard. For all the currency a government created, it held an equal value of gold in the government…
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What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas
Expression: What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas You’ve most likely heard the expression ‘what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas’ before, but do you know anything about it? Where did it come from, for example? Well, let me fill you in a little bit. Everyone knows that Las Vegas is a place that has many casinos.…
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Wax and wane
WotD: Wax and wane On almost any clear night, you can easily see a perfect example of wax and wane. Way above your head, you’ll see the moon. The moon is waxing or waning except when it’s full. If the moon is getting larger night after night, it is a waxing moon. If it’s getting smaller night after night, it’s…
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In the crosshairs
Phrase: In the crosshairs The first thing that comes to mind when you hear the phrase in the crosshairs may be a gunsight. While that is the modern-day perception, crosshairs were initially used on telescopes and microscopes so that scientists could better focus their instruments. You may also be surprised to learn that the original material used…
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