-
Stick-to-your-ribs
English Idiom: Stick-to-your-ribs There’s a lot to be said about a great stick-to-your-ribs meal. These days, there’s much talk about counting calories, dieting and taking supplements for their so-called health benefits. Some believe that this means they have to starve themselves half to death to achieve the body style they want. I don’t think that. In…
-
Rosy
Word of the Day: Rosy How do you feel when you look at the picture I have chosen to accompany the word of the day? Does everything look rosy? Does it make you feel happy? I hope so because I chose it for two reasons. The first is that the picture has a rose-coloured tinge to…
-
Cook the books
English Idiom: Cook the books If you have been following Japanese politics recently, the Moritomo Gakuen scandal is a perfect example of the idiom cook the books. The head of the Japanese Land Ministry appeared in the diet to give testimony about the scandal. After giving his evidence, the official records, which the ministry keeps, were…
-
Plethora
Word of the Day: Plethora Say the word quietly to yourself. Plethora. Isn’t it a lovely word? Why would you say something dull, such as ‘I have many choices’ when you can say ‘I have a plethora of options’? That’s what plethora means: a large amount of something, perhaps even more than you need. I…
-
Nothing ventured, nothing gained
Proverb: Nothing ventured, nothing gained Doing the safe thing is easy, comfortable and seemingly the sensible way of going about something. However, you can’t expect to achieve your dreams if you don’t take chances or risks. In English, we have the proverb, nothing ventured, nothing gained. It means that if you don’t try, you will…
-
Pipe dream
WotD: Pipe dream Have you ever had a pipe dream? I mean the kind of hope where you had a private island all to yourself. A dream in which there was no need to work anymore, so you traded in crowded train rides for a dugout canoe, the cold, hard sidewalk for a soft private…
-
Lend a helping hand
Idiom: Lend a helping hand Now and then, it is nice to lend a helping hand to a friend or stranger in need. It’s neighbourly and good community spirit to help someone when help is needed. We should all be willing to lend a helping hand. No, we don’t necessarily have to use our hands, but in…
-
Rainy day fund
Word of the Day: Rainy day fund Any financial expert will tell you that it is a good idea to have a rainy day fund to deal with unforeseen circumstances. A rainy day fund is a reserved amount of savings a person can access when things are not going well, or unforeseen circumstances arise. For…
-
The Writing is on the wall
English Idiom: The Writing is on the wall It seems that the writing is on the wall for many of the old systems we grew up with. China is up and coming, whereas the USA appears to be pulling back. Just like in 1989, when the writing was on the wall for the old communist…
-
Peace of mind
Idiom: Peace of mind First things first, peace of mind is not what your wife gives you when you make her angry. That would be a piece of her mind, and I’ll do that idiom shortly. Our world for the day is much more pleasant than that. Peace of mind is how you feel when…
Got any book recommendations?