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Get (something) out of one’s system
English Idiom: Get (something) out of your system Have you ever had an overpowering desire to do something? Maybe you wanted to go to Paris or try the new cola flavour on the market. It doesn’t matter what it was, but you kept thinking about it until you got it out of your system. Having…
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Greasy Spoon
Word of the Day: Greasy Spoon It seems that people may be moving away from the Michelin-starred restaurants and back to the greasy spoon eateries. These eateries are small local restaurants that usually serve fried food. In Japan, there has been a growing B-gourmet boom for quite a few years now. As a university student,…
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In the zone
Phrase: In the zone Some things in life require you to be in the zone because they require all your attention. If you are taking a nice, leisurely walk along the beach, you can let your mind wander. However, if you are a gymnast trying to achieve your personal best score in a competition, you…
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Dawdle
Word of the Day: Dawdle Sundays were made for dawdling, or at least they used to be for dawdling. These days, any day of the week could be your day off and a perfect day for dawdling. “What does that mean?” you ask. To dawdle means taking more time to do something than you should. On…
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Taken in
English Idiom: Taken in Even though we try as hard as we can not to make mistakes, sometimes even the best of us get taken it. If you are taken in, you are fooled by some sort of trick or scam. There are many different scams on the Internet. These scams are designed to trick…
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Hourglass figure
Word of the Day: Hourglass figure There was a time in the not-too-distant past when society told us it was ideal for a woman to have an hourglass figure. Having an hourglass figure means to be shaped like an hourglass and have a tiny waist. The truth is that most women don’t have an hourglass…
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Measure twice, cut once
English Idiom: Measure twice, cut once I have some advice for you today that I think is good to follow. Measure twice, cut once means that before you do something, ensure you have carefully prepared so you will not make a mistake and need to correct it. Of course, we all make mistakes, and there…
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Airtime
Word of the Day: Airtime If you listen to radio programs or watch television for any length of time, you’ll quickly realize that the topics with the most airtime change frequently. Recently, in Japan, the Moritomogakuen scandal was getting vast amounts of airtime, and even now, it’s still mentioned in the news from time to…
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They don’t make them like they used to
Cliché: They don’t make them like they used to No matter your age, there’s a high possibility that you’ve used the phrase they don’t make ’em like they used to. You may think that some things were better when you were young, no matter how old you are. They don’t make them like they used…
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Novelty
Word of the Day: Novelty Way back on February 9th last year, I introduced the adjective novel. Novelty is the noun form of novel, not like the book but novel, like the adjective. Anything new to you or you have not experienced before can be a novelty. Do you remember those fidget spinners? No? I had almost forgotten…
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