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Stifling
Word of the Day: Stifling If you’ve lived or even visited the Kansai region of Japan in summer, you already know what stifling means. I only have to give you an example. Imagine Osaka in August. Can you feel the oppressive heat and humidity? It’s very hot and unpleasant, right? Well, that is what stifling…
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The long arm of the law
Expression: The long arm of the law If you do something wrong, the police can reach out and catch you. In its primary sense, this is what the long arm of the law means. The long arm of the law refers to the ability of police or those in authority to reach and capture criminals no matter…
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Downpour
Word of the Day: Downpour The weather in Japan has been bizarre recently. It seems that every day, there has been a downpour in a different part of the country. Downpours are relatively short periods of extremely heavy rain. In many incidents, these heavy rain events caused traffic to drive through flooded streets, property damage…
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As fit as a fiddle
English Idiom: As fit as a fiddle First, let me explain that a fiddle is an informal word for violin. If you are as fit as a fiddle, you are in perfect health, active and energetic. From my experience, it is quite often used when talking about the health of older adults. A typical conversation…
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Lovebirds
Word of the Day: Lovebirds Aw, aren’t those lovebirds cute? Well, they are actually pigeons, but they can still be cute, right? Anyway, to get to the point, lovebirds refers to two people who are obviously in love with each other. They may be holding hands, kissing or gazing into each other’s eyes. No matter…
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Get cold feet
English Idiom: Get cold feet Have you ever gotten cold feet? I mean, have you ever been afraid to do something you had planned to do? People experience fear before jumping off a diving board for the first time, getting married (not necessarily for the first time) or giving a presentation in front of a…
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Jaywalk
Word of the Day: Jaywalk When you jaywalk, you cross the street illegally, i.e., not at a crosswalk or intersection or dangerously, such as on a Don’t Walk sign. Jaywalk comes from the term Jay-driver, a person who drove their car or horse and carriage on the wrong side of the road. As you can…
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On it
English Idiom: On it On it is another way to say, “I’ll do that right away.” Or to be doing something now. Whenever someone gives you a new task to accomplish, you can reply by using today’s little idiom. It means you are either doing it now or will do it shortly. If your boss…
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Trivial
Word of the Day: Trivial Trivial things are considered to be not valuable and not necessary. Sounds straightforward, right? Well, it isn’t. What you may feel is a trivial matter, others may think is life-changing. Think about the frustrated businessman in the picture here. It seems that he is having some business difficulties. By the…
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Strike a nerve
Expression: Touch/hit/strike a nerve We should not talk about specific topics with certain people for fear that we will strike a nerve. If someone has recently gone through a divorce, the joys of marriage are probably a topic that will bother them and make them feel somewhat uncomfortable. If a subject touches a nerve with…
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