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Artery
Word of the Day: Artery An artery can be any of the large blood vessels, which are like pipes in your body that carry blood to and from all your parts and organs. However, when we listen to a traffic report on TV or radio, we often hear the reporter say, ‘All major arteries are…
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Run out of steam
English Expression: Run out of steam As we saw with the idiom I introduced yesterday, a head of steam means to build up momentum and become successful. Well, today’s expression run out of steam is the opposite. If you run out of steam, you lose momentum or enthusiasm for something and fail or give up. We…
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Momentum
Word of the Day: Momentum Momentum is a physical force that keeps you moving in a forward direction. Regarding people, it can be similar to desire determination, which comes from within ourselves. As we can see with my example of Hiroshi, his enthusiasm ran out of steam. Hiroshi lost his internal momentum, desire, and determination…
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Hard-and-fast
Word of the Day: Hard-and-fast People are not allowed to commit murder. That is a hard-and-fast rule, meaning something is fixed and unchangeable. You may think that ‘fast’ means to move quickly. Yes, of course, you’re right, but ‘fast’ also has another meaning: to be unmovable. If you think about it, it makes sense. We…
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A head of steam
English Expression: A head of steam Let me give you the literal meaning of a head of steam before we get to the idiomatic meaning of a head of steam. As you probably know, a steam locomotive (SL) boils water to produce steam, which is then held in an enclosed space. The pressure builds up…
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Faint of heart
Phrase: Faint of heart People who are faint of heart feel nauseous when exposed to something that disgusts or scares them. Are you afraid of heights? Perhaps you cannot watch specific TV programs that show lots of blood. Of course, everybody has something they fear, be it heights, small places, blood (even a little) or horror…
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Squeamish
Word of the Day: Squeamish If you feel like you are going to faint or feel nauseous when you see a little bit of blood, or if you can’t watch an operation scene in a TV drama, then you’re probably squeamish. To be squeamish means that you are easily disgusted, upset or even shocked by…
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Mr. Right
Word of the Day: Mr. Right This one is for the ladies. Hey, ladies, how ya doin’? I’m guessing that you have either found Mr. Right, are still looking for that man of your dreams, or you’ve completely given up on finding him. Is that correct? What? Who is Mr. Right? If you have to…
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At first blush / at first glance
Idiom: At first blush/glance At first blush or first glance, means the moment when you first start to think about something before you have given it any deep thought. There are various ways to use this expression. For example, at first glance, I never thought I would be able to complete the project on time, but…
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Once bitten, twice shy
Saying: Once bitten, twice shy Today’s saying, once bitten, twice shy, means that once you do something and experience a painful situation, you’ll be careful not to repeat that mistake. Think about it this way. Imagine that you are looking for a date. You build up your courage and ask out a girl that you like.…
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