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Pick-up game
Word of the Day: Pick-up game Most kids across North America have fond memories of pick-up games. A pick-up game is a game of ice hockey, baseball, soccer, basketball, etc., that kids play together. There are no adults, referees, uniforms or organization of any kind. People just get together and play. Many Canadians have fond…
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Along for the ride
Phrase: Along for the ride The phrase along for the ride is used when someone is present at an event but is not participating. Imagine you are staying at home because you have a broken leg. Your friends come over to ask you to join a pick-up basketball game at the park. Of course, you have…
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Smoke and Mirrors
Word of the Day: Smoke and Mirrors The Tsukiji relocation is not going as planned in Tokyo. We are all wondering why and what the heck happened. Well, there seems to be a lot of smoke and mirrors about the consultation and building processes. It would appear that many things were said because they ‘sounded…
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Have a monkey on your back
English Idiom: Have a monkey on your back If you have a monkey on your back, you have a problem that you cannot shake off. Perhaps you’re a baseball player and cannot get on base — every time you have an at-bat, you strike out. Another example could be an ex-boyfriend who will not stop…
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Shake off
Word of the Day: Shake (something) off Have you ever had a cold and couldn’t shake it off? Perhaps you’ve been unlucky at work, in sports or in love, and you can’t get that monkey off your back. Or the problem could be you can’t get rid of an old boyfriend even though you have…
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Back in the day
Expression: Back in the day When people think about the past and feel nostalgic, they tend to use the term back in the day. For example, Tokyo Giants fans may say something like, “Back in the day, Sadaharu Oh and Shigeo Nagashima were a great 3-4 tandem on the 9-championship team between 1965 and 1973.”…
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Golden handshake
Word of the Day: Golden handshake I would love to receive a golden handshake when or if I ever retire. I would be ecstatic to leave a company with a considerable sum of money deposited into my bank account as a reward for doing a great job. Many company executives, professors or government officials receive…
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Move the needle
English Idiom: Move the needle Many experts say the Japanese government needs to move the needle on the economy. Everyone has heard this. The economy has been sluggish for quite a few years now. Moving the needle means making a significant change to something. It’s time for the government to do something, anything, to change the…
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Fret
Word of the Day: Fret Fret is a concise word that means to worry or to be nervous about something. Most of us fret about writing final exams at university. We worry about finding a good job, fret about keeping a good job or about resigning from a position we don’t like. Heck, we even…
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Lose your edge
English Idiom: Lose your edge Have you ever felt that you are losing your edge? It happens to most of us. If we are involved in jobs or sports that require physical dexterity or endurance, we may lose our edge as we age. We start to slow down or can no longer keep up with…
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