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The gift of gab
Phrase: The gift of gab They call it the gift of gab, but really, it’s the ability to speak fluently and with eloquence. Language students say they want to speak like a native speaker, but what does that mean? Do you want to talk like a high school student or an undergrad at university? Donald…
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At the end of your rope
Idiom: Be at the end of your rope All around the world, people are at the end of their ropes. Lockdowns, remote work, and not being as free as we once were have taken their toll on us. When you are at the end of your rope, you are so stressed with a situation that…
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Cold snap
WotD: Cold snap/spell What the heck is going on? Recently the papers announced that 2020 tied with 2016 for being the hottest year on record, but this week Wakayama went through a cold snap. C’mon! Enough with the frost and frigid temperatures. Wakayama is supposed to be subtropical, isn’t it? Give an almost-middle-aged Canadian a…
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Bucket list
Word of the Day: Bucket list Everyone has a to-do list. You have one, and I have multiple. A bucket list, however, is a to-do list for life. It’s a list of experiences or achievements you want to accomplish before you ‘kick the bucket.’ It’s a very new term in English because it’s only been…
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Throw someone a bone
Idiom: Throw someone a bone The Rolling Stones said You can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you just might find, you get what you need. Unfortunately, that’s not the way things really go. You may not get what you want, but someone may throw you a bone instead. It means…
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Windbag
WotD: Windbag No, a windbag is not a bag of wind, and it’s not one of those brightly coloured things you see flapping in the wind at airports. That is a windsock. A windbag is a person who talks too much about boring things. You probably know someone like that, or perhaps you married one.…
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Echo chamber
WotD: Echo chamber The notion of living in an echo chamber is not a new one. Neither is the thought that it is also dangerous. Newspaper readers have always been loyal readers of one newspaper or another. However, with the invention and growth of social media, echo chambers have been condensed down to single ideas…
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Winds of change
Phrase: Winds of change Change is one of the few constants in the world. Politicians campaign on it; people resist it, but inevitably, it happens just as the sun is sure to rise and the tides turn. The phrase the winds of change describes the feeling you experience when you anticipate change is about to…
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Get the ball rolling
Idiom: Get the ball rolling Hey there, everyone. Happy New Year! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season. Here in Japan, it’s common to say you had a ‘sleeping New Year.’ It means all you did during the New Year’s holidays was eat, sleep and drink. That’s what I did, and I loved…
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All your Christmases have come at once
Phrase: All your Christmases have come at once It’s cold outside, and as I write this, we have a little bit of hail on the ground. Let’s take a short trip to the land down under, shall we? You probably know I spent a few years Downunder, and let me tell you, nothing puts a…
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