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Bromance / Man crush
WotD: Bromance / Man Crush It may be sad to see a relationship break up, but with Abe stepping down as Prime Minister of Japan, there is little chance the Abe-Trump bromance will continue. The world laughed at it, but I’m sure Trump’s family was happy that he had finally found a friend who visited…
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Play someone like a fiddle
Idiom: Play (someone) like a fiddle You may be able to play the fiddle and play someone like a fiddle. However, just because you can play the fiddle doesn’t mean you can play someone like a fiddle. Then again, you may play someone like a fiddle but not play the fiddle itself. Confused? OK, go…
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Patience is a virtue
Saying: Patience is a virtue On March 11, 2020, slightly more than six months ago, the WHO declared COVID-19 a pandemic. Many things have changed since then, and many things that were planned to happen never happened. What better time to learn the meaning of the expression patience is a virtue than the present? So,…
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Ring off the hook
Phrase: Ring off the hook Raise your hand if you can remember rotary dial telephones! Look, kids! See all the dinosaurs with their hands in the air! I’m just joking. I remember rotary dial phones, too. When I was just a kid in single digits, we only had one telephone hanging on the kitchen wall…
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No end in sight
Phrase: No end in sight You’ll probably hear someone say there’s no end in sight out of exasperation. It’s most often used to refer to adverse situations such as heatwaves, economic downturns or pandemics. Generally speaking, people can better cope with a stressful situation if they know when it will end. You can listen to…
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Not lift a finger
Phrase: Not lift a finger Admit it; there are days when you feel so lazy you will not lift a finger. Don’t deny it. Remember yesterday’s post to thine own self be true? I’m not bashing you or judging you for it. We all have days when we don’t want to lift a finger. For…
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Dawn on you
Phrase: Dawn on someone Have you ever thought about a problem for a long time but could not find the solution? Then, while taking a shower, the answer suddenly dawned on you. Sure, you have, we’ve all been in that situation a time or two. When something dawns on you, it suddenly becomes evident to…
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To thine own self be true
Phrase: To Thine Own Self Be True When learning English, you cannot avoid Shakespeare. The man pops up everywhere in spoken and written English. Today’s phrase, ‘to thine own self be true,’ is only part of a quote from Shakespeare’s play Hamlet. Often only the first part is used to advise someone. If you are…
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Stick a fork in it
Idiom: Stick a fork in (something) We have a very lovely idiomatic phrase today. If you listen to the podcast, you’ve heard my buddy, Art Lish, sometimes say, ‘Stick a fork in it‘ at the end of the podcast. He also says, ‘That’s another one in the books,’ ‘This one is done and dusted,’ or…
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Rude awakening
WotD: Rude awakening OK, OK, so I’m playing with the words here. No, rude awakening does not mean you wake up in a bad mood. It means that you are unpleasantly surprised to realize that you are wrong. For example, back in May 2019, Taro Kono, on behalf of the Japanese government, requested all foreign…
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