The last straw

Here is some straw.



Here's a camel.



If you put a lot of straw on a camel, it would break his back, It would be the last straw that broke the camel's back.

Thankfully, this is just a metaphor for the final thing that pushes you over the limit of tolerance.

Like this - Marillion with thier song, The Last Straw. To me, it sounds just like Genesis- that's the last straw!

To bury the hatchet

This is a hatchet.



It can be quite a nasty weapon. When you bury the hatchet you decide to leave arguments behind you and get on with being OK with somebody.

There's been a lot of drama in English football over realtionships between Manchester Utd's Patrice Evra and Liverpool's Luis Suarez. In a game between the teams, Evra accused Suarez of making racist remarks. There was a Football Association investigation and Suarez was found guilty, although he adamantly denighed the accusations. He was banned for 8 games and returned on Saturday 11th Feb to face United once more.

In the customary pre-match handshake between teams, he refused to shake hands with Evra and further raised the temperature. Evra didn't help by vigorously celebrating victory close to Suarez at the end of the game.

Football forums abound with vitriol and accusations between rival fans - it seems nobody is prepared to bury the hatchet.

All work and no play

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.

It means that somebody who works all the time becomes a boring person. Dull, in this sense, means uninteresting. So, you've been warned - don't work too hard all you'll turn into a bore!

But who's Jack?

The only Jack I can think of is this one - and he's certainly not boring!

Lend me your ears

It's sounds unhygienic but like most idioms, you shouldn't take it literially. It means please give me your time and attention; take a moment to listen.

The most memorable example of it being used is here: Still amazing after all these years!

A stick in the mud

Are you a stick in the mud?

It's a new year - have you made some resolutions to do things differently, to have new experiences and embrace the new?

Or are you a stick in the mud - someone who prefers to remain the same and stick with their old habits and beliefs?

Maybe that's not always such a bad thing.

Here's former politician and famous diarist, Kenneth Clark who explains it rather well.

Once in a blue moon

How often do you see a blue moon?

Not very often?

Then something that happens very infrequently happens once in a blue moon.

E.G. 'Do you go to the movies very often?'

'Hardly at all; once in a blue moon.'

Of course, blue moon isn't just an idiom but a classic rock and roll ballad - like this:

Like a fish out of water

Do you sometimes feel like a fish out of water?

That means do you feel as if you are in the wrong place and not comfortable in your environment.

The rugby player felt like a fish out of water in the dance class - although sometimes people can adapt.

Anyway, although most fish stay well below the surface, there are some fish that like to feel like a fish out of water!

To lose the plot

The plot is the story line or sequence of events in a book, film or play. If you lose the plot, you lose track of it and you can’t follow it.

As an idiom it is a metaphor, usually for someone who has lost touch with reality.

Here’s a sixties icon who lost the plot big time, Syd Barrett, founder member of Pink Floyd, in a rare interview.

After a summer of continuous LSD use, he’d shattered his fragile mind until only an empty shell remained. Sadly, he lost the plot, never to regain it.

In limbo

The company’s been taken over but we currently don’t know what will happen to our jobs - we're in total limbo.

I can’t do anything until I get the tests back from the Doctor - I’m just in limbo.

It doesn’t go to court until next year so the ownership of the property is in limbo.

Get the idea?

If not, you could always try limbo dancing instead - that’s something quite different. You’ll need a strong back! Don't try this unless you have. There's a free book for anyone who can do this!

The proof of the pudding

I’ve got a new idea; it’s even better than all the other good ideas I’ve had. I think it will work; what do you think?

Well, we won’t know until we try it. You know what they say; the proof of the pudding is in the eating.

That’s what this idiom means - the test of something is how it works in reality.

It’s a little early but maybe it’s a good opportunity to learn how to make a traditional British Christmas pudding.

This is a cake with the density of a small planet and guaranteed to immobilise you for days - but it is yummy!

You have been warned!

If you want to follow the instructions, you could make your own. Will it be a success? The proof of the pudding is in the eating.