To bend over backwards

What would I mean if I said,

'I've bent over backwards to help you?'

I don't know if you've ever tried to bend over backwards but it's not easy.

In this metaphoric sense it means I've gone out of my way to do everything possible.

Well, here are some people who really can bend over backwards.

Don't try this at home folks!

Make my day

Do you ever get really angry; frustrated?

You know, like somebody puts too much sugar in your coffee?

You go to complain and then somebody wants to pick a fight?

You say, 'go ahead, make my day!'

Like this: a classic scene from the classic film , sudden impact.

For good measure, you can check out Sudden Impact, the song, on sister blog, Black Magic.



Who ever thought life could be this good!!

In the nick of time

A nick is a small cut or mark.

You could nick yourself shaving.

To do something in the nick of time is at the last moment, right at the limit of what is possible.

'We arrived at the airport just in the nick of time.'
Originally a Hitchcock film by the same name, here's the trailer for a very exciting 1995 remake staring Johnny Depp.

On tenter hooks

Where are you if you're on tenter hooks?

Well, literally, you'd be like meat hung on hooks.

Hm, not very nice eh? But, then being on tenter hooks isn't. It's when you're very nervous waiting to hear a result like an exam or medical results or perhaps worst of all, whether you have been found guilty or not of murder!

This clip has a 30 second silence - it really keeps you on tenter hooks.

On the run

If you're on the run, you're trying to escape, usually from jail!

Here is one of America's most famous sportsmen, OJ Simpson - one the fastest ever American football running backs. Watch him go!



Let's pick him up again after his running career but still on the run.

His X wife and friend had been found brutally murdered and he was murder suspect number one. When police tracked him via his mobile phone a slow motion car chase began. Oh yes and America tuned in live to watch on TV.

Watch now and stay tuned for tomorrow's thrilling installment to find out what happened next.

Ichy feet

Maybe it's the time of year but I've got itchy feet.

No, it doesn't mean I've got a skin problem or even an insect bite but a kind of restlessness. This could be related to wanting to change your job, move home or travel.

If you love travelling then you will have been bitten by the travel bug.

If you've been bitten by the travel bug you might be dreaming of a place in the sun.

Like this. Did I really live there or was I only dreaming?

Gravy train

Here's a news item about MEPs (Members of the European Parliament) being on the gravy train.

http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/40640,news-comment,news-politics,meps-who-ride-the-brussels-gravy-train

You might expect them to travel by train but how does this collocate with gravy?

Gravy is a liquid made from meat juices that you pour over meat to make it extra yummy!

The gravy train is not one made of gravy but a metaphor for the high life. It causes a lot of anger in Britain when people find out their tax money is being used to support a luxury lifestyle.

By the way, don't confuse gravy train with gravy boat - that's one of these and is used to pour out the gravy.



Finally, why not find out how to make gravy. No train needed.

Stuck in a rut

Dedicated to Marcin

Do you ever feel trapped, stuck, going nowhere? Maybe you are in a dead end job or following the same routine, day in, day out.

You could say, you're stuck in a rut.

A rut is the tramline made in a road by heavy lorries; cars might get their wheels stuck in them.

So, it's a metaphor being stuck in a routine you can't get out of.

Well if you are looking to break out of the same boring routine, you could take a journey on the world's most dangerous road and no, it's not in Poland!

Papering over the cracks

Dedicated to JLL 07

A visitor to Britain could not help noticing our passion for wallpaper. Rarthing than having painted walls, ours will be covered with wallpaper.

Of course, you have to prepare the wall properly and make sure that you fill any cracks first. Otherwise, you'd just be papering over the cracks!

This is a metaphor for dealing with something in a way that looks OK for a while but doesn't actually solve the problem.

There are serious problems with the health service and the government just paper over the cracks! - A hypothetical example, of course.

Well, if you want to know how to hang wallpaper properly, here's a short instructional video. The lady says it may be easier than you think - it looks bloody complicated to me!

All Greek

Do you sometimes find that English just doesn't make sense?

Yes, me too and I'm English!

We sometimes say, when reading complicated instructions for example, it's all Greek to me.
Here is a sketch from the popular comedy series, The Fast Show. It features an imaginary news channel in a country that might be Spanish or Greek - of course, the language is not a real one, so it really does sound all Greek.
After watching this, English will seem much clearer, maybe!

Get your skates on!

I was running late; no change there then.

Yes, I was in a hurry. I said, I'd better get my skates on!

In fact, I wasn't planning to skate but just to move quickly.

You can roller skate or ice skate.

For British people, of a certain age, it's hard to think of skates without thinking about Torville and Dean. Then it's hard to think of Torvill and Dean without thinking of Bolero. See what I mean?

Maybe we could try it in lessons! What do you think?

The Full Monty

Go on! Get yer kit off and go the full monty!

The full monty means the complete thing without anything taken out. Maybe you could use it in a restaurant and go the full monty and order everything.

You could have some work done on your apartment and decide whether to do it partially or go for the full monty.

Regarding the origin there are different opinions. The first idea is that it goes back to the famous tailoring shop Montague Burton and that somebody ordering a complete three piece suit would be ordering the full monty.

However, it later became associated with Field Marshall Montgomery who famously defied army orders by wearing two badges on his beret. Then I've also heard that his duffle coat was called a Montgomery too. Confused?!

Ironically, it is perhaps most famous in modern times because of the film of the same name where redundant miners from Sheffield form a strip group and go the full monty and reveal everything. You have been warned!

You can't teach an old dog new tricks

This more of a proverb but we'll go with it anyway.

Apart from watching the President's funeral today, I've been walking the dogs.

We have two rescue dogs; Sherry and Sortudo. They're very old and very stupid and I'm not sure which is the oldest or most stupid as neither respond well to instruction.

Well, you know what they say, 'you can't teach an old dog new tricks.'

Of course, you can an apply this to people too so maybe I'm the oldest and daftest of the lot!

Here's how to train a dog or maybe a human. Sounds like it's recorded on a motorway but you do get English captions too so it's really helpful. Just stand and stay. Good dog!

In at the deep end

A swimming pool has too ends; a shallow end where the water level is only a metre or so and the deep end, where it will be at least 2mtrs, possibly more.

If you are thrown in at the deep end before you have learnt to swim, then you will either sink or swim. You are certainly out of your depth!

So, in at the deep end is an idiom to describe a situation where you have to deal with a new job or activity with limited or no experience.

Here's a trailer (preview piece of advertising) for a glossy American, legal drama by the same name. Don't worry if your English isn't brilliant, just jump in and try it!

There's no smoke without fire

The tragic event on the 10th of April has moved on.

After a lot of grief and sadness, the debate has begun.

Why did it happen?

Who was to blame? The pilot, the President, the Russians?

Of course, there's always a reason and if a rumour comes out, there must be a grain of truth in it.

You know what they say; there's no smoke without fire.

So to change the note, here's possibly the most famous song involving smoke and fire.

The original and best line up. It was a 'must learn' song when I was a youth back in the middle ages.

Cool as a cucumber

Cool is a word that's pretty well known.

The weather could be cool meaning not very warm but not exactly cold.

More usually, cool is used to describe trendy or maybe cult.

That's a cool jacket you're wearing.

People can be cool too but just how cool?

Well, it looks like the coolest you can be is as cool as a cucumber! You know, the sort you put in salads or eat on cucumber sandwiches. Somehow it seems a strange collocation but here it is in a song of the same name.

A chip off the old block

Dedicated to Marcin and Sebastian and of course, Daniel

He's just like his father.

You could say, he's a chip off the old block!
In this sense, it's not a chip that you eat but a small piece of wood. The old block is a big piece of wood.

Therefore, he's like a small piece of wood from a larger one.

Here's a song I liked when I was just a small piece of wood. Pretty awful really but I liked it. It was one of the first hit songs to feature the Moog synthizer keyboard.

To put all your eggs in one basket

I was wondering if, under the circumstances in Poland, it was appropriate to post but I thought, life has to go on and I was trying to think of something suitable for an idiom.

Regardless of whether you liked or disliked the President, it's clearly an enormous national tragedy. What I've realised today, is just how many of the country's leading figures have been killed; not only the President and his wife but the entire military command and the Head of the Polish Bank, politicians, clergy, intellectuals, activists and war heroes.

On the plane, the country really had all its eggs in one basket.

Here's a subdued clip today - no sound but written text - in English of course.

Double Dutch

With apologies to the Dutch.

Language learning is difficult. Sometimes, you don't even follow someone when they are speaking the same language, particularly, with complicated instructions.

It's as if they were speaking double Dutch which I guess must be twice as hard as single Dutch.

Here's a useful assessment of British and American English as well as European languages by Britain's favourite transvestite comedian. Well, let's face it chaps, which of us hasn't worn a dress at some time in our lives!

This video contains rude words - if you don't like that sort of thing, don't watch. If you want to swear in English - watch and learn!

To beat about the bush

Dedicated to my charming buddies in the legal dept. at PWC.

What would we doing if we were beating about the bush?

More gardening perhaps? After all, a bush is a plant like a small round tree.

Well, it's like this, you know, how can I put it, it's sort of hm, well...

Not getting to the point!

Here's an old style comedian from England who made an act and a career out of long winded, rambling monologues - now, he really could beat about the bush.

Yes, he is wearing a wig! But we loved you Frankie.

Lead up the garden path

Dedicated to Estim and Lege Artis BDM

What would happen if somebody led you up the garden path? Take you for a walk around their flower beds maybe?

Unfortunately not. This idiom means to provide false information or mislead you, usually, in a way that wastes your time.

I thought he was serious about the project but he led us right up the garden path!

Well, if you want to make a real garden path, here's how!

Push the boat out

What would I be doing if I pushed the boat out?

Going sailing, you might guess.

Of course, that would be far too logical.

We're having a party and we've decided to push the boat out!

Still no sailing involved. It means we're going to spend a lot of money and make a lot of effort. This idiom is usually used with a celebration of some kind.

Now if you really want to push the boat out when it comes to English, why not try and listen to a bit of Geordie? This is the accent of Newcastle and is difficult even for the average Brit to understand!

Here's part of a classic TV series from the 70's - When the boat comes in. Good luck!

Get your wires crossed

Do you ever get the feeling that you are not on the same wavelength as someone?

Do you ever have a problem being understood? You might say that somebody gets the wrong end of the stick.

You think you understand each other but in fact, you keep getting your wires crossed.

Still not sure what I mean?

Watch this video of one of Britain's funniest sketches. All will become clear - or maybe not!

Don't count your chickens

Today with have a seasonal proverb

Don't count your chickens before they are hatched.

This is given as advice about not assuming something is successful until it is confirmed.

Very often we use a contracted version of this in the form of a conditional statement.

I wouldn't count your chickens if I were you!

Well, that's how us crazy English people talk. Still, not as crazy as one of my favourite Americans, Rufus Thomas.

What's the best song to play at Easter? The funky chicken, of course!

Happy Easter everyone!! Flap your wings!

Two shakes of a lamb's tail

Dedicated to Anna (R)

If I said, I'll be with you in two shakes of a lamb's tail, when would that be?

Well, if you've ever seen a lamb in real life then you know they shake their tale in a funny way - usually quickly.

So, it means in no time at all.

Seeing as it's spring and almost Easter, let's all say ahh, and look at Buster the Lamb.