Nick of time

If you do something in the nick of time, you do it just in time.

'We arrived at the railway station just in the nick of time.'

It's the last possible moment to do something before it's too late.

There's a classic Hitchcock film of the same name with a racy 1995 remake featuring Johhny Depp. It's quite a nail-biter; here's the beginning.

The Wooden Spoon

A spoon made of wood seems quite a useful kitchen utensil but how could you win the wooden spoon and why wouldn't you want to?

That's because getting the wooden spoon is the prize you get for coming last.


The tradition started at Cambridge University where the student getting the lowest grade was awarded the ignominious prize.


These days, it's more synonymous in sport for coming bottom of a league table or last in a race.


Here's an example:

To pull out all the stops

To pull out all the stops means to do everything possible to achieve something.

‘If we’re going to win the contract, we’re going to have to pull out all the stops!’

‘To survive the crisis, we’re going to have to pull out all the stops.’

But what is a ‘stop’ and why are we pulling it out?

This is an idiom with quite a specific origin which is the organ; not the electric sort but the traditional kind pushed by air pushed through bellows,

The large organs found in churches and cathedrals have large metal pipes. On the keyboard area of the organ, there are many valves or ‘stops’ that control how much air is allowed into the pipes. As a very basic piece of science, by pulling out all the stops, you increase the volume!

So now you know!

Here’s an example.




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As keen as mustard

You may know that keen means enthusiastic but why as keen as mustard?

Mustard, and particularly Coleman's English mustard, is very spicy and in this sense keen is a synonym of hot.

It could also mean extreme in some way.

There was a bit of a keen wind blowing through the valley.

So keen as mustard is a play on the double meaning of keen but for this idiom it means very enthusiastic.

Here's a classic, British advert with some aristocrats and a mustard crisis!

Back from the Dead

To come back from the dead is to return to popularity or success after a period in the wilderness.

A real life back from the dead situation was the amazing story of footballer Fabrice Muamba who having suffered a heart attack on the pitch, miraculously survived and fully recovered.

I'm pleased to report that English Idioms is also making a comeback after having taken a year off to concentrate on other projects.

You will find regular idiom posts and features about the books published through our company Praski Publishing - come and join us on Facebook and look out for a new idiom book out soon.

Thanks for reading.
George

As red as a beetroot

Here is some beetroot.



It's a rich, reddish purple colour.

Do you get embarrassed easily? Are you a terrible blusher? Do you go as red as a beetroot?

Here's some advice.

Heard it through the grapevine

Here's a grapevine.



It can grow very quickly and extensively. It makes a long, thick, tangling wall of branches and leaves. It's a great place to gossip but people might hear you without you knowing - then they'd be able to say, like rumours at work, that they heard it through the grapevine.

Only one possible song to play - with lyrics if you want to sing along!

As daft as a brush

Daft is silly, stupid or unintelligent.

You'd have to be as daft as a brush to chase cheese down a hill but that's just what happens at Coopers Hill in England.

The story is featured in my new book, Crazy English. Here's the cover and an extract, followed by a video of Cheese Rolling.



http://www.amazon.com/Crazy-English-Intermediate-Upper-intermediate-ebook/dp/B007CGPK8W/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1330245050&sr=8-1-spell

5. Cheese rolling

If your mother ever told you at the dinner table not to play with your food, then she wouldn’t be happy about cheese rolling. The Coopers Hill Cheese Rolling and Wake is one of the world’s strangest sports and takes place once a year. As you might expect, such a strange sport must be British! Nobody knows when it started but people think it’s at least 200 years old.

It happens in a small village in Gloucestershire on a very steep hill. The idea is very simple. A large, round piece of cheese that weighs 3.5 kilos, is rolled down the hill. The winner of the race is the first person to get the bottom of the hill or catch up with the cheese.

Nobody ever gets the cheese because they have to wait one second after the cheese is rolled and it can go as fast as 100 kms per hour! As you might guess, racing down the hill can be rather dangerous and it is quite normal for people to break bones and bang their heads. Altogether, there are five downhill races

0ne year, the race was stopped for a while because people had to wait for the ambulances to return from the hospital as so many people were injured!
If that isn’t mad enough, there are also uphill races too. It must be very tiring and leave you feeling hungry. For the lucky winners, there’s a great prize. Can you guess? Yes of course; a whole, great big Gloucester cheese!

Questions
Are the following statements true or false?

1) The Coopers Hill Race is 2000 years old
2) Playing with your food can be dangerous
3) People wait at the bottom of the hill to catch the cheese
4) One year the race was stopped as they couldn’t find the cheese
5) The winner is paid in cheese



Answers

1) False - 200 years
2) True/False - not at the dinner table but certainly in this race
3) False - they run after the cheese
4) False - it was stopped while ambulances returned from hospital
5) True!

To throw down the guantlet

These are gauntlets.



In the days of knights a challenge was issued by literally throwing down the gauntlet - like this:



These days it has more of a metaphoric meaning but it is still about openly challenging someone to fight - in argument, not physically. Like this:

BTW - whether you agree with this guy or not, he's one hell of a debator!

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!

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.

One foot in the grave

It's been a day when many people have been visiting their passed away relatives in cemeteries.

But what if you have one foot in the grave?

It means you are getting old and won't be far behind them!

Let's hope not just yet though.

One foot in the grave is also the name of a popular British sit-com featuring the luckless Victor Meldrew. Retirement brought him no peace at all and he spent most of his time battling against the world as everything went wrong.

Like this!

Hard cheese

'Sorry mate, it's just hard cheese!

Hard cheese is a synonym for bad luck. It's often said without emotion to describe an unlucky situation that you have to cope with.

'Lost your job? Hard cheese - find another one.'

Like if you are a business with a cash flow problem and you go to the bank - they might say 'hard cheese!' or would they?

Sitting on a goldmine

Sitting on a goldmine - in possession of a valuable resource

About 6 months ago, I decided to streamline my activities to focus on the launch of my website English4HR and book, English for Human Resources. This meant that after two and a half years of blogging, I reluctantly decided to stop posting on my idiom blog. Imagine my surprise when I recently viewed my statistics to see that the site is still regularly receiving over 4,000 views per month! I realised that I was sitting on a goldmine.

It’s a goldmine for me as a potential customer base for English language products that I’m developing and a resource for you, as a teacher or student, of a rich supply of idioms and video extracts.

You’ll be pleased to know that I have therefore decided to fire up the blog once more. I won’t be posting every day but certainly a couple of times each week. After all, it’s not every day that you discover that you’re sitting on a regular little goldmine.

Start digging!

White lies

Do you ever tell lies?

Never?

I don't believe you!

OK, just the occasional white lie then.

But it's only so I don't hurt or upset people, like when someone says how does my dress look?

Yeah, you look great - honestly! (God forgive me)

Like this: video with words.

Cupboard love

What is cupboard love?

Is it love of cupboards?



No!

Making love in cupboards?



Definitely not!

It's love based on self-interest, often to do with getting things and if you are a cat, that means food.

Remember, it is pronounced Kubud.