執筆者 Modern English | 2012年06月27日 | Idioms
“When I talk to my dog, he only hears ‘blah blah blah walk!’” “Blah blah blah” is the sound of boring or unintelligible speech. If a teacher gives a very boring or confusing class, her students might say, “She was just going blah blah blah!” They don’t remember what...
執筆者 Modern English | 2012年06月20日 | Idioms
“How much do I owe you for the coffee, Bill?” “Don’t worry about it, Bob. It’s on the house.” If someone gives you something for free, it’s “on the house.” The “house” (the restaurant or café) pays for it for you. In the dialogue above, the Bob calls Bill by his first...
執筆者 Modern English | 2012年06月13日 | Idioms
“Man! I asked Carl to show me how to fill in this form, and when I didn’t get it right away he just blew up!” “Yeah, he has a really short fuse.” If a bomb or a stick of dynamite has a long fuse, it will take a long time for the fuse to burn before the bomb explodes....
執筆者 Modern English | 2012年06月06日 | Idioms
“And then I went to the beach again, and I brought－” “Put a sock in it, will you? I’m sick of hearing about your vacation.” “Put a sock in it!” is another way to say “Be quiet!” It is not very polite, similar to “shut up”....
執筆者 Modern English | 2012年05月30日 | Idioms
“I’ve been working around the clock to get this finished.” “You need a break!” When something continues throughout the whole day, we say “around the clock”. That means twenty-four hours. But a clock face has only twelve hours! It’s a little different from “pulling an...
執筆者 Modern English | 2012年05月23日 | Idioms
“Are you sure it’s safe?” “What are you, chicken? Buk buk bukaaaw!” “Chicken” is used to mean “coward”. In movies, the main character often does something dangerous because someone called him chicken. Don’t try this at home! 「これは本当に安全なのかな？」「何、怖気づいた？コケコッコー！」...
