執筆者 Modern English | 2016年12月21日 | Idioms
“Dad chewed me out for forgetting to feed the dog this morning.” To chew someone out is to yell at or scold them for something they have done (or not done). There might not be any other punishment, but the angry yelling is a punishment in itself....
執筆者 Modern English | 2016年12月14日 | Idioms
“You’re going to play video games all night even though the test is tomorrow? Oh well, it’s no skin off my nose.” If someone is doing something that might cause harm to them, but won’t affect us, we say it’s “no skin off our nose”. The speaker won’t be hurt—the skin...
執筆者 Modern English | 2016年12月07日 | Idioms
“This story really tugged at my heartstrings.” We say this about sad things that cause an emotional response. Something that evokes sympathy is said to tug, or pull, at your heartstrings. It can also be used with cute things or beloved children that cause feelings of...
執筆者 Modern English | 2016年11月30日 | Idioms
“Sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and give someone bad news.” “I wanted to go to the concert but I couldn’t risk failing the test the next day, so I bit the bullet and spend the evening studying.” To “bite the bullet” is to deal with a painful or unpleasant...
執筆者 Modern English | 2016年11月16日 | Idioms
“This table is too heavy to move by myself. Can you lend me a hand?” “Beth is moving house this weekend so I’m going to go lend her a hand.” If a person had four hands instead of two, could they do twice as much work? When someone “lends a hand”, they usually use...
