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Idiom Series #34: Get the Ball Rolling
In 1840, during an American presidential election, supporters of the candidate William Henry Harrison did something strange. According to The Phrase Finder, they built huge balls, about ten feet (thre
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Idiom Series #33: Get Out of Hand
Imagine an English learner writes this in a work email: “The manager rejected my idea. He got out of hand.” The writer means the manager said no very quickly. But to…
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Idiom Series #32: Get a Taste of Your Own Medicine
Search for the origin of this idiom and you’ll find the same answer again and again: “It comes from Aesop’s fables.” Some websites even tell a story about a fake doctor…
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Idiom Series #31: Face the Music
I’ll start with a confession: nobody knows what “the music” in this idiom was. Not me, not the dictionary editors, not the word historians who have spent years searching old newspapers.…
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Idiom Series #30: Every Cloud Has a Silver Lining
Can a cloud have a lining? A coat has a lining. A jacket has a lining. But a cloud?
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Idiom Series #29: Elephant in the Room
The team meeting is almost over. Everyone has talked about the new logo, the office plants and next month’s schedule. Nobody has said a word about the fact that half the…
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Idiom Series #28: Drop the Ball
Open almost any office inbox and you may find a message like this one:
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Idiom Series #27: Drive Someone Up the Wall
A faucet that drips all night. A coworker who clicks a pen during every meeting. A phone alarm in the next apartment that rings and rings while its owner sleeps.
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Idiom Series #26: Down to the Wire
What do a close election, a championship final and a tense business deal have in common? Nobody knows how they’ll end until the very last moment. In English, we say they…
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Idiom Series #25: Don’t Put All Your Eggs in One Basket
Is it always smart to spread your risks? One of the richest men in history said no. In 1885, the industrialist Andrew Carnegie stood in front of a room of business…