Idiom Series

In 1659, a writer named James Howell published a collection of English proverbs. Among them was a short line: “No weeping for shed milk.”

It’s an easy sentence to say, and a very common one for learners, often right before handing in late homework. The idea is right. The situation is right. Only one tiny word is wrong. We’ll fix it belo

Sam hired a painter to redo his kitchen. The job was finished in one day, and the price was low. Three weeks later, the paint started to peel off the walls. The painter had skipped the primer and used

You may have heard this story. Long ago, portrait painters charged by the body part. A face cost a little. Add the arms and the price went up. Paint the legs too, and the picture would “cost an arm an

Today, cold feet makes most English speakers think of weddings: a nervous bride or groom wondering whether to walk down the aisle. But some of the earliest examples researchers have found aren’t about

1. “What should we call it, a day trip or a holiday?”
2. “It’s six o’clock. Let’s call it a day.”

Here’s a fair question for any English learner to ask: teeth don’t have skin, so what does by the skin of your teeth mean?

Maya and her brother Leo haven’t spoken in two years. It started with an argument about money, and neither of them remembers the details anymore. Then, at their grandmother’s birthday dinner, Leo walk

In 1635, an English poet named Francis Quarles published a book of poems called Emblemes. In it are two lines about hard work:

Think about the first minute of a new class, a job interview or a party where you know nobody. Everyone is polite, quiet and a little stiff. Someone has to say the first word. What do you call that mo