| 1.
not hold a stick to someone or something; not hold a candle to someone or
something: SU
-I thought I was a good soccer player. But
after yesterday's game, I realized that I don't hold a candle to John.
-Well, it's true that you aren't nearly as
good as him, but, remember, he's a professional player. You're still very
good for the level at which you play. -Thanks for your encouragement. I'm
lucky to have a nice friend like you!
2. air one's
dirty linen("laundry" in American English) in public: SU
-That married couple quarrels too much.
-Really, how do you know?
-Well, they use such loud voices that the
whole neighborhood can hear them.
-Oh, that must be embarrassing, especially
if they are arguing about private matters in public.
-Yes. At least once a week, they air their
dirty linen for all of their neighbors to hear.It's actually kind of
amusing sometimes.
3. cry wolf:
SU
-There's a very famous story in English
about a shepherd boy who often cried wolf.
-What does that mean?
-Well, because he lived in a town of
shepherds everyone was very afraid of wolves. On a couple of occasions,
the boy thought it would be funny to yell "Wolf" just to scare
people. Well, he did this a few times, and soon no one believed the boy.
One day, a wolf really came along, and the by cried, "It's a wolf.
Help!". But everyone thought that he was just making up a story
again, and nobody came to help and the wolf ate him. So from this story,
we get the expression, "Don't cry wolf", which means don't
complain about something when nothing is wrong. Otherwise, when you need
help, people may not be there to help you. |
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