Lesson 279--a house of cards

 

 

This idioms describes something or a situation that is very delicate.  A false move or miscalculation and everything will be destroyed.

examples

The company finances were a house of cards.  One false move and the company would be finished.

They didn't know their relationship was a house of cards, but Bobby's return proved that.

Maria wept because her marriage was a house of cards and Diana had already started knocking it down.

Lesson 278--pull something off

They mean Tiger Woods.

 

 

This phrasal verbs is quite useful.  When you pull something off you accomplish something.  Usually this seems difficult, and when you accomplish it, people are quite surprised.

examples

The Toronto Maple Leafs pulled off an unexpected win against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Nobody know how, but Denise pulled off a fantastic presentation.

Matt and his company pulled off an incredible deal with the Brazilian Petrochemical Company.

Everyone was worried that the company wouldn't be able to pull of the deal and that all of their jobs would be in jeopardy.

That he pulled it off was a miracle.

Lesson 277--just a tad

Most people who study English focus on adverbs such as very.  However, there is another important word when modifying adjectives.  That word is tad.  Tad is a noun.  It can modify adjectives.

meaning: a small amount, a bit

examples

How much would you like?  Just a tad.

He is a tad quiet.

The price was a tad high.

it can be used with too

He works a tad too much.

Helen is a tad too nervous.

Marcus has been late a tad too often.

Lesson 276--Playing Phone Tag

 

A fantastic children's game is called tag.  When you're "it" your job is to touch someone else and make them "it".  One great idiom is

Playing Phone Tag

This means that you call someone, leave a message.  They call you back and leave a message for you.  You call them back and leave a message...... you get the idea.

examples

Max played phone tag with his son all day.  He finally got in touch before he went to sleep.

The boss got tired of playing phone tag with his staff and called a meeting.

After several days of playing phone tag, Megan decided to go to her boyfriend's house and confront him.

Lesson 275--Rush into something

Today's phrasal verb means to do something without thinking.

examples

Jim and Mary rushed into marriage and divorced in less than a year.

Theresa did a lot of research because she refused to rush into anything.

Paul always regretted rushing into university without knowing what he wanted to study.

Lesson 274--Colourful Language

 

 

Colourful ( American spelling colorful)

Obviously this word means full of colour, but it can have another, entirely different meaning.  When we use it with language, it means crude, dirty, foul and inappropriate.

Examples

Martha always used colourful language to describer her ex-husband.

The school principal punished any student caught using colourful language.

Recently, television has allowed more and more colourful language.

Lesson 273-- Regroup

 

Everyday English uses a lot of expressions that were probably originally used in the military.  Today's word is one of those.

Regroup

Meaning:  to step back, to reassess a plan, the make a new strategy

Examples

After missing the bus, Marvin had to regroup.  He decided to take a taxi.

Things weren't going well for the team, so they decided to regroup at halftime.

Once they regrouped, things went better.

John took a few minutes to regroup before going back to the project.