Familiar Phrases
When i was blogwalking, i found a really interesting link that lead me into the web about learning English. The website is: http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/
There I point out some phrases which are quite familiar in our life. We know there is 'ice breaking' in our rundown of an event, right? Do we really catch the meaning of ice breaking? I just realized it's meaning by surfing in this website. So, come on let's study together ^^
Here i took the recent phrases from that website. Hope we can understand and use them in our daily conversation.
1. The
tail end
 |
| Animal rescuers failed to save a whale stranded on an island in the Netherlands. Photo: Salko de Wolf/ AFP |
Examples:
The tail end of the storm caused the most damage.
She didn't thank her colleagues until the tail end of her long leaving speech.
We didn't find out the name of the killer until the tail end of the story.
Take note
If you leave somewhere with your tail between your legs, you leave feeling ashamed and embarrassed because you have failed or because you have made a mistake
Example:
Tom
left the meeting with his tail between his legs after failing to impress the
staff with his plans for the future.
2. Break
the ice
|
To
break the ice means to get people who have
not met before to feel relaxed and to start talking to each other.
Examples:
She
said, "Here's a game that's guaranteed to break the ice at parties".
The room was silent, so he told a joke to break the ice.
Sometimes it's very difficult to break the ice with our new students because they are so shy.
The room was silent, so he told a joke to break the ice.
Sometimes it's very difficult to break the ice with our new students because they are so shy.
Take note
To put something on ice.
If you put something on ice you delay it.
Example:
We
decided to put the project on ice for a while and concentrate on doing other
things.
3. Chasing
rainbows
|
If
you are chasing rainbows, you are trying to do or achieve something that is not really
possible or realistic.
Examples:
I know you want to become an actor but I think
you should stop chasing rainbows and get an office job. Becoming a successful
actor is really hard!
Bob had hundreds of plans and wild ideas about how he could become rich, but none of them ever succeeded. He was always chasing rainbows.
Bob had hundreds of plans and wild ideas about how he could become rich, but none of them ever succeeded. He was always chasing rainbows.
Take note
A wild goose chase is a phrase used to describe a situation when you spend a
lot of time looking for something but never find it because you were given the
wrong information.
Example:
We were told there was an excellent Korean
restaurant in town and spent two hours looking for it, but we couldn't find it.
We later found out it has closed down. What a wild goose chase!
More phrases? Visit http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/specials/todays_phrase.shtml
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