English Language

2022-09-28 07:30:29 verbal diarrhoea
INFORMAL


Meaning
If someone has verbal diarrhoea, they can't stop talking.


For example

Janice has a real bad case of verbal diarrhoea. It's like she's afraid of silence and has to keep talking to block it out.

I don't know if you could say he's got verbal diarrhoea, but Alan sure does talk a lot.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
#Idiom_of_the_Day
@EnglishoftheDay Open / Comment

2022-09-27 11:03:28 There is a time to speak and a time to be silent



Meaning
We should know when to say something and when to say nothing.

Origin
Like many "There is a time..." proverbs, this proverb is based on the Bible (Ecclesiastes 3):

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;

A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.
━━━━━━━━━━━
#Saying_of_the_Day
@EnglishoftheDay Open / Comment

2022-09-26 22:23:46 storm out



Meaning
to leave a place quickly when you are angry or upset about something

For example

My girlfriend stormed out and slammed the door behind her.

Did you hear about Maureen storming out of the staff meeting when she didn't get what she wanted?
━━━━━━━━━━━
#Phrasal_Verb_of_the_Day
@EnglishoftheDay Open / Comment

2022-09-26 07:30:54 zine


Meaning
a cheaply produced magazine, usually related to music or the arts


For example

This friend of ours has just started putting out his own zine. It's about music and the arts in Melbourne.

How much do you reckon it'd cost to publish a monthly zine?
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
#Slang_of_the_Day
@EnglishoftheDay Open / Comment

2022-09-24 07:30:39 zebra crossing



Meaning
A zebra crossing is a pedestrian crossing that is marked on the road with painted black and white stripes.


For example

Visitors to Britain are sometimes confused when they're told there's a zebra crossing up ahead. Some even expect to see a zebra walking across the road.

If someone steps onto a zebra crossing, all cars must stop and wait for them to cross the road.

Variety: This idiom is typically used in British English but may be used in other varieties of English too.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
#Idiom_of_the_Day
@EnglishoftheDay Open / Comment

2022-09-23 00:24:36 Out of office, out of danger



Meaning
The implication is that people in high government or official jobs are not safe. They will be safe only when they leave their job.

Note: office (noun) = an official position, for example attorney general, prime minister or president | out of office (adj.) = no longer in office | danger (noun) = situation that could cause harm or injury; unsafe | out of danger (adj.) = no longer in danger; in a safe situation
━━━━━━━━━━━
#Saying_of_the_Day
@EnglishoftheDay Open / Comment

2022-09-21 21:49:39 take out (2)



Meaning
to remove something from a container, a pocket, a bag, etc.

For example

Jimmy unzipped his bag and took out his football boots.

Take the meat out of the freezer two hours before you want to cook it.
━━━━━━━━━━━
#Phrasal_Verb_of_the_Day
@EnglishoftheDay Open / Comment

2022-09-21 13:29:57 axe | ax (1)


Meaning
to dismiss someone from a job (v.) | dismissal from a job (n.)


For example

Because of the economic downturn, many companies will have to axe a lot of their workers.

Anyone who creates too many problems for the boss will get the ax.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
#Slang_of_the_Day
@EnglishoftheDay Open / Comment

2022-09-20 20:25:18 cross that bridge when we come to it



Meaning
You can say "we'll cross that bridge when we come to it" if someone mentions a problem that might occur in the future, but you want them to think about what's happening now instead.


For example

Martin asked what we'd do if our new company couldn't find good staff when we needed to expand, and I said we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

Jenny worries too much about things that might happen in the future, so people are always saying "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it" to her.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
#Idiom_of_the_Day
@EnglishoftheDay Open / Comment

2022-09-20 10:23:52 God helps them that help themselves



Meaning
This semi-humorous saying suggests that we should not rely entirely on God to help us. God will help us if we make an effort.
━━━━━━━━━━━
#Saying_of_the_Day
@EnglishoftheDay Open / Comment