Welcome
to Words and Their Stories, from VOA Learning English.
On today’s program we will talk about several very common expressions. Even
though these expressions use simple language, English learners may find them
difficult to understand. In fact, native English speaking children often have
trouble, too.
Speaking of children -- what child doesn’t like to jump around and
act silly sometimes? Monkeys are also known for acting silly.
So, when kids act up, parents or teachers may tell them to
stop monkeying around.
To monkey around means to do things that are
not useful or serious, or to simply waste time.
Now, in the United States, children do not usually have monkeys as pets,
but they do often have dogs. And dogs make most children feel happy. But for
some reason – a reason that word experts do not know – we use “dog” in a phrase
that means to feel unwell. If you are as sick as a
dog you are really, really sick and will most likely stay home from
work or school.
Besides, dogs, cats are also a favorite pet here in the States. This next
phrase combines cats and secrets to make a very common expression.
Let’s say you know a secret, a big secret. And let’s say you tell it to
people. You have just let the cat out of the bag! This idiom means
to reveal a secret or tell facts that were previously unknown.
If you let the cat out of the bag, you spoil a surprise.
So, if your friend is planning a big surprise birthday for another friend,
don’t let the cat out of the bag by accidentally saying it in front of the
birthday girl.
Even though this is a very common idiom, the origin of “to let the cat out
of the bag” is also unknown. However, the origin of our next expression is not
hard to guess.
If you are doing an outdoor activity -- such as hiking in the woods, or
having a picnic in a park -- what are some things that may disturb your good
time? Bad weather could. And so could bugs! Crawling pests like ants, and
flying ones like mosquitoes, could make your experience uncomfortable or
annoying.
So, when we bug people we bother them so much that we
affect their good time. This common expression is often said as a command: “Stop
bugging me!”
Now, let’s move on to clothing.
Of course, you know what a hat it. But did you know that you can many at
the same time?
If you wear many hats you do many different things, even
if you only have one job. For example, if you work at a small company, the
owners may expect you to answer the phones, manage some paperwork, speak to
clients, and design the web site.
In today’s economy, some people say it is good to wear many hats when you
are first starting your career.
While wearing my researching hat here at Learning English, I have learned
that many languages use food in their idioms and expressions. English is no
exception.
Some food expressions have good meanings, while others don’t. For example,
being acouch potato is not a good thing. This means you sit on the
couch all day and do nothing but watch television or play video games.
People who are couch potatoes are thought to be lazy and boring.
Life does not excite them. They would rather watch others live on a screen.
Now, let’s say a friend of yours is a couch potato. You may wonder how he
got to be that way. One day you visit this friend’s home and meet his mother
and father. While you are there, you see the parents are also couch potatoes.
You could say, well, theapple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
This expression simply means that a child acts or looks a lot like the
parents. Usually we use this expression when talking about bad things. But we
can also use it to describe good traits that are passed down
from a parent to a child.
We use the next two expressions when we have problems. One deals with your
heart, and the other with your bank account.
Sometimes in life, we run into serious issues. They might require a
conversation with someone about an uncomfortable or unpleasant topic. We call
this kind of conversation a heart-to-heart. We use this expression
as a noun or as an adjective, such as “heart-to-heart talk.”
But perhaps having a heart-to-heart doesn’t help to solve a problem. Let’s
say you are having trouble paying your rent; having a heart-to-heart with
your landlord may gain you a couple of weeks, but soon you
will have to pay your rent. The only thing to really help this problem is
money.
However, money can’t – and shouldn’t – help all problems. Also, it’s not a
good idea to try to solve big problems with just money.
But sometimes, people do just throw money at a problem and
hope that it goes away. For example, people having trouble learning English may
try to throw money at the problem. They may buy classes, time with teachers and
the latest language software. But these things will get them only so far. To
really get better, they must simply study and practice.
And that’s all for this Words and Their Stories.
I’m Anna Matteo.
Words in This Story
silly – adj. not
serious, meaningful, or important
act up – v. to act in an unruly,
abnormal, or annoying way
reveal – v. to make
(something) known
previously – adv. existing
or happening before the present time
lazy – adj. not
liking to work hard or to be active
boring – adj. dull
and uninteresting
spoil – v. to have
a bad effect on (something) : to damage or ruin (something)
trait – n. a
quality that makes one person or thing different from another
landlord – n. a person
who owns a house, apartment, etc., and rents it to other people