Day 20: idioms for choice
Hi everyone!
Idioms today! Idioms related to choice and decisions, because I thought today about the simplicity of these days, where we can choose to feel restricted, or we can choose to feel freed from the burden of choice. For me, it's the latter. Where to go, what to do? Well, just stay at home, doing homely things.
Of course, on any given day I can choose whether I would like to work a little, or a lot, or what I'm going to cook for lunch, but not even these things depend on me that much anymore. I may need to attend to the kid, or cook something that needs to be cooked before something else. I go with the flow a lot more, and it's liberating.
So when it comes to the challenge, it turns out I don't have to choose that much either. I have my topic (choice) and my only requirement (advanced language), so a logical conclusion is: let's learn idioms to talk about choice! For today:
- Read the sentences. The idiom is marked in bold.
- A key word is missing in each idiom. Can you fill the gap without a dictionary search?
- Tell us which idioms you knew and which ones you had to look up. Which one is incomplete and why?
- Choose two of these idioms and give us a sentence for each where you use it to talk about yourself.
Enjoy today's challenge!
1. I voted for him because the other candidate was new and I thought "Better the ___________ you know."
2. It's typical of her to sit on the ___________. She always waits to see what's most advantageous to her.
3. I did employ him in hte end -- against my better ___________ -- but I think everyone deserves a chance.
4. There's no difference between them -- just buy the cheapest one. It's a no-___________.
5. I've applied to four different law schools. I thought I should hedge my ___________ in case one of them doesn't accept me.
6. She loves him, but I don't think she's ready to take the ___________ and marry him.
7. The energy company has ___________ picked all the most profitable customers and ignored the others.
8. Cutting wages is the lesser of two ___________. I'ts either that or laying people off.
Idioms today! Idioms related to choice and decisions, because I thought today about the simplicity of these days, where we can choose to feel restricted, or we can choose to feel freed from the burden of choice. For me, it's the latter. Where to go, what to do? Well, just stay at home, doing homely things.
Of course, on any given day I can choose whether I would like to work a little, or a lot, or what I'm going to cook for lunch, but not even these things depend on me that much anymore. I may need to attend to the kid, or cook something that needs to be cooked before something else. I go with the flow a lot more, and it's liberating.
So when it comes to the challenge, it turns out I don't have to choose that much either. I have my topic (choice) and my only requirement (advanced language), so a logical conclusion is: let's learn idioms to talk about choice! For today:
- Read the sentences. The idiom is marked in bold.
- A key word is missing in each idiom. Can you fill the gap without a dictionary search?
- Tell us which idioms you knew and which ones you had to look up. Which one is incomplete and why?
- Choose two of these idioms and give us a sentence for each where you use it to talk about yourself.
Enjoy today's challenge!
1. I voted for him because the other candidate was new and I thought "Better the ___________ you know."
2. It's typical of her to sit on the ___________. She always waits to see what's most advantageous to her.
3. I did employ him in hte end -- against my better ___________ -- but I think everyone deserves a chance.
4. There's no difference between them -- just buy the cheapest one. It's a no-___________.
5. I've applied to four different law schools. I thought I should hedge my ___________ in case one of them doesn't accept me.
6. She loves him, but I don't think she's ready to take the ___________ and marry him.
7. The energy company has ___________ picked all the most profitable customers and ignored the others.
8. Cutting wages is the lesser of two ___________. I'ts either that or laying people off.
Hello!!
ReplyDeleteWell, I could only complete the first two sentences withoug using a dictionary :-( So, this has been a really instructive challenge for me! :-)
1. I voted for him because the other candidate was new and I thought "Better the devil you know."
2. It's typical of her to sit on the fence. She always waits to see what's most advantageous to her.
3. I did employ him in hte end -- against my better judgement -- but I think everyone deserves a chance.
4. There's no difference between them -- just buy the cheapest one. It's a no-brainer (decision).
5. I've applied to four different law schools. I thought I should hedge my bets in case one of them doesn't accept me.
6. She loves him, but I don't think she's ready to take the bull by the horns and marry him.
7. The energy company has cherry-picked all the most profitable customers and ignored the others.
8. Cutting wages is the lesser of two evils. I'ts either that or laying people off.
I'm not sure about which one is incomplete, I'd say the fourth one (lacking a noun).
Here I go with my two sentences:
- Against my better judgement, he was pointed to head the Degree. Let's see how wrong I was!
- My friends told me they would book the accomodation for the holidays, but I'll hedge my bets and make a refundable booking in case they don't do it on time.
Hi,
ReplyDeleteHere are my answers:
1. I voted for him because the other candidate was new and I thought "Better the devil you know (than the devil you don´t)."
2. It's typical of her to sit on the fence. She always waits to see what's most advantageous to her.
3. I did employ him in the end -- against my better judgement -- but I think everyone deserves a chance.
4. There's no difference between them -- just buy the cheapest one. It's a no-brainer.
5. I've applied to four different law schools. I thought I should hedge my bets in case one of them doesn't accept me.
6. She loves him, but I don't think she's ready to take the bull by the horns and marry him.
7. The energy company has cherry-picked all the most profitable customers and ignored the others.
8. Cutting wages is the lesser of two evils. It’s either that or laying people off.
To be honest, I only knew the second and the last.
I think the first one could be incomplete, since it´s missed the second part of the comparison, but at the same time it could be implicit. On the other hand, I was also thinking about no-brainer as Elevia says, but I believe no-brainer is a noun and not an adjective, so it´s correct by its own.
My two sentences:
- Despite being housebound, I went to do shopping against my better judgement, but we cannot starve at home.
- I profoundly believe that politicians are always spinning yarns instead of taking the bull by the horns and solve the issues once and for all.
Thank you.
Hi!
ReplyDeleteI agree with your answers, mates!
The only one I had different from you was number 7, where I had chosen "hand-picked". However, I agree that the needed word there is "cherry-picked".
The incomplete idiom might be the first one, as it's missed the second part of the idiom ("...than the devil you don't)
I'm not very good at idioms, so I only knew the second one ("sit on the fence") and the sixth one ("take the bull by the horns". That makes me think about learning by heart some of them!
My phrases:
- I've cherry-picked the best musicians I can count on to apply for the chamber-concerts in my workplace.
- Against my better judgement, we have let our mares be/go impregnate.
Best,
Ana.
Aham... Aaaalmost everything is correct, but... the idiom in sentence 6 is not "take the bull by the horns". Can you find one that completes the sentence, meaning "make a decision"? Remember all these idioms have to do with choice in one way or another.
ReplyDeleteI'll be watching this space! ;)
Well, I thought it sound too Spanish-ish...
DeleteCould it be?: "She loves him, but I don't think she's ready to take the plunge and marry him"
ReplyDeleteAnd thinking now about "take the bull by the horns", I believe the correct expression is "grab the bull by its horns"?