Words and Their Stories
How to Be a Good Egg and the Salt of the Earth
Now, the VOA Learning English program Words andTheir Stories.
We present more expressions about food. They are from Elenir Scardueli, a listener in Brazil.
My mother always told us “there is no use crying overspilled milk.” That means you should not get angrywhen something bad happens and cannot be changed.
We never had to “walk on eggshells” around her -- wedid not have to be careful about what we said or didbecause she never got angry at us.
She also told us “you have to break some eggs to makean omelet.” This means you have to do what isnecessary to move forward.
My mother believed “you are what you eat” -- a gooddiet is important for good health. She would always giveus nutritious food. She liked serving us meat andpotatoes for dinner. “Meat and potatoes” can also meanthe most important part of something. It describessomeone who likes simple things.
Here is another expression about meat: “one man’smeat is another man’s poison.” In other words, oneperson might like something very much while anotherperson might hate
the same thing.
However, sometimes he told us a story that seemedbigger than life. So we had to “take it with a grain of salt” -- that is, we could not believe everything he told us.
He can “cut the mustard” -- or do what is expected ofhim at work.
It is easy to find my husband in a crowd. He standsalmost two meters tall. He is “a tall drink of water.”
My supervisor at work is sometimes “out to lunch.” She is out of touch and does not always know what is goingon in our office. Yet she is right about one thing: “thereis no such thing as a free lunch” -- something mayappear to be free of charge, but there may be a hiddencost.
When we fail to see problems at work, my supervisor tells us to “wake up andsmell the coffee” -- we need to pay more attention and fix the problem.
I once made a big mistake at the office and felt foolish. I had “egg on my face.”
Over the weekend, my friend invited me to watch afootball game on television. But I do not like football. It is “not my cup of tea.”
We hope this program has given you “food for thought” -- that is, something to think about.
This program was written by Shelley Gollust. I’m Faith Lapidus.
You can find more Words and Their Stories at our websitevoaspecialenglish.com
Over the weekend, my friend invited me to watch afootball game on television. But I do not like football. It is “not my cup of tea.”
We hope this program has given you “food for thought” -- that is, something to think about.
This program was written by Shelley Gollust. I’m Faith Lapidus.
You can find more Words and Their Stories at our websitevoaspecialenglish.com
