The other day I was listening to some songs from the 70´s and 80´s ( love that period) when I heard some expressions that made me wonder if EFL students (people who study English as a foreign language) can really grasp the meaning without having experienced living within the culture. I know that I have experienced this when learning Portuguese. Mind you, Portuguese is a really hard language to learn properly and until today some expressions used here in Brazil make no sense to me. Just a small fact: I have been living here since 1982. This, by no means, is not meant to be an academic text (the internet is full of those). It is just a text with a few expressions that I sometimes use and stop wonder whether my students are able to use them.
Here are a few that I believe fit
the description above.
Fist of all you have the expressions
that are connected to games.
Let´s take a look at a few connected
to football.
Monday morning quarter-back = a person who passes
judgment on and criticizes something after the event. The term comes from the
fact that most American football games are played on Sunday, and it is easy to
criticize a quarterback’s decisions in the heat of the moment from the vantage
point twelve or more hours after the football game has ended.
The whole nine yards = everything possible or
available; in American Football each team must gain ten yards to recycle their
possession. Starting at one they have four passages of play in which to do
this. Getting from there to the ten-yard line in one play is called "the
whole nine yards".
Now let´s take a few that are
connected to baseball.
Take a rain check= used to tell someone that
you cannot accept an invitation now, but would like to do so at a later time.
If a baseball game was cancelled in the 1800´s due to bad weather, the
spectators were given a 'raincheck' (a voucher) which meant that they could go
back and watch another game.
1st base, 2nd base, third
base, hit a home run = Generally speaking, first base means
snogging/kissing/making out, second base means fondling
breasts, third base means genital touching, and a home
run means intercourse.
Double whammy = twofold blow or setback; it
originated at a baseball game when a broadcaster said that the team seemed like
they got a whammy (a curse) because they had fallen behind in the game.
Some good expressions to know and that I enjoy
using:
Piece of cake = it´s easy
Tell me about it. = I know what you are talking
about
Act you age not your shoe size = Stop being a
child. This wouldn´t make sense in Brazil because the shoe size here is
35,36,37,38,39,40 and so on. But in the US it´s 5,5 ½ , 6 , 6 ½ and so on.
9 to 5 = work business hours This also wouldn´t
make sense in Brazil because we do not work from 9 to 5. Business hours in
Brazil are from 9 to 6.
Break a leg = This expression is used in
theater and shows when you want to wish the person a successful performance.
A keeper = some one to marry or never lose
Behind the eight ball = at a disadvantage. This
refers to the game of pool.
Working the graveyard shift= a period of work
that starts at night and ends early morning. I just like the sound of it. My
dad used to work the graveyard shift as a matter of fact when we lived in the
US.
Beat around the bush = When you do not go
straight to the point. Here is Brazil you are expected to do this. But
Americans tend not to beat around the bush.
For the birds = This one is used when something is unimportant. I love saying this one.
My way or the highway = from the 70´s , it
means take it or leave it.
Whoops-a-daisy = an exclamation of surprise
after a stumble or a fall which has been reduced to oops nowadays
This is the pits = extremely bad. I love this
one too. All alternative could be: this sucks.
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