Tenses

Tenses form the foundation of English language and getting them right is very important to master the language. Below is a concise table which shows the structure and usage of the 12 tenses in English.

 

 

Take the bull by the horns!

Take the bull by the horns: take decisive action in a difficult situation

Origin: This expression probably originated in the American West where it was a common, but dangerous, practice to wrestle with steers. This was not only done for entertainment at rodeos but was part of the everyday working life of ranchers and cowhands throughout the west. To control a bull or a steer (a young bull) the cowhand would first have to catch it. Trying to grab the neck or legs of a dangerous creature like this was not an option. The only solution was to take a deep breath and face the problem directly by grabbing the bull by the horns and then pulling it to the ground. This expression now means to confront a problem directly without “beating about the bush”.

Example: I took the bull by the horns and confronted him about his drinking.

 

Beating/Flogging a dead horse!

Beating a dead horse: To bring up an issue that has already been resolved.

Origin: A dead horse was the seaman’s term for the first month at sea, a month for which he was already paid and spent the money soon afterwards. To the seaman, with his money gone, he was working that first month “for free.” To mark the end of this “dead horse” month, the crew would make an effigy of a dead horse, beat the thing, and dump it overboard in celebration. To officers on the ship, beating a dead horse described the difficulty in getting the crew to do any extra work during this first month at sea.

Example: Why do you insist on beating a dead horse by bringing up these ancient problems of ours? We’re not going over them again!

 

Allusive or Elusive or illusive?

Allusive: Characterized by indirect references

Example: I’m tired of his allusive speech. He should just say what he means.

      Vs

Elusive: Difficult to describe; remaining hidden or hard to catch

Example: That haunting, elusive odor was driving him crazy.

Vs

illusive– hallucination or magic trick; lacking in reality or substance or genuineness

Example:However, the mechanism by which ecp achieves its effect remains illusive.

In a nutshell: When a lawyer alludes to his client’s poor mother, he is being allusive. When the mole keeps eluding the traps you’ve set in the garden, it’s being elusive. We also speak of matters that are difficult to understand, identify, or remember as elusive. Illusions can be illusive, but we more often refer to them as illusory. 

 

Barking up the wrong tree!

Barking Up The Wrong Tree: To make a wrong assumption about someone or something.

Example: Jason was barking up the wrong tree when he said I was the one that took his cookies after he left the room.

Origin: Americans have coined entire expressions as well as individual words. At first bark up the wrong tree meant exactly what it said, the bark being that of a hunting dog pointing at the wrong tree. 

But we have found the expression useful even when there are no hunters, trees, or barking dogs involved. In 1832, we encounter it in James Hall’s Legends of the West: “It doesn’t take a Philadelphia lawyer to tell that the man who serves the master one day, and the enemy six, has just six chances out of seven to go to the devil. You are barking up the wrong tree, Johnson.”

Davy Crockett seems to have been fond of the phrase. In the Sketches and Eccentricities of Col. David Crockett, of West Tennessee (1833), we find, “I told him…that he reminded me of the meanest thing on God’s earth, an old coon dog, barking up the wrong tree.” And A Narrative of the Life of David Crockett, published a year later, contains the sentence, “I began to think I was barking up the wrong tree again.” The 1836 story of Colonel Crockett in Texas includes the remark, “Job, little dreaming that he was barking up the wrong tree, shoved along another bottle.”

 

An Arm and a Leg!

An Arm and a Leg: Anything where the cost is extremely expensive; pricey, often times excessively so.

Example: Buying a brand new car is going to cost us an arm and a leg! Maybe we should save money by riding a bike or the bus to work.

Origin: The origins for this phrase are unclear, but word has it that this phrase originated from the early 20th century, during one of the major World Wars. 

The theory is that soldiers, because of their heavy involvement in war and being in the line of enemy fire, would sometimes lose a hand, foot, leg, or arm. When returning home and reuniting with their concerned families, the first thing a loving relative would instantly recognize is a missing limb. Thus, a member of the family might acknowledge the high price paid during the war, and say: “This war cost you your leg, but at least you’re still alive and well!”

 

Censure Vs Censor Vs Censer!

Censure: To criticize strongly                                                       

Example: The government faces censure for its alleged involvement in the assassination.

      Vs

Censor: to ban parts of a book or film; a person who does this

Example: The soldier would have to carefully word his letter so that it would pass the censor.

Vs

censer: a container in which incense is burned.

 

 

 

 

Does it seem “all Greek” to you?

It’s all Greek to me: I don’t understand it at all

Example: I don’t understand this contract. It’s all Greek to me.” 

Origin: At least two different playwrights used this phrase during one of their plays in the 17th century, those being Thomas Dekkar and William Shakespeare. In 1603, Dekkar’s play Patient Grissel reads:

 “FAR: Asking for some Greek poet, to him he fails. I’ll be sworn he knows not so much as one character of the tongue.

RIC: Why, then it’s Greek to him.”

 

The saying was also used in 1616 in Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar:

 

“CASSIUS: Did Cicero say any thing?

CASCA: Ay, he spoke Greek.

CASSIUS: To what effect?

CASCA: Nay, an I tell you that, I’ll ne’er look you i’ the face again: but those that understood him smiled at one another and shook their heads; but, for mine own part, it was Greek to me.”

 

 

Are you a Balmy or a Barmy?

Balmy: pleasantly warm

Example: I was wearing just shorts because the evening was quite balmy.

      Vs

Barmy: foolish, crazy

Example: If you believe what that lying flirt says, then you must be barmy !

 

Bed of roses!

A Bed Of Roses: a situation that feels comfortable and easy

Example: “Working here is no bed of roses.”