Winning English - Mastering Idioms, Slang, and Cultural References
Safe and sound • Gather your thoughts • Break new ground • Right from the get go • Out with the old, in with the new • If it ain't broke... • Fingers crossed • Don’t bite off more than you chew
Let me again wish you a Happy New Year! I hope you had a relaxing and enjoyable holiday season. I also hope you and your loved ones are safe and sound.
Now it’s time to get down to work. Do you have big plans for 2021? Take a few minutes to gather your thoughts. Maybe right from the get go you want to break new ground on a big project at work. Maybe you want to develop some new personal habits.
But hey, maybe what you are doing is already successful. In that case, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!
“Your loved ones” is a different, more intimate way of saying “family and friends”.
“Safe and sound” is a different way to say “safe and healthy”. As a noun “sound” usually means things we can hear, but as an adjective, it can mean “not hurt”. Most often the phrase “safe and sound” is used when someone has been in danger.
“To get down to work” simply means to begin work.
“To gather your thoughts” means to take some time to think and organize what you want to say.
“Right from the get go” is another way to say “right from the beginning” or “at the start”.
“To break new ground” means to innovate or to do something that’s never been done before. This phrase comes from building construction. To start a building, you must dig into - or break - dirt that’s never been moved before. This phrase can also be used as the adjective “ground-breaking”. You will often see this used to describe technological developments.
“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” is a saying people use when they want to keep doing things the same way because that way works well enough. “Ain’t” is slang for “isn’t”, and “broke” is slang for “broken”. So, it's “if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it”. “To fix” means “to repair”, and in this saying, it is used as a joke. The idea is that if you try to repair something that already works, you are probably breaking it instead, and that’s likely not a smart thing to do.
No matter what you choose to do in 2021, I wish you luck. Maybe we should all keep our fingers crossed. After all, the future is anyone’s guess. But of course, you can control much of what happens. Just make sure you don’t bite off more than you can chew.
“To keep your fingers crossed” is both a saying and a sign we make with our hands. The sign involves crossing your middle finger over your index finger (like in the picture above). When we make that sign - or say the phrase - we are trying to avoid bad luck, as if by magic.
Interestingly, the hand sign has several other meanings. Sometimes children believe crossing their fingers lets them make false promises. You do that by crossing your fingers and holding them behind your back where other people can’t see them, like this:
This meaning is sometimes used by adults to say that someone lied to them. For example, you might hear, “He promised me a new contract, but he must have had his fingers behind his back.” Also, this hand sign apparently does not mean the same thing everywhere in the world. For example, in Vietnam, it’s considered extremely rude. And other countries grab their thumbs with their fingers to avoid bad luck.
“The future is anyone’s guess” is a saying that means we can’t be certain about the future. It’s unknowable.
And finally, “don’t bite off more than you can chew” is a saying used to warn people not to take on too much work or responsibility. Picture yourself completely filling your mouth with food, then trying to chew it. It doesn’t work, and you could choke. That’s not good at all.
Thanks for reading Winning English! Listen to the podcast, as well, to reinforce your learning. And remember that if you enjoy Winning English, please like the posts, leave a comment, and tell a friend. Talk soon!
