Teaching English
I was listening to other speakers of English and I heard the idiom, by a country mile. I'm sure that would perplex speakers of Chinese (Mandarin). I have taught English for many years to O level and A level pupils in schools, first in the UK and later in Singapore.
Cats and Dogs
I remember looking out of the window in Singapore with my English Language For Foreigners class pupils, after a lesson ended. Rain was pouring down. I said, 'it's raining cats and dogs'.
A puzzled pupil replied, "I see cats. I don't see any dogs.'
The phrase comes from the old days of thatch roofs, when cats and dogs would sleep in the rafters or on rooftops. When it rained the thatch became slippery so the cats and dogs slipped off. To protect those underneath, large family beds had a canopy supported by four posts, called a four-poster bed. You can stay in hotels with four-poster beds in many UK hotels, especially in The Lake District, where people did and still do go for honeymoons and wedding anniversaries, and Stratford Upon Avon where people go to see buildings relating to Shakespeare and his wife Anne Hathaway.
For the benefit of one of my pupils, whose first language is Mandarin, I have been noting down and compiling a list of idioms. Here are some of my favourites.
When you are travelling, you may have to simplify your English when speaking to those who appear to be speaking English fluenty - until you use an idiom. Most idioms were originally metaphors from the mutual acitivites of speakers and listeners. But over the course of a century or more the original context has been forgotten.
Country Mile
by a country mile - a lot (distance or time - like a winding country road which is long in both distance and time)
Tenterhooks
on tenterhooks - in suspense, anxiously waiting for a decision or result (hooks used to suspend drying fabric)
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