You are here

 
Printer-friendly version

EnglishLab.Net Glossary of Idioms, Proverbs, Sayings and Quotations
please help translate this into other languages email
FAQs > Who is the author?
If you wish to sign up for an online English course in the EnglishLab.Net Virtual Classroom, click here for the pricelist (Online English lessons) and here for a list of available courses


Browse the glossary using this index

Special | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O
P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | ALL

Page:  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  (Next)
  ALL

A

A penny saved is a penny earned.

:
Money not wasted can be used in the future, and a responsible person saves even small amounts of money.
VARIATION
Take care of the pennies, and the pounds will take care of themselves.

EST Kes senti ei korja, see krooni ei saa.
RUS Копейка рубль бережёт.

A Rube Goldberg machine

:
is an exceptionally complicated machine or design that performs very simple tasks; a proposal that requires a lot of funding but is unlikely to yield any notable positive results; an outlandish contraption that is likely to break down on the road
VARIATION
you may say that something has a Rube Goldberg flavo(u)r
Ruben Lucius Goldberg (American, 1883-1970) is remembered for his cartoons featuring laboriously contrived inventions that perform simple operations

After us the deluge

:
It doesn't matter what is going to happen after we're gone.

B

be/sail/steer between Scylla and Charybdis

:
You're between Scylla and Charybdis on this. = Seeking to avoid one danger, you may well fall into another.

According to an ancient Greek myth, two monsters lived on either side of the narrow straight between Italy and Sicily, the Strait of Messina. Scylla was a six-headed sea monster who lived on a rock on the Italian side of the straight, and Charybdis was a whirlpool off the coast of Sicily.

On May 1, 2008, All Things Digital columnist Kara Swisher published an online article titled "MicroHoo: Caught Between Scylla and Charybdis". The article is about Yahoo! steering between Microsoft and Googlesmile

Behind every great man there is a great woman

:
Men often owe their success to women. It's women that make them tick.
VARIATION
Behind every broke man there is a woman.

Bless you!

:
1. This is what you are supposed to say to someone who has just sneezed.
2. You may hear people say informally 'God bless you!' or just 'Bless you!' when they want to express affection, thanks, or good wishes. Usually the idea is that one person (usually somebody who is young, strong, powerful or rich) has selflessly helped another (normally someone who is very old or weak, or absolutely helpless and penniless), and the latter - full of gratitude - believes that a mere 'thank you' is not enough.

E.g.
God bless you for what you do!
Bless you for caring so much!

By the same token,

:
You say "by the same token" to introduce a statement that you think is true for the same reasons that were given for a previous statement.

SYNONYMS
  • likewise
  • similarly
  • in the same way
  • for the same reason(s)

C

Caveat emptor

:
(Latin) Let the buyer beware
The full form of the maxim is:
Latin: Caveat emptor, quia ignorare non debuit quod ius alineum emit
English rendition: (Let the buyer beware for he ought not to be ignorant of the nature of the property which he is buying from another)
The saying carries the simple message
'The buyer should inspect merchandise for quality before purchasing it'

D

Do you think you could pull a few strings for me?

:
When someone asks you to pull a few strings for them or offers to pull a few strings for you it means that they either want you to talk to some of your friends in power or believe they could talk to some influential friends of theirs to get what either they or you want respectively.

Examples

If you are interested in that job at ABC Ltd, I know the Managing Director. Perhaps I could pull a few strings (for you) and get you an interview.

I might be able to pull a few strings for you. I'll let you know next week.


Don't buy a pig in a poke.

:
Don't buy anything without carefully examining it first.
"a poke", which is a loan word from Dutch, means "a bag" or "a sack"
French: Acheter chat en poche
German: Die Katze im Sack kaufen
Russian: Покупать кота в мешке

please help translate this into other languages email

Page:  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  (Next)
  ALL