Fun with Idioms: Book 1
5/5
()
About this ebook
John Smithback
For more than twenty-five years, the writer-illustrator team of John and Ching Yee Smithback have been explaining idioms and proverbs to the world with more than fifty published books and a daily newspaper column that has appeared throughout Asia and Europe. Meeting in Hong Kong while John was teaching English and Ching Yee was studying nursing, their initial books — entitled ©IDIOM-MAGIC and published by the Chinese University of Hong Kong — met with such immediate success that it quickly changed the course of their lives. Shortly thereafter, they created a daily newspaper column designed to explain English idioms to their readers in Asia. Aimed principally at students who were learning English as a Second Language, it wasn’t long before the Idiom-Magic column was of interest to nearly everyone — including native speakers — curious to know more about these odd and sometimes curious constructions within our language. John and Ching Yee estimate that they have illustrated and defined close to 8,000 English idioms, proverbs, catch-phrases and slang terms, in the course of which they have also produced several books defining and explaining Chinese idioms for English speakers. Describing themselves as “literary gypsies” they have lived in various countries — Hong Kong, Portugal, Singapore and France — while producing their column and books. For a number of years they lived in England close to Shakespeare’s birthplace at Stratford-upon-Avon, and they are now living in the USA.
Related to Fun with Idioms
Titles in the series (2)
Fun with Idioms: Book 1 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Fun with Idioms: Book 2 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related ebooks
Fun with Idioms: Book 2 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTwo Truths and a Tall Tale: A True or False Trivia Challenge for the Whole Family Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJeremy Lin: Basketball Superstar Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsValentine's Day Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Black Hole Bandits Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSarah, Plain & Tall: A Literature Resource Guide Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Lemonade Stand Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThese Rocks Count! Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The War With Grandpa Reading Group Activity Guide Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBirth of the Star-Spangled Banner: A Fly on the Wall History Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOld McDoggle Had a Zoo Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFranklin Delano Roosevelt for Kids: His Life and Times with 21 Activities Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsShalom Everybodeee!: Grover's Adventures in Israel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5George Washington: Leading a New Nation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bright Dreams: The Brilliant Inventions of Nikola Tesla Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Word of God and Beyond | Bible Study for Kids | Children's Christian Books Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBermuda Triangle, The Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Harriet Tubman Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNew Testament: Easy Navigation Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDragonfly Dreams Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Stupendously Spectacular Spelling Bee Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Warriors Don't Cry (SparkNotes Literature Guide) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPlant Cells Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Adventures of Sherlock Bones: Doggone Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWeird-but-True Facts about U.S. Presidents Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Jesse Owens: Athletes Who Made a Difference Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMy First Bible Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Celebrating Thanksgiving Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPedro's Pan: A Gold Rush Story Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Jaguars and Butterflies Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Teaching Methods & Materials For You
How to Diagnose and Fix Everything Electronic, Second Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Speed Reading: Learn to Read a 200+ Page Book in 1 Hour: Mind Hack, #1 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Three Bears Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Speed Reading: How to Read a Book a Day - Simple Tricks to Explode Your Reading Speed and Comprehension Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Becoming Cliterate: Why Orgasm Equality Matters--And How to Get It Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Take Smart Notes. One Simple Technique to Boost Writing, Learning and Thinking Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fluent in 3 Months: How Anyone at Any Age Can Learn to Speak Any Language from Anywhere in the World Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The 5 Love Languages of Children: The Secret to Loving Children Effectively Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Personal Finance for Beginners - A Simple Guide to Take Control of Your Financial Situation Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Weapons of Mass Instruction: A Schoolteacher's Journey Through the Dark World of Compulsory Schooling Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Chicago Guide to Grammar, Usage, and Punctuation Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Science of Making Friends: Helping Socially Challenged Teens and Young Adults Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Diversity Delusion: How Race and Gender Pandering Corrupt the University and Undermine Our Culture Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Principles: Life and Work Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Four-Hour School Day: How You and Your Kids Can Thrive in the Homeschool Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...And Others Don't Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The 5 Love Languages of Teenagers: The Secret to Loving Teens Effectively Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5From 150 to 179 on the LSAT Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Financial Feminist: Overcome the Patriarchy's Bullsh*t to Master Your Money and Build a Life You Love Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Lost Tools of Learning Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Verbal Judo, Second Edition: The Gentle Art of Persuasion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Jack Reacher Reading Order: The Complete Lee Child’s Reading List Of Jack Reacher Series Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Closing of the American Mind Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Fun with Idioms
1 rating0 reviews
Book preview
Fun with Idioms - John Smithback
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Preface
Idioms
Fun with Idioms
Book 1
John and Ching Yee Smithback
A collection from the Idiom-Magic series
www.idiom-magic.com
Fun with Idioms
Book 1
All Rights Reserved © 1995, 2013 by John B. Smithback and Ching Yee Smithback
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without the permission in writing from the author.
First Edition published 1995 by Cove Press. This digital edition published by Idiom Magic Publications c/o Authors Guild Digital Services.
For more information, address:
Authors Guild Digital Services
31 East 32nd Street
7th Floor
New York, NY 10016
ISBN: 9781625361141
Preface
Have you ever had one of those days, done something on the spur of the moment, played your cards right or talked a blue streak?
What’s wrong with you if you can’t hit the broadside of a barn? Do you know what it is to live the life of Riley or come up smelling like a rose?
If you have dishpan hands and weep crocodile tears, is it because you have recently been struck by a bolt from the blue? Or if something is the real McCoy, would that make you want to blaze a trail or rest on your oars/laurels? And if someone you know is the talk of the town, would that tickle your funny bone?
All of these might make your head spin, for these are idioms, and the difference between knowing or not knowing what they mean can be the difference between understanding or not understanding English.
The nuts and bolts of something, note perfect, off the cuff, with no strings attached, and a touch of class are idioms too, and every language has them. But English has more. They are like a language within a language, adding color and dimension to the way we speak and think. Idioms make our language more expressive, more fun to use; but they also give anyone learning English his or her greatest challenge.
A cock and bull story, get down to brass tacks, of the first water, an old chestnut and a lick of paint are word combinations you either know or you don’t. And you’d really find yourself in a fog and worn to a frazzle if you tried to guess their meanings. Yet as sure as God made little green apples, each and every one of them is a very common idiom known and understood by almost all native speakers of English, wherever they are in the world and whatever their occupation or their level of education.
The wealth of idioms in the English language is almost beyond belief, but this book containing 256 of them is unique. Created by the husband and wife team of John and Ching Yee Smithback (he’s a teacher and a writer; she’s an artist, a translator and a registered nurse), these humorous illustrations along with their witty definitions are almost guaranteed to make learning English idioms as easy/simple as ABC.
What does that mean? It means you can stop being a worry wart, because Fun With Idioms is a new way to make learning easy! In fact, read this and its companion book and we think you’ll be thrilled to the core.
P.S. You’ll be having fun and dying of laughter, but you should be forewarned: you’ll also be learning!
AFTER/WHEN THE DUST CLEARS/SETTLES
Timothy was exploring an old building when a particular stone caught his attention. I’ll take that,
he said, and then the building collapsed. After the dust had settled, he realized he had removed the stone that kept the building standing. The stone is called a keystone, and after/when the dust clears/settles means when a troublesome, confusing or disastrous event is over.
ALIVE AND KICKING
"Go to the Egyptian Room and do some dusting, the museum boss said to Ralph.
And don’t worry about the mummies, he laughed.
I doubt you’ll find them alive and kicking, ha, ha." You can imagine how terrified Ralph was when someone in the room sneezed, for alive and kicking means to be very much alive—and very active!
(ALL) SWEETNESS AND LIGHT
"I attended a wonderful convention last week, Agatha smiled.
Everything was sweetness and light, and I have to say even my enemies were all sweetness and light." When something is (all) sweetness and light it is pleasant and reasonable; and when people are (all) sweetness and light, they are good-tempered and friendly.
(AND) THAT’S FLAT
Vasco came home from a long voyage. The earth,
he said, "is round, and that’s flat. His boss was startled.
Spreading false information like that isn’t going to earn you any rewards, he frowned.
On my oath, that’s flat!" (And) that’s flat is an emphatic way of saying ‘that’s the truth’ or ‘that’s a fact.’
AROUSE ONE’S CURIOSITY
"I’ve been watching that thing out there for a long time, Weemote said.
It arouses my curiosity. Shall we visit it?
I must be getting old, it takes more than that to arouse my curiosity," Bitmote replied. The Mote brothers are using a term that means to awaken, excite, or stimulate one’s interest in something.
AS SURE AS GOD MADE LITTLE GREEN APPLES
This is an interesting and informal way of saying that something is an absolute certainty. "As sure as God made little green apples,