The Easter weekend starts today in the UK. Good Friday and Easter Monday are public holidays (or bank holidays as we call them here in the UK). As I write this post, millions of people are making their way to the airports or holiday destinations within the UK clogging our already busy motorways.
Luckily, David and I have decided to head up to the Lake District early Saturday morning to avoid the long queues on the roads.
In my last post dedicated to the theme of Easter, I concentrated on the food that is eaten during this period. Today I'd like to share with you 8 idioms that we have in the English language that have two of Easter's symbols - the egg and the bunny (rabbit).
1. To egg someone on - to encourage or dare someone to do something, often something unwise
Ex. I wouldn’t have gone bungee jumping if John hadn’t egged me on to do it.
2. To put all your eggs in one basket - to risk everything in one venture
Ex. When investing in the stockmarket, you shouldn’t put all your eggs in one basket. You should diversify your portfolio.
3. To teach someone’s grandmother to suck eggs (informal) - to presume to teach someone something they already know
Ex. I am probably teaching your grandmother to suck eggs, but you do realise that you need to switch on the TV before the DVD player will work?
4. To walk or tread on egg shells (Br E) - to be very diplomatic and inoffensive
Ex. She is so stressed at the moment that I feel like I am walking on eggshells to avoid an argument.
5. You cannot make an omelette without breaking eggs - In order to do something good, you need to give something else up
Ex. James: ‘We may make a lot of money if we raise our prices, but we will upset a lot of our customers’.
Tony: ‘We cannot make an omelette without breaking eggs’.
6. A chicken and egg situation - a situation where it’s impossible to decide which of two things existed first and which caused the other.
Ex. It’s a chicken and egg situation - I don’t know whether I was bad at Maths because I wasn’t interested, or wasn’t interested and therefore was not good at the subject.
7. To be like a rabbit caught in the headlights - to be so surprised or frightened that you cannot move or think
Ex. Each time the directors asked Alan a question he looked like a rabbit caught in the headlights.
8. To pull a rabbit out of the hat - to do something surprising (it’s often used to show a surprising solution to a problem)
Ex. The Chancellor pulled a rabbit out of the hat by putting together a budget without raising taxes.
Do you know any other idioms that use the words ‘eggs’ and ‘rabbits’ in them? Please share them with me.
The Lake District
I am celebrating Easter and next week in the Lake District. I might post some more articles whilst on holiday. If I don't, I will definitely be back on 29 April. In the meantime, I wish you all a very Happy Easter.
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Ciao for now
Shanthi
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