20130131

Slang of the day


cushy

Meaning: easy, undemanding (of a job or a lifestyle) (= un chollo)
For example:
  • I'd like one of those cushy government jobs with loads of holidays and not much real work.
  • Steve quit the cushy job he had in his father's company. He says it didn't challenge him enough.
Origin: From the Hindi word "khush", meaning "pleasure". Hindi is one of many Indian languages that contributed words to "Anglo-Indian" from the eighteenth to the early twentieth centuries. This word was then borrowed by British English around the time of World War One.

Slang of the day


cushy

Meaning: easy, undemanding (of a job or a lifestyle) (= un chollo)
For example:
  • I'd like one of those cushy government jobs with loads of holidays and not much real work.
  • Steve quit the cushy job he had in his father's company. He says it didn't challenge him enough.
Origin: From the Hindi word "khush", meaning "pleasure". Hindi is one of many Indian languages that contributed words to "Anglo-Indian" from the eighteenth to the early twentieth centuries. This word was then borrowed by British English around the time of World War One.

Phrasal Verb of the day


knock off 

Meaning: to murder somebody
For example:
  • knock sb off Did you hear about the insurance salesman who took out policies on his customers and then knocked them off in order to collect the payouts?
  • knock off sb Tony reckons a mafia hitman will knock off anyone who talks to the police.
  • be/get knocked off by sb The police said the girl was probably knocked off by the guy she was with when she left the bar.

Phrasal Verb of the day


knock off 

Meaning: to murder somebody
For example:
  • knock sb off Did you hear about the insurance salesman who took out policies on his customers and then knocked them off in order to collect the payouts?
  • knock off sb Tony reckons a mafia hitman will knock off anyone who talks to the police.
  • be/get knocked off by sb The police said the girl was probably knocked off by the guy she was with when she left the bar.

Idiom of the day


put the brakes on

Meaning: If you put the brakes on something, you stop it or slow it down.
For example:
  • Many companies are putting the brakes on new investment until the economy improves.
  • The government has to put the brakes on the water treatment project until the corruption enquiry is over.
Origin: This metaphorical idiom is based on the fact that if you're driving a car and you "put the brakes on", the car slows down and stops.

Idiom of the day


put the brakes on

Meaning: If you put the brakes on something, you stop it or slow it down.
For example:
  • Many companies are putting the brakes on new investment until the economy improves.
  • The government has to put the brakes on the water treatment project until the corruption enquiry is over.
Origin: This metaphorical idiom is based on the fact that if you're driving a car and you "put the brakes on", the car slows down and stops.

20130127

Idiom of the day

make a mountain out of a molehill - to make an unimportant thing seem important
Don't make a mountain out of a molehillNo le busques tres pies al gato