One Word A Day

CAN YOU GIVE ME A HEADS UP

EXAMPLE SENTENCE :CAN YOU GIVE ME A HEADS UP on what the weather is like there??

To those of you that have your nose, eyebrow or bellybutton pierced, andI mean professionally, CAN YOU GIVE ME A HEADS UP on the pain?

DID YOU KNOW ?

heads up (chiefly American)slang

- an advance warning

WORD ORIGIN

Before it was used in phrases like "Can you give me a heads up" or "I'llgive you heads up," this phrase was and still is used as a dangerwarning. This likely originated in the construction industry where thephrase is frequently used to warn workers of activities taking placeabove them, so as to avoid injury from falling building materials likebricks and pieces of wood.

The Random House Dictionary says "heads up" first appeared sometimebetween 1940 and 1950. However, there are references to it inperiodicals as far back as 1914. It has several slightly differentcontexts:

- to be alert and wide-awake. In this context, it is sometimes used anadjective to describe a sports team that plays with a high level ofconcentration (They played heads-up football today.)

- a type of display screen (heads-up display) used in aircraft thatshows images and information on the windscreen so that the pilot cankeep his/her "head up" in order to read the data while flying.

- an advance warning (The company issued a heads up about its financialcondition two days before publishing its annual report.)

This last is the most common usage meanwhile. It is used frequently inbusiness, in both e-mail and telephone communications, to either tellsomeone that they will get advance warning or a piece of informationbeforehand (I'll give you a heads up when the report is ready to beprinted) or to ask to be informed about something ahead of time (Can yougive me a heads up before you send out that report?).

It is synonymous with the expressions "Let me know" and "I'll let youknow."

SMUGGLE OWAD INTO TODAY'S CONVERSATION:

"Give me heads up when you plan to next visit, and I'll make sure I amhere to show you around."

WHAT ARE THE RAMIFICATIONSEXAMPLE SENTENCE :

WHAT ARE THE RAMIFICATIONS for shorelines around the world ifpredictions about rising sea levels due to global warming actually cometrue?

WHAT ARE THE RAMIFICATIONS of the Church of England's decision to allowwomen to become bishops

DID YOU KNOW ?

ramificationnoun- complex consequences of an action or event

(Compact Oxford English Dictionary)

WORD ORIGIN

Ramification can be traced to the Latin "ramus," meaning branch, whichis also related to the Latin "radix," or root (this is where we get theword "radish"). The verb "ramify," which means to have complexconsequences, stems from the Middle Latin "ramificare" (ramus = branch +facere = to make). Thus in all of its forms, ramification has to do with"a development or consequence growing out of and sometimes complicatinga problem, plan, or statement."

(American Heritage Dictionary)

Ramification is also a term used in some fields of science to describe"branching out." In medicine, it can refer to a small branch or offshootof a main channel such as an artery, vein or nerve for instance. Inbotany, a ramification is a structure formed of branches or aconfiguration of branching parts.

In mathematics, ramification is a geometric term for branching out suchas the square root function for complex numbers. In philosophy and thefield of artificial intelligence (especially knowledge based systems),the so-called "ramification problem" is concerned with the indirectconsequences of an action.

SYNONYMS

consequence, development, bifurcation, branch, branching, breaking,complication, consequence, division, excrescence, extension, forking,offshoot, outgrowth, partition, radiation, result, sequel, subdividing,subdivision, upshot

Phrases:- What is the upshot of?- What is the outgrowth of?- What is the offshoot of?


"What are the ramifications of our strategy on production costs andproduct delivery times?"

GRUMPYEXAMPLE SENTENCE :

Children in Leeds say GRUMPY adults often make it difficult for them toplay outdoors: A national survey by the Children's Society has foundthat youngsters are having their development stifled by intolerantadults.

I'm not a dictator. It's just that I have a GRUMPY face.

- Augusto Pinochet, former dictator of Chile

DID YOU KNOW ?

grumpyadjective easily annoyed and complaining

(Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)

WORD ORIGIN

The origin of grumpy is unknown, but may be an extension of the 17thcentury word "grum" which was used in the same sense. Or it may haveevolved from the obsolete phrase "humps and grumps," which referred tocomplaining remarks.

Conventional wisdom holds that older men can be grumpy. Building onthis, a Hampshire pub came up with a brilliant idea. Irritated by theconcept of the "Happy Hour," the owners established a "Grumpy Hour." Itgives grumpy old men (or young for that matter) the chance to complainabout anything from the failure of the global markets to Englishfootball. It became so popular that they created an official "GrumpyClub." (sources: BBC News)

SYNONYMS

surly, cantankerous, crabby, cross, crotchety, disgruntled, grouty,irritable, moody, sullen, testy


"Don't expect a smile from him before noon, he's always grumpy in themorning."

ITCHY FEETEXAMPLE SENTENCE :With the European Commission's mandate due to end about a year from now,some of its members are getting ITCHY FEET as they worry about their ownpolitical futures.(The Irish Times)

"We were with the band in Nashville for three or four years and thenJimi finally got ITCHY FEET."(Billy Cox, who played with guitar legend Jimi Hendrix in the 60s)

DID YOU KNOW ?

itchy feetidiom

- to want to travel or do something different

(Cambridge International Dictionary of Idioms)

WORD ORIGIN

The adjective itchy means to be restless, nervous or impatient. The verb"itching" is frequently used to indicate when a person cannot wait to dosomething (He is itching to go on vacation to Hawaii.) The noun "itch"is also used in a similar sense of getting the urge to do something (Hegot the itch to go to Spain.)

So if someone has "itchy feet", they are impatient about or get the urgeto go somewhere or do something different (He got itchy feet and decidedto go to Australia to work for a couple of years).

Itchy feet is also expressed as having "wanderlust" (from the Germanwander = travel + lust = desire) or Klondike fever, a reference to thegold rush along the Klondike River in Yukon Canada which attracted manyadventurers with itchy feet.

Jazz trumpeter, Herb Alpert, put a different twist on this expressionwhen he was asked about how a new album was being received: "Thereaction to this album has just been fabulous... and I've had offers toperform from around the world and I'm tempted to do it. I've got itchylips."


"Some people like to stay in one place their whole life, but Ive alwayshad itchy feet."

PLAY FOR KEEPSEXAMPLE SENTENCE :Taiwanese companies, aggressive investors across East Asia, are PLAYINGFOR KEEPS in mainland China. They now extend far beyond the toy and shoeproducers that first went to China a decade ago for its cheap labor andland. Now electronics manufacturers are arriving(BusinessWeek magazine)

And judging from the features Microsoft has packed into the new box,it's clear the company is PLAYING FOR KEEPS.(www.cnn.money.com)

DID YOU KNOW ?

play for keepsidiom- to do something very seriously and not just for enjoyment

(Cambridge International Dictionary of Idioms)

WORD ORIGIN

One of the definitions of the verb play is "to act or conduct oneself ina specified way. It is used this way as a phrasal verb in manydifferent senses:

- play along (to cooperate or pretend to cooperate)

- play down (to minimise the importance of something)

- play up (to emphasise or publicise)

- play upon (to take advantage of anothers attitude or feelings)

Among other things, the verb "to keep means to retain possession of,to support or to preserve something. This implies a continuous conditionor a permanent state. Thus in the expression "play for keeps, thissuggests an indefinitely long period of time, meaning something thatrequires serious effort.

Keep is used in several idioms:

- keep a stiff upper lip (to be courageous in the face of adversity)

- keep (ones) nose clean (to stay out of trouble)

- keep an eye on something or someone (to watch over attentively)


"Even if it's just a game of tennis with friends, he still plays forkeeps."

VULNERABLEEXAMPLE SENTENCE :

A terrorism expert warns that UK airports are still VULNERABLE, one yearon from the attack on Glasgow Airport...(BBC News)

"When we were children, we used to think that when we were grown-up wewould no longer be VULNERABLE. But to grow up is to acceptvulnerability... To be alive is to be vulnerable.(Madeleine L'Engle, American author)

DID YOU KNOW ?

vulnerableadjective

able to be easily physically, emotionally, or mentally hurt,influenced or attacked

noun

vulnerability

(Cambridge Advanced Learners Dictionary)

WORD ORIGIN

1605, from the Lower Latin vulnerabilis "wounding," from Latin vulnerare"to wound," from vulnus (gen. vulneris) "wound," perhaps related tovellere "pluck, to tear." (Online Etymology Dictionary)

The great movie director Alfred Hitchcock was a master at showing howvulnerable human beings can be. In his most famous scene from the 1960classic Psycho, actress Janet Leigh is attacked with a knife whiletaking a shower. She even stopped taking showers after the movie. "Andnot because of the shooting of it," she later explained. "It waswatching it. It never occurred to me how truly vulnerable we are. Butthat's what Hitchcock did. A shower. A bird. All these things that areabsolutely ordinary, he made extraordinary."

Shortly after the film's release, Hitchcock received a letter from a mancomplaining that, since she had seen the movie, his wife had beenterrified to shower or bathe. What remedy, he wondered, could thedirector suggest. "Sir," Hitchcock replied, "have you ever consideredsending your wife to the dry cleaners?''

(source: www.anecdotes.com)

SYNONYMS

(vulnerable)

accessible, assailable, defenceless, exposed, liable, naked, on theline, on the spot, out on a limb, prone to, ready, sensitive, sittingduck, sucker, susceptible, tender, thin-skinned, unguarded, unprotected,unsafe, weak, wide open

(vulnerability)

exposure, liability, openness, susceptibility


"In today's economic climate companies are especially vulnerable toattack by stronger competitors."

BALLOTEXAMPLE SENTENCE :The statement also called on the Burmese military government to allowall political actors to participate in a free, fair and credible BALLOT.(BBC News)

"The BALLOT is stronger than the bullet.(Abraham Lincoln, 16th president of the United States)

DID YOU KNOW ?ballotnoun a system or occasion of secret voting

(Cambridge Advanced Learners Dictionary)

- a slip or sheet of paper, cardboard, or the like, on which a votermarks his or her vote

(Random House Unabridged Dictionary)

WORD ORIGIN

In British and U.S. English, ballot describes the system or process ofvoting. In U.S. English, among other things a ballot is the piece ofpaper on which a vote is placed. Submitting the vote to have it countedis called "casting the ballot. In British English a physical ballot iscalled the "ballot paper.

During government elections, so-called postal ballots (U.S. absenteeballot) are used if the voter is unable to come to the polling station.

Ballot is used in several other senses all of which have to do withvoting:

- voting in general, or a round of voting: Our candidate was defeated onthe third ballot.

- the list of candidates to be voted on: They succeeded in getting hername placed on the ballot. - the right to vote: They gained the ballot after years of struggle.

- the whole number of votes cast or recorded: Officials counted theballots all through the night.

- a system or the practice of drawing lots: The person who is to gofirst will be chosen by ballot.

Ballot stems from the Italian "ballotta, a diminutive form of ball,which was a small ball used to register a vote. The ball was droppedinto a box or container as a means of voting secretly. When yes and novotes were recorded with different colours, the negative was oftenindicated by black. This gave rise to the term "blackball, meaning toexclude someone from membership by a negative vote.

(sources: Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Websters II New CollegeDictionary)

SYNONYMS

(voting)election, franchise, plebiscite, poll, polling, referendum, slate,tally, ticket

(political candidates)choice, lineup, slate, ticket


"Let's hold a ballot to decide who should take over the new position."

IN A QUANDARYEXAMPLE SENTENCE :A sharp slowdown in the economy has many employers reconsidering theirhiring plans for the coming year. Many are IN A QUANDARY, not knowingwhether the slowdown is temporary or just the start of an extended slumpthat would make hiring unwise.(www.npr.com)

The band is IN A QUANDARY at the moment as to where to take their musicand Neil is right when he suggests the music would be good for TVsoundtracks.(BBC News)

DID YOU KNOW ?in a quandarynoun phrase to be in a situation in which it is difficult to decide what to do(Collins Essential English Dictionary)

WORD ORIGIN

Some etymology experts believe quandary stems from the French phrasequ'en dirai je? (what shall I say of it?). Others suggest it may haveoriginated from an Italian word sign. It may also be a Latinism based onthe Latin quando, meaning "when". Still other sources such as the 1913Websters Dictionary claim quandary comes from the Old English wandreth,meaning adversity, perplexity and further from a similar word inIcelandic meaning difficulty.

The noun quandary has two meanings:

- an unpleasant or trying situation which is difficult to get out of

- a state of uncertainty, especially when facing a choice betweenequally unfavourable options

"In a quandary" has several interesting synonymous expressions such asCatch-22, between a rock and a hard place (see OWAD archive) and in apickle. This alludes to the pickling liquid made from brines and vinegarwhich is used to preserve food, and presumably to the imagineddifficulty of being stuck in such. The phrase was known in Dutch by 1561- in de pekel zitten - meaning to be in a pickle.

Shakespeare appears to be the first to use this expression in his play,The Tempest from 1611:

TRINCULO:I have been in such a pickle since I saw you last...

A modern Shakespeare could say:I have been in a quandary since I saw you last...(sources: The Phrase Finder)


"The new job offer in Paris has put me in a quandary because I wouldhave to leave my all my friends in Frankfurt."

TO RUN SOMETHING BY (SOME OTHER PERSON)

EXAMPLE SENTENCE :Just to check my theory, I RAN IT BY a well-known airport securityexpert. When he heard my scenario, he immediately asked not to be named,because he didn't want to be on the record saying a method of to getaround airport security might work. But he's pretty sure it would.(www.slate.com)

As far as the webmail issue goes, I RAN IT BY the programming team andthey will implement the changes that were suggested(www.chat.freeola.com)

DID YOU KNOW ?to run something by (some other person)idiom- to show someone something, or tell them about it in order to get theiropinion(Cambridge Dictionary of American Idioms)

WORD ORIGIN

When used as a verb, "run" is one of the most versatile words in theEnglish language. The American Heritage Dictionary lists more than 30definitions for both the intransitive form (an action verb that does nottake an object) and the transitive form (requires both a subject and oneor more objects).

In the expression "can I run that by you" run is used in the sense ofpassing something along to someone for their opinion.

There are numerous usages of the word "run" in Emglish phrases andexpressions. Here are just a few more useful in everyday conversation:

- I'm going to run into town for groceries. Can you run me into town? =to make a short or quick trip

- He is running in the Berlin Marathon. She is running for mayor. = totake part in a sports race or an election for a political office -

- The ferry between Dover and Calais runs several times a day. = totravel back and forth

- The sizes run from small to extra large. = to occupy a certain range

- His taste in motorcars runs to the very expensive. = to tend orincline

- We ran into trouble once we crossed the border. = to move intodifficult circumstances.

SYNONYMOUS PHRASES

Would you take a look at this? Can I get your thoughts on this? I'd liketo get your opinion on this.


"Can I run that by you before we send it out to be printed?"

SMORGASBORDEXAMPLE SENTENCE :The festival opened with several keynote speakers offering briefsummaries of their big ideas; a kind of SMORGASBORD for the brain.(BBC News)

The shoes are something of an athletic SMORGASBORD that lets the wearermix and match the various parts of the shoe, from uppers to insoles tothe studs that dig into the ground to improve traction.(BusinessWeek magazine)

DID YOU KNOW ?

smorgasbordnoun a wide variety of something

- a mixture of many different hot and cold Scandinavian dishes which arearranged so that you can serve yourself(Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)

WORD ORIGIN

The Swedish word Smrgasbord is a compound noun made up of the wordsSmrgs (sandwich) and Bord (table). In turn, Smrgas consists of thewords Smr (butter) and Gas (literally goose, but in its old meaning,it's the churned butter floating on the skimmed milk).

According to the Swedish linguist, Catharina Grnbaum, Gas referred topieces of butter that formed and floated to the surface of cream when itwas churned. These pieces resembled fat geese swimming to the surface.Such pieces were just the right size to be placed and flattened out onbread. Smrgas then came to mean butter and bread together.

Smrgasbord refers to a Scandinavian meal that is served buffet style.It is typically a holiday or celebratory feast at which the family andguests can take whatever they fancy from a range of dishes laid out fortheir choice. In a restaurant, the term refers to a buffet-style tablelaid out with many small dishes from which, for a fixed amount of money,one is allowed to choose as many as one wishes.

Thus in English smorgasbord is used in a figurative sense to describe alarge variety of something.(adapted from Wikipedia)

SYNONYMS

buffett, collection, combination, goulash, hash, hodgepodge, jumble,medley, mlange, miscellany, mishmash, mixed bag, patchwork, potpourri


"There was a smorgasbord of ideas presented at the meeting today."

BLACK ICE

EXAMPLE SENTENCE :

Motorists in southeast New South Wales are being warned of the dangersof BLACK ICE after several heavy frosts in recent days(ABC Regional Online, Australia)

Nick Grainger, from Humberside fire service, said: "Road conditions weretruly dangerous with BLACK ICE."(BBC News

DID YOU KNOW ?black icenoun phrase- a dangerous type of ice on roads which is so thin that itcannot be seen by a driver(Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)

WORD ORIGIN

Black ice, also known as "glare ice" or "clear ice," refers to a thincoating of ice on a surface, usually a roadway. While not truly black,it is transparent, allowing the black asphalt roadway to be seen throughit, hence the term. It is unusually slick compared to other forms ofroadway ice.

Black ice is transparent because it contains relatively little trappedair in the form of bubbles. In addition, it often is interleaved withwet road, which is identical in appearance. For this reason it isespecially hazardous when driving or walking because it is both hard tosee and unexpectedly slick. Riding a bicycle on black ice is a riskyadventure as well.

Bridges and overpasses can be especially dangerous. Black ice formsfirst on bridges and overpasses because air can circulate both above andbelow the surface of the elevated roadway, causing the pavementtemperature to drop more rapidly. This is often indicated with "BridgeMay Be Icy" warning signs.(adapted from Wikipedia)


"Be careful driving in fog because it can sometimes create black ice."

PUBLIC VIEWINGEXAMPLE SENTENCE :Organizers had thought that hundreds of thousands of fans would packPUBLIC VIEWING sites in Austria and Switzerland to watch the Europeanfootball championships. It turns out they were wrong.(BBC News)

Edwards Air Force Base is planning to open its PUBLIC VIEWING area onthe east shore of Rogers Dry Lake Thursday and Friday for personswishing to watch a potential landing of Space Shuttle Discovery.(www.nasa.gov)

DID YOU KNOW ?public viewingnoun phrase- a place where the general public can watch a large event, usuallybroadcast on a large outdoor screen

WORD ORIGIN

Before the advent of television and gigantic screens, the phrase publicviewing usually referred to an event in which the public was permittedto view the body of an important person after their death. Presidents,high government officials, church leaders such as the Pope, and alsoHollywood stars and other celebrities are often laid to rest in a casketthat is placed in a "public viewing" area to allow the general public to"pay their last respects."

Public viewing is now additionally used as a general term to describethe organization of a location and activities where the public cangather to watch an important event.

Such events typically take place outdoors and involve the live broadcastof key sports or entertainment events on giant screens. The expressiongained prominence in Europe when Germany hosted the 2006 Football WorldCup. Nearly every European country organized public viewing, some ofwhich were held at famous sites such as the Republic Square in Berlin.

SMUGGLE OWAD INTO TODAY'S CONVERSATION:"The big game is tonight and we're going to a public viewing. Would youlike to join us?"

STEAMROLLEXAMPLE SENTENCE :The Internet is STEAMROLLING its way into all of our lives and that'sthe way we like it. Right? Wrong. A quarter of the population do notintend to go online...(BBC News)

''It reminded me of when I was 19 years old and STEAMROLLED over AndreAgassi. I was steamrolled today by him. The only time he showed anynerves was in the last game of the match.''- former tennis star Pete Sampras

DID YOU KNOW ?steamrollverb

-to overwhelm or suppress ruthlessly; crush

-to smooth or level (a road) with a steamroller

(intransitive verb)

- to move or proceed with overwhelming or crushing force

(American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language)

---WORD ORIGIN

The verb steamroll stems from the noun "steamroller," which is:

- a steam-driven machine equipped with a heavy roller for smoothing roadsurfaces.- a similar machine with an internal-combustion engine

A steamroller is a particular form of road roller, a type of heavyconstruction machinery used for levelling surfaces. Steamrollers arelarge steam-powered vehicles with a heavy cylinder or drum in place ofthe front wheels and smooth rear wheels. Steamrollers are generally usedin paving roads or airfields, to flatten out the surface. In many partsof the world, the term steamroller is still used to refer to a roadroller, regardless of the method of propulsion.

Steamroller is also used in the figurative sense to mean "a ruthless orirresistible force or power." It is often used in this sense whendescribing athletic competitions, as noted in the quote from PeteSampras.

It can also describe a military operation (The Russian forcessteamrolled into Georgia). On the other end of the scale, one person cansteamroll another in a romantic way (He was steamrolled by her beautyand charm).

---SMUGGLE OWAD INTO TODAY'S CONVERSATION:"We steamrolled the proposal through the committee and got the approvalto go ahead with the project."

SYCOPHANTEXAMPLE SENTENCE :Putin launched Russia Today, a 24-hour, state-controlled Englishlanguage television station that acts less as a news agency than as aSYCOPHANT with a British accent.(Esquire magazine)

After the interview, she concluded that Mugabe was profoundly out oftouch, surrounded by SYCOPHANTS too scared to tell him the truth aboutthe dire state of Zimbabwe.(The Guardian)

DID YOU KNOW ?sycophant (adjective = sycophantic)noun

- a person who praises people in authority in a way that is not sincere,usually in order to get some advantage from them(Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)

WORD ORIGIN

Sycophant comes from the Latin sycophanta and the Greek sykophantes,originally meaning "one who shows the fig" (sykon = fig + phanein = toshow). Showing the fig was a vulgar gesture made by sticking the thumbbetween two fingers. It is a display that vaguely resembles a fig, whichitself is symbolic of a certain part of the female anatomy.

As one story has it, prominent politicians in ancient Greece thoughtthey should not be seen displaying such a gesture, but privately theyurged their followers to taunt their opponents by using it. Othersources believe the origin has to do with someone who informed againstanother for exporting figs, which was illegal. Or it referred to someonewho stole the fruit of sacred fig trees. The sense of a mean, servileflatterer was first recorded in English in 1575.

Literature is full of sycophants. In the fairy tale "The Emperor's NewClothes" by Hans Christian Andersen, the two swindlers posing as tailorsconvince His Highness that he looks superb in a suit that doesn't evenexist. Of course, the two sycophants are helped by the fact that theemperor is both extremely vain and a twit. And in J.R. Tolkien's Lord ofthe Rings, the hideous Gollum is at times a slimer with an over-pleasingmanner that masks his real goal of doing anything to retrieve the Ring.

---SYNONYMStoady, brownnoser, lackey, apple-polisher, bootlicker, fawner,groveller, adulator, flatterer, slave, parasite, sponger, hanger-on,flunky, stooge, yes-man

---SMUGGLE OWAD INTO TODAY'S CONVERSATION:

"Most senior managers attract their share of sycophants."

CON MANEXAMPLE SENTENCE :A CON MAN who tricked investors out of more than 2.7m has been orderedto hand it back.(Northamptonshire Evening Telegraph, UK)

An Internet CONMAN has been jailed after his victims launched an onlinemanhunt in an attempt to catch him.(The Argus.co.uk)

DID YOU KNOW ?con man (also written conman)noun phrase

- a person who deceives other people by making them believe somethingfalse or making them give money away

connoun

- a trick to get someone's money, or make them do what you want

converb

- to make someone believe something false, usually so that they willgive you their money or possessions(Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)

WORD ORIGIN

Con man is short for the American expression "confidence man," a termthat dates back to the mid 19th century. It describes someone who makesothers give away money or other possessions as an expression ofCONfidence (confidence comes from the Latin confidere, meaning faith ortrust).

The world has seen its share of con men such as Victor Lustig, aCzech-born man who moved to Paris and "sold" the Eiffel Tower to a scrapmetal dealer. Lustig convinced the dealer that the city of Paris couldno longer afford to maintain the famous tower and had contracted him tofind a buyer for the metal. After the dealer discovered he had been"conned," he decided not to tell the authorities because he was soembarrassed.

George Parker was one the most famous con men in America. He made aliving selling New York City landmarks to unsuspecting tourists. Apartfrom the Statue of Liberty, his favourite object was the BrooklynBridge, which he is reported to have sold on average two times a week.He convinced the buyers they could make money by controlling access.

The police would occasionally have to remove the buyers from the bridgeafter they had set up toll barriers to collect money from motorcardrivers. Parker's adventures passed into popular culture, leading tophrases such as "and if you believe that, I have a bridge to sell you",a way of expressing a belief that someone is nave.

(sources: The List Universe)

---SYNONYMS

con artist, confidence man, chiseller, defrauder, grifter, scammer,swindler, gouger


"Big cities like New York are well known for having a con man on everystreet corner."

KEEP YOUR SHIRT ONEXAMPLE SENTENCE :

"Just KEEP YOUR SHIRT ON, and tell me where you got that amortizationamendment."(former U.S. Senator George W. Norris talking to a fellow senator)

Calm down! The train doesn't leave for another 20 minutes, so just keepyour shirt on.

DID YOU KNOW ?Keep your shirt on!idiom- a slightly impolite way of telling someone who is angry to try to becalm and patient.(Cambridge International Dictionary of Idioms)

WORD ORIGIN

In the western film classic Big Country, tough guy Charlton Hestonchallenges city gentleman Gregory Peck to a fight in the middle of theprairie. Before they start, Heston takes off his shirt to reveal hismuscles. Peck, being the refined man that he is, keeps his shirt on.This is a good illustration of where we get the expression "keep yourshirt on." Heston is the one who is angry and can't wait to fight. Peckon the other hand is calm and cool.

Figuratively speaking, there are several other things you can do with ashirt:

Lose your shirt/Put your shirt on something - to risk all your money onsomething because you are sure you will win

Would give you the shirt off their back - if someone would give you theshirt off their back, they are extremely generous

A stuffed shirt - someone, especially a man, who behaves in a formal,old-fashioned way and thinks they are very important

A hair shirt - if someone wears a hair shirt, they choose to make theirlife unpleasant by not having or experiencing anything that gives thempleasure

SYNONYMS

Chill out! Take it easy! Stay cool! Hold your horses! Relax!


"Keep your shirt on, will you? I have to finish this report before wego."

VANGUARDEXAMPLE SENTENCE :"Women in the VANGUARD of change in Iran."- BBC News Headline

"The guerrilla band is an armed nucleus, the fighting VANGUARD of thepeople. It draws its great force from the mass of the peoplethemselves."- Che Guevara

DID YOU KNOW ?vanguardnoun

- a group of people who lead the development of new ideas, or a leadingposition in the development of something

- the part of an army or navy that leads an attack on an enemy

(Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)

WORD ORIGIN

Vanguard stems from the Old French "avant-garde," which in militaryterms means the advance guard or the unit of an army that attacks anenemy first.

Vanguard can refer to a group of people who are active in the creationof innovations and new concepts such as in technology or the arts (Shewas a vanguard in the pop culture scene in New York). It can alsodescribe someone or something that is at the position of greatestimportance or advancement (The school is at the vanguard of the neweducation movement).

The great American writer Ernest Hemingway was considered one of thevanguards of bilingual language in novels through his use of Spanishwords. He was also a vanguard in the military sense of the word.Hemingway covered both the Spanish Civil War and World War II as a warcorrespondent and was in the vanguard of the troops that liberated Parisin 1944. As the story goes, Hemingway stopped by the house of Picasso inorder to pay his respects. He unfortunately found the artist was out. Heleft behind a wooden crate as a gift, on which he inscribed "To Picasso,from Hemingway." When the crate was opened, they discovered it was fullof hand grenades.

SYNONYMS

avant-garde, cutting edge, forefront, front, lead, leading edge,spearhead


"Being in the vanguard has risks, but also gives first-mover advantage."

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