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is related and means not to waste effort trying to convince someone.
" Don t argue with Frank any longer. You are wasting your breath trying to get him to agree with you.
" I have already decided what I m going to do. You can t change my mind, so save your breath.
to cut short: to make shorter, to interrupt (S)
" The moderator asked the speaker to cut short his talk because there wasn t much time remaining for questions
from the audience.
" We were very unfortunate when we received bad news from home that forced us to cut our trip short.
EXERCISES
" Substitute an idiomatic expression for the word or words in italics, making any necessary grammatical changes as
well. Then complete each sentence appropriately with your own idea. Also try to use idioms from previous
lessons.
1. Mr. Larsen is in the hospital undergoing emergency surgery because he&
2. When you feel sick, it doesn t need to be mentioned that&
3. Steve was misleading me when he told me that&
4. After the serious earthquake, most people remained calm, but unfortunately some people&
5. You are not able to convince someone if he or she is not willing to accept the ideas of others, so it is better to&
6. Betty failed to appear for her date because she&
7. Your car will withstand use longer if you&
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8. Our team was able to win by gaining an advantage over the other team because&
9. The politician was nervous before she&
10. The meeting was suddenly interrupted because&
" Answer these questions orally by making use of the idiomatic expressions studied in this lesson.
1. Do you go through money quickly? What is your biggest expense?
2. Have you ever gone through a medical operation? What was it?
3. Do you enjoy putting others on, or are you a rather serious person?
4. During an emergency, how can you keep your head?
5. In what kind of emergency might you be likely to lose your head?
6. Have you ever stood anyone up? What were the circumstances of the situation that caused you to do so?
7. In what sport would an athlete try to break loose from an opponent?
8. Does talking in front of a large audience put you on edge? Why or why not?
LESSON 32
to step in: to become involved or concerned with something; to enter a place for a brief time (also: to step into)
" When the children started fighting on the playground, a teacher had to step in and stop the fight.
" The supervisor asked one of the employees to step in her office for a moment.
" Would you step into the hallway so that I can show you the information posted on the bulletin board?
to step down: to retire or leave a top position, to resign
" Next May the principal will step down after thirty-five years of service to the school.
" The angry shareholders wanted the company president to step down because of the stock scandal.
to step on: to treat severely, to discipline; to go faster, to work more quickly
For the second definition, the idiom is followed by the pronoun if.
" Sometimes it s necessary to step on children when they do something dangerous.
" We re going to be late for the movies. You d better step on it!
a steal: very inexpensive, a bargain
This idiom is often used in an exclamation using what.
" I can t believe that I paid only $2,000 for this three-year-old car. What a steal!
" Scott considered it a steal when he bought a complete bedroom set for only $99.
to play up to: to behave so as to gain favor with someone
" The other students in the class resent Jim because he plays up to the teacher in order to get better grades.
" When my children asked me to go shopping for a new video game, I knew why they had been playing up to me all
morning.
more or less: approximately, almost; somewhat, to a certain degree
" Although your bedroom feels smaller, it s more or less the same size as mine.
" Ted more or less agreed with our decision to put off the meeting until more members could show up. At least he
didn t object strongly.
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to goof up: to perform badly, to make a mistake (also: to mess up, to slip up)
" I really goofed up on the exam today; did you mess up, too?
" Karen slipped up when she forgot to deposit money into her checking account.
to go off the deep end: to get very angry and do something hastily
" Just because you had a serious argument with your supervisor, you didn t have to go off the deep end and resign,
did you?
" When Dan s wife demanded a divorce, he went off the deep end again. This time he was shouting so that the
whole neighborhood could hear.
to lose one s touch: to fail at what one used to do well
" Milton used to be the best salesman at the car dealership, but recently he seems to have lost his touch.
" I used to play tennis very well, but today you beat me easily. I must be losing my touch.
in hand: under firm control, well managed
" The copilot asked the pilot if he had the plane in hand or whether he needed any help navigating through the
severe thunderstorm.
" The police officer radioed to the station that she had the emergency situation in hand and didn t require any
assistance.
on hand: available, nearby
This idiom is often followed by in case.
" I always keep some extra money on hand in case I forget to get cash from the bank.
" The concert organizers arranged to have some security guards on hand in case there were any problems during
the performance.
EXERCISES
" Substitute an idiomatic expression for the word or words in italics, making any necessary grammatical changes as well.
Then complete each sentence appropriately with your own idea. Also try to use idioms from previous lessons.
1. During the lengthy workers strike, the police had to become involved when&
2. After leaving his office down the hall, my supervisor briefly entered my office to&
3. The old man who founded the company decided to retire when&
4. Because the mean boss severely treated his employees on many occasions, none of them&
5. Mike thought that the camera advertised in the newspaper was a bargain, so he&
6. The children behaved so as to gain favor with their parents in order to&
7. The young child caused problems in his bicycle by&
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8. Lenny performed badly on the physics test because he&
9. I hope that the football coach doesn t get angry and do something hastily because he seems to be failing at
what he usually does well; recently his football team&
10. The stores in town didn t have enough drinking water available after the typhoon, so hundreds of people&
" Answer these questions orally by making use of the idiomatic expressions studied in this lesson.
1. If someone was being attacked by a thief, would you step in and help the person? Why or why not?
2. Why might you have to step on it in the morning? Does this happen often to you?
3. Have you ever goofed up on an important test? Why did it happen?
4. Have you ever gone off the deep end? What happened?
5. For what reasons might an athlete lose his or her touch at a sport
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