IDIOMS & EXPRESSIONS - LESSON 18

ORIGIN: When a football player drops the ball, his team may lose the chance to score.

a bitter pill to swallow bad news; something unpleasant to accept EXAMPLE: After Gina spent her whole summer working as an intern for American Express, failing to get a full-time job offer from the company was a bitter pill to swallow.

up to scratch good; at the expected level

EXAMPLE: Your customer service call center isn't up to scratch. They put me on hold for 45 minutes! NOTE: You will usually hear this expression in the negative: not up to scratch.

asleep at the wheel not performing well; neglecting responsibilities; not paying attention to what's going on EXAMPLE: The dental hygienist was asleep at the wheel. She accidentally left a big piece of dental floss in the patient's mouth! SYNONYMS: asleep at the switch; out to lunch

PRACTICE THE IDIOMS

Fill in the blanks using the following idioms:

up to scratch dot your i's and cross your t's

asleep at the wheel no big deal

a bitter pill to swallow I could've sworn that drop the ball blow things out of proportion Ryan: Eric, we got fifty phone calls this week complaining that our spicy nacho chips are much too spicy. Do you have the machine set correctly? Eric: Let me check...No, we've got the machine set wrong. It's putting in three times too much hot pepper. That's strange. ________ I checked it this morning and it was okay. Ryan: Oh, for heaven's sake! How could you ________ like this? You must be ________. Eric: Ryan, please don't ________. It's really ________. I'll just turn this knob right now and adjust the setting. Ryan: In the future, please be sure to ________. Eric: No need to make a mountain out of a molehill. It's just one little mistake. Some people prefer extra spicy nacho chips anyway! Ryan: It's not just one little mistake. Lately, your work hasn't been ________. This may be a ________, but several of us have noticed that your performance has been poor for the past six months.

ANSWER KEY p.157

Lesson 14

TAKING CREDIT FOR GOOD RESULTS

When United Supply Company launches their website three weeks ahead of schedule, there's more than one person ready to take credit. Bob: Kurt, I've got great news for you. We're pushing the envelope and launching our new website three weeks ahead of schedule. Kurt: Wow, Bob, that's a first for this company! How did you pull that off? Bob: I burned the midnight oil over these past few weeks. I worked my tail off. Sometimes things would get tough, but I always kept my eye on the prize.

Tara: Let's not forget about Jim in technical support. He really hunkered down these past few days, working around the clock.

Bob: Yeah, Jim's a real team player. He helped a lot. Kurt: Well, that's not surprising. Jim's always ready to pitch in. Bob: Of course, you deserve a pat on the back too, Kurt. None of this would've been possible without your leadership.

Kurt: All in a day's work. Providing great leadership comes with the territory. Well, time for some R&R. I'm off to Florida to play golf for a few days. See you next week!

IDIOMS & EXPRESSIONS - LESSON 14

(to) push the envelope to go beyond what is normally done; to stretch the boundaries EXAMPLE: The design team pushed the envelope by creating a car powered entirely by the sun.

(to) pull something off to accomplish a difficult task; to successfully do something difficult

EXAMPLE: We need to prepare and mail out 50,000 media kits by tomorrow. I don't know how we're going to pull it off! SYNONYM: to carry something off (to) burn the midnight oil to stay up late working or studying EXAMPLE: The bank needs our financial statements completed by 9 a.m. tomorrow. We're going to need to burn the midnight oil tonight to finish on time. ORIGIN: This expression dates back to the days before electricity when oil lamps were used for lighting. People went to sleep earlier back then, so if you were still burning the oil at midnight, you were staying up late. (to) work one's tail off see Lesson 11

(to) keep one's eye on the prize to stay focused on the end result; to not let small problems get in the way of good results EXAMPLE: I know it is difficult going to class after work, but just keep your eye on the prize. At the end of next year, you'll have your MBA. NOTE: You will also see the variation: keep one's eyes on the prize.