A JOYFUL SIDE OF ENGLISH !!!

Idiom
ace: make an "A" on a test, homework assignment, project, etc.
"Somebody said you aced the test, Dave. That''s great!"
all right (1): expression of reluctant agreement.
A: "Come to the party with me. Please!"
B: "Oh, all right. I don''t want to, but I will."
all right (2): fair; not particularly good.
A: "How''s your chemistry class?"
B: "It''s all right, I guess, but it''s not the best class I''ve ever had."
all right (3): unharmed; in satisfactory con***ion.
A: "You don''t look normal. Are you all right?"
B: "Yes, but I have a headache."
and then some: and much more besides.
A: "I''d guess your new computer cost about $2,000. "
B: "It cost that much and then some because I also bought extra RAM and VRAM."
antsy: restless; impatient and tired of waiting.
"I hope Katy calls soon. Just sitting around and waiting is making me antsy."
as easy as pie: very easy.
"I thought you said this was a difficult problem. It isn''t. In fact, it''s as easy as pie."
at the eleventh hour: at the last minute; almost too late.
"Yes, I got the work done in time. I finished it at the eleventh hour, but I wasn''t late.

I think it funny but may be you are so busy to answer this one.
So, the solution for this riddle: The horse is tied to a 15ft rope, but the matter is the rope is NOT tied to anything. As a result, no matter how long the rope is, that''''s not the problem....
Funny ??? Try next stage, everyone !!!
Được kyanhpham sửa chữa / chuyển vào 12:59 ngày 27/09/2006

The Funny English Language No wonder the English language is so very difficult to learn.
I sometimes wonder how we manage to communicate at all!
We''ll begin with a box and the plural is boxes.
But the plural of ox should be oxen, not oxes.
The one fowl is a goose but two are called geese,
Yet the plural of moose should never be meese.
You may found a lone mouse or a whole set of mice,
Yet the plural of house is houses not hice.
If the plural of man is always called men,
Why shouldn''t the plural of pan be called pen?
If I speak of a foot and you show me your feet,
And I give you a boot, would a pair be called beet?
If one is a tooth and a whole set are teeth,
Why should not the plural of booth be called beeth?
Then one may be that and three would be those,
Yet hat in the plural wouldn''t be hose.
And the plural of cat is cats and not cose.
We speak of a brother and also of brethren,
But though we say Mother, we never say Methren,
Then the masculine pronouns are he, his and him,
But imagine the feminine she, shis and shim,
So English, I fancy you will all agree,
Is the funniest language you ever did see.

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THIS ONE IS CUTIE, RIGHT ??? Enjoy it when waiting for the new riddles, everyone !!!

Idioms
bad-mouth: say unkind, unflattering, embarrassing (and probably untrue) things about someone.
A: "I don''t believe what Bob said. Why is he bad-mouthing me?"
B: "He''s probably jealous of your success."
be a piece of cake: be very easy.
A: "Bob said the test was difficult, but I thought it was a piece of cake.""
be all ears: be eager to hear what someone has to say.
A: "I just got an e-mail message from our old friend Sally."
B: "Tell me what she said. I''m all ears!"
be broke: be without money.
"No, I can''t lend you ten dollars. I''m completely broke until payday."
be fed up with (with someone or something): be out of patience (with someone or something);
be very tired of someone or something.
"Bill, you''re too careless with your work. I''m fed up with
apologizing for your mistakes!"
be in and out: be at and away from a place during a particular time.
"Could we postpone our meeting until tomorrow? I expect to
be in and out of the office most of the day today."
be on the go: be very busy (going from one thing or project to another).
"I''m really tired. I''ve been on the go all week long."
be on the road: be traveling.
"You won''t be able to contact me tomorrow because I''ll be on the road."
be over: be finished; end.
"I can''t see you until around 4 o''clock. My meetings won''t be over until then."
be up and running: (for a technological process) be operational; be ready to use .
"Dave''s ESL Cafe on the Web has been up and running since December 1995."
be used to (+Ving/noun): be accustomed to; not uncomfortable with.
"It won''t be hard to get up at 5:00 AM. I''m used to getting up early."
beat: exhausted: very tired (adj.).
"This has been a long day. I''m beat!"
beat around the bush: evade an issue; avoid giving a direct answer.
"Quit beating around the bush! If you don''t want to go with me, just tell me!"
beat one''s brains out: try very hard to understand or do something.
"Can you help me with this problem? I''ve been beating my brains out with it,
but I just can''t solve it."
Beats me: I have no idea.
A: "What time''s the party?"
B: "Beats me!"
before long: soon.
A: "I''m really tired of working."
B: "Just be patient. The weekend will be here before long."
bent out of shape: needlessly worried about something.
"I know you''re worried about your job interview, but don''t get bent out of shape.
You''ll do just fine."
bite off more than one can chew: take responsibility for more than one can manage.
"I''m really behind with my project. Can you help me? I''m afraid I
bit off more than I could chew!"
blabbermouth: a very talkative person--especially one who says things that should be kept secret.
"Don''t say anything to Bob unless you want the whole office to know.
Bob''s quite a blabbermouth."
blow one''s top: become extremely angry.
A: "Was your father upset when you came home at 3 AM?"
B: "He was more than upset. He blew his top!"
boom box: portable cassette/CD player.
"Don''t forget to bring your boom box to the picnic!"
the bottom line: the most essential information.
"The discussion lasted many hours. The bottom line was that
the XYZ Company isn''t for sale."
Break a leg!: Good luck!
"I understand you have a job interview tomorrow. Break a leg!"
break someone''s heart: make someone feel very disappointed/discouraged/sad.
"Joe broke his mother''s heart when he dropped out of school."
broke: without money.
A: "Can you lend me 10 dollars?"
B: "I''m afraid not. I''m broke."
buck(s): dollar(s).
"The cheapest tickets for the concert cost 25 bucks. Do you still want to go?"
bug: annoy; bother.
"I''m trying to concentrate! Don''t bug me!"
bull-headed: stubborn; inflexible.
"Don''t be so bull-headed. Why can''t you admit that others'' opinions are just as good as yours?"
a bundle: a lot of money.
A: "Your new car is really nice."
B: "It should be. It cost me a bundle!"
burn the midnight oil: study/work all night or until very, very late at night.
"I''m not ready for the test tomorrow. I guess I''ll have to
burn the the midnight oil."
bushed: very tired; exhausted.
"I''m going to lie down for a while. I''m really bushed."
by oneself: alone and without help.
"I can''t do this by myself. Can you help me?"
by the skin of one''s teeth: barely succeed in doing something.
"I''ll have to start earlier the next time. This time I only finished by the skin of my teeth."

A Woman''s Fairy Tale
A Fairytale For The Assertive Woman Of The 2000''s
Once upon a time,
in a land far away,
A beautiful, independent,
self assured princess,
happened upon a frog as she sat
contemplating ecological issues
on the shores of an unpolluted pond
in a verdant meadow near her castle.
The frog hopped into the Princess'' lap
and said:
" Elegant Lady,
I was once a handsome Prince,
until an evil witch cast a spell upon me.
One kiss from you, however,
and I will turn back
into the dapper, young Prince that I am
and then, my sweet, we can marry
and setup housekeeping in yon castle with my Mother,
where you can prepare my meals,
clean my clothes, bear my children,
and forever feel grateful and happy doing so."
That night,
on a repast of lightly sauteed frogs legs
seasoned in a white wine and onion cream sauce,
she chuckled to herself and thought:
"I don''t think so!"

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Modern and Material Princess, she is !!!

Idioms
call it a day: stop work for the day.
"It''s late and you''ve accomplished a lot. Why don''t you call it a day?"
can''t make heads or tails of something: can''t understand something at all;
find something confusing and illogical.
"I can''t make heads or tails of your e-mail. Were you having problems
with your computer?"
catch one''s eye: attract one''s attention/interest.
"This brochure about Tahiti caught my eye when I was at the travel agency."
catch some Zs: sleep for a while; take a nap.
"You look tired, Dave. Why don''t you catch some Zs?"
change one''s mind: decide to do something different from what had been decided earlier.
A: "Why are you working this week? I thought you were going to be on vacation."
B: "I changed my mind. I''m taking my vacation next month."
chicken (adjective or noun): cowardly.
"Fred will never ask Lucy for a date. He''s chicken / a chicken.
chow: food.
"How''s the chow in the university cafeteria?"
chow down: eat.
"It''s almost 6:00. Are you ready to chow down?"
a cinch: something that''s very easy to do.
A: How was the test?
B: It was a cinch. I finished it quickly and I know that all my answers were correct."
cool (also kewl): neat, special, wonderful.
"The ESL Cafe on the Web is really cool!"
Cool it!: calm down.
"There''s no need to be so upset. Just cool it!"
cost (someone) an arm and a leg: cost a lot; be very expensive.
A: "Your new car is really nice."
B: "It should be. It cost (me) an arm and a leg!"
couch potato: someone who spends too much time watching TV.
"You''re a real couch potato, Jay. You need to get more exercise!"
cram: try to learn as much as possible in a very short time.
"Sidney did well on the test because he crammed for it. However, he probably won''t remember any of the information a couple of days from now."
crash course: short course designed to give a lot of knowledge/information in a very short time.
"Tom''s company is sending him to a business meeting in Istanbul.
Should he take a crash course in Turkish?"
Cut it out!: stop doing something (that''s annoying).
"You kids are making too much noise. Cut it out!"

Idioms
Don''t count your chickens until (before) they hatch (they''ve hatched): Don''t assume
that something will happen until it has happened.
A: I''m sure that I''m going to win a lot of money in Las Vegas."
B: "Don''t count your chickens until they hatch!"
dicey: uncertain; taking too much of a chance.
A: A friend of mine says I can make a lot of moneyif I buy stock
in the XYZ company. Should I do it?
B: I wouldn''t if I were you. The chances for success are too dicey."
***ch class: skip class/play hookey.
"You shouldn''t have ***ched class yesterday. We had an unannounced test."
do a bang-up job: do a very good job; do very well at something.
"Have you seen Frank''s home page? He did a bang-up job with it."
down in the dumps: depressed; "blue."
A: "Is something wrong?"
B: "Not really, but I feel kind of down in the dumps."
drop someone a line: write to someone.
"I haven''t written to my parents for a long time. I''d better drop them a line
today or tomorrow."
drag one''s feet: delay; take longer than necessary to do something.
"Joe should have finished his project a week ago. Why is he dragging his feet?"

Previously, I posted three riddles for everybody to participate, but I guess only King and Spiderman were interested in it. Sorry for not posting the answers earlier, so I''m posting them for anyone who is curious about them, and I''ll add three more riddles to the list for everybody to participate. Thanks all.
The Answers:
1) What Am I?
I have a tail, and I have a head, but i have no body. I am NOT a snake. What am I?
- As King already got this one right, so the answer is a coin/quarter.
2) I''m all used up
When I''m used, I''m useless, once offered, soon rejected. In desperation oft expressed, the intended not protected. What am I?
- A poor alibi or excuse.
3) Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet are found dead on the floor in a bedroom. When they were discovered, there were pieces of glass and some water on the floor. The only furniture in the room is a shelf and a bed. The house in is a remote location, away from everything except for the nearby railway track. What caused the death of Romeo and Juliet?
- Romeo and Juliet are fish. The rumble of the train knocked the tank off the shelf.
Here''s the new ones:
1) David was out for a walk when it started to rain. He did not have an umbrella and he wasn''t wearing a hat. His clothes were soaked, yet not a single hair on his head got wet. How could this happen?
2) From house to house I go, sometimes narrow, sometimes wide. And whether there''s rain or snow I always stay outside. What am I?
3) Little Nanny Etticoat, in a white petticoat, and a red nose; the longer she stands, the shorter she grows. What is she?
Được TrnHo sửa chữa / chuyển vào 03:48 ngày 10/10/2006

Idioms
an eager beaver: a person who is always willing to volunteer or do extra work.
"Jan is certainly an eager beaver. Any time there''s work to be done,
she''s the first to say she''ll help."
Easy does it!: Be very careful! / Don''t do anything too fast or too hard!
A: "I''m going to move the table just a little further from the window."
B: "Easy does it! If you move too fast, you might knock over the plant!"
an egghead: a very intelligent person.
"Jake didn''t make very good grades in school, but his sister was a real egghead."
elbow grease: hard work; effort.
"Yes, the car is pretty dirty, but it''ll look nice again with a little elbow grease."
every other _____ : alternately; omitting the second one in each group of two.
"In your essays, please write on every other line. That will make the
essays much easier to read."

[hl]1) David was out for a walk when it started to rain. He did not have an umbrella and he wasn''''t wearing a hat. His clothes were soaked, yet not a single hair on his head got wet. How could this happen? (HE IS BALD?)
[hl]2) From house to house I go, sometimes narrow, sometimes wide. And whether there''''s rain or snow I always stay outside. What am I? (SIDEWALKS???)
[hl]3) Little Nanny Etticoat, in a white petticoat, and a red nose; the longer she stands, the shorter she grows. What is she? (STILL WORKING ON THIS ONE!)