Talking Dictionary

A listener from Brazil, Elenir Scardueli, sent us a list of popular expressions about food.  So today we will talk about expressions that use vegetables and fruits.

For example, a cucumber is a long, green vegetable that people often eat in salads.  You might say a person is as cool as a cucumber if he never seems to worry about anything and stays calm in a stressful situation.  If you put a cucumber in a solution of vinegar and spices for a long time, it becomes a pickle.  But if you are in a pickle, you are in trouble or a difficult situation.

If two people are very similar, you might say they are like two peas in a pod.

There are several expressions about beans.  If someone is very energetic, you might say she is full of beans. If you say something does not amount to a hill of beans, you mean it is of little importance.  I might say you don’t know beans about a subject if you do not know anything at all about it.  But if you spill the beans, you tell something that was supposed to be a secret.

Potatoes are a popular food in many areas.  But something is considered small potatoes if it is not important.  You probably would not want to hold a hot potato in your bare hands.  This also means a problem or issue that no one wants to deal with.  Someone might call you a couch potato if you sit and watch television all day and get little or no physical exercise.

Like potatoes, turnips are root vegetables that grow in the ground.  Here is an old saying: you cannot squeeze blood out of a turnip.  That means you cannot get something from a person that he or she is not willing or able to give.

Farmers have to separate the valuable parts of their crops from the waste.  So separating the wheat from the chaff means keeping what is valuable and rejecting what is worthless.

Students often have to take a difficult test to gain entrance to a special school.  So you could say the ones who are chosen are the best ones, or the cream of the crop.

There is an old saying that forbidden fruit tastes the sweetest. That means some people get pleasure from doing something that they are not supposed to do.

Bananas are a popular fruit to eat.  But if you go bananas, you are wild with excitement or worry.

Finally, let us talk about lemons.  Lemons have a sour taste if you eat them plain.  But lemons make a nice drink when you mix their juice with sugar and water.  So here is an expression about lemons that we like: If life gives you lemons, make lemonade. This means you should always try to make the best of a bad situation.

Words and Their Stories in VOA Special English

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Expressions about water are almost as common as water itself. But many of the expressions using water have unpleasant meanings.

The expression ”to be in hot water” is one of them. It is a very old expression. “Hot water” was used five-hundred years ago to mean being in trouble. One story says it got that meaning from the custom of throwing extremely hot water down on enemies attacking a castle.

That no longer happens. But we still get in “hot water.” When we are in “hot water,” we are in trouble. It can be any kind of trouble — serious or not so serious. A person who breaks a law can be in hot water with the police. A young boy can be in hot water with his mother, if he walks in the house with dirty shoes.

Being in “deep water” is almost the same as being in hot water. When you are in deep water, you are in a difficult position. Imagine a person who cannot swim being thrown in water over his head.

You are in deep water when you are facing a problem that you do not have the ability to solve. The problem is too deep. You can be in deep water, for example, if you invest in stocks without knowing anything about the stock market.

“To keep your head above water” is a colorful expression that means staying out of debt. A company seeks to keep its head above water during economic hard times. A man who loses his job tries to keep his head above water until he finds a new job.

“Water over the dam” is another expression about a past event. It is something that is finished. It cannot be changed. The expression comes from the idea that water that has flowed over a dam cannot be brought back again.

When a friend is troubled by a mistake she has made, you might tell her to forget about it. You say it is water over the dam.

Another common expression, “to hold water,” is about the strength or weakness of an idea or opinion that you may be arguing about. It probably comes from a way of testing the condition of a container. If it can hold water, it is strong and has no holes in it.

If your argument can hold water, it is strong and does not have any holes. If it does not hold water, then it is weak and not worth debating.

“Throwing cold water” also is an expression that deals with ideas or proposals. It means to not like an idea. For example, you want to buy a new car because the old one has some problems. But your wife “throws cold water” on the idea because she says a new car costs too much.

Words and Their Stories in VOA Special English

Now Play and Learn Water Idioms