IdiomAntix

Apr. 8th, 2005 09:09 am Don't be shy, my little chickadee!

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Zenmoon here. Well, I'm still awake and typing - it's that masala chai - delicious but deadly at 4 a.m.
So I'm back to give you another interesting expression - known as a proverb.*

"Don't count your chickens before they are hatched!"

This proverb's use in English began in the second half of the sixteenth century, but its origins are in Aesop's Fables,
written in the sixth century B.C. Try to guess the meaning from this story:

The Milkmaid and Her Pail is a fable about a young girl on her way home, carrying her pail of milk on top of her head.
She was daydreaming about what she would do with the milk - about making cream and butter to sell. Then, she could
buy eggs with that money, and the eggs would hatch into chickens. They would lay more eggs, and the process would
continue and she would become wealthy.

Later on, she could sell some of the birds and buy herself a dress. She would look like a million bucks. In this way,
she hoped to draw the attention of the young men in the town. BUT do you think things went according to plan?
Here's what really happened, according to Aesop:

The Milkmaid and Her Pail

PATTY the Milkmaid was going to market carrying her milk in a pail on her head. As she went along she began to calculate what she would do with the money that she would get for the milk.

“I’ll buy some chickens from Farmer Brown,” said she, “and they will lay eggs each morning, which I will sell to the minister's wife.

With the money that I get from the sale of these eggs I’ll buy myself a pretty new dress and a chic hat; and when I go to market, won’t all the young men come up and speak to me!

Polly Shaw will be so jealous; but I don’t care. I'll just look at her and toss my head like this!.”

As she spoke she tossed her head back, the pail fell off it, and all the milk was spilled.
So she had to go home and tell her mother what had happened. “Ah, my child,” said the mother,

“DO NOT COUNT YOUR CHICKENS BEFORE THEY ARE HATCHED!”

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looked like a million bucks - look very elegant and beautiful

*proverb (according to www.dictionary.com ) It's a short saying which expresses some important fact of experience that
      many people accept as true.
Sources: www.bartleby.com,   www.pride-unlimited.com/probono/idioms1.html

Current Mood: sleepy

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Apr. 8th, 2005 05:06 am Are American Idioms a piece of cake?

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"English is a funny language; that explains why we park our car on the driveway and drive our car on the parkway." ~Author Unknown

Greetings and welcome to this 'baby blog' on American idioms! Just call me zenmoon*, k?

I began teaching English to international students in 1963 and just can't seem to stop. Lucky thing, too, that I found this website, because now it's easy to help more students online than off.

I've noticed that American idioms are no piece of cake for my students. So I've started this blog where you can post your questions about idioms, proverbs or sayings you don't understand.

Sorry, I can't speak for British idioms - or idioms from Australia, South Africa or India. Those are places I hope to travel to some day. (more about that later.)

Well, it's about 5:30 in the morning, and I'm really beat, so I think I'll call it a day.

See you again, soon. Please drop by anytime. Feel free to post your idiom questions and I'll try my best to answer them for you.

Good night sweet prince, wherever you are.
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piece of cake - very easy
really beat - very tired
call it a day - to finish or complete something
drop by - come to visit

*zenmoon - Some students may know my real name, (you know who you are! ;-)
But please don't use it here on the blog. Thanks a million!

Current Mood: bouncy

IdiomAntix

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