I have referred to the dictionary and found the following meanings. Tit -a small bird that searches acrobatically for insects among foliage and branches. Tat – Low quality Tit for Tat means The infliction of an Injury or Insult in return for one that one has suffered. In Indian Languages we have a similar Idiom … Read more
Literally meaning dried fish woman, the popular slang 干物女 is used to call a woman in her twenties or older who, as nicely summarized in Wikipedia, has many of the following traits: メールの返事が極端に遅い、短い (Her text replies are very slow and short.) 簡単な食事なら台所で立って食べる (If it is something simple, she will eat it standing in her kitchen.) … Read more
You ain’t got to go home but you got to get [the expletive] out of here. Variations of the above phrase are very popular and a common cultural reference — seen in many movies, TV shows and music lyrics. What is the origin of that phrase? Who was the first to use it and under … Read more
Is the following correct usage? “They didn’t want me to ruin the family name. “ What are some other idiomatic expressions or phrases to say something similar? I am aware of “give a bad name” and “one’s name is mud”. What would be the correct usage of idiom ” one’s name is mud” in this … Read more
Lets say someone attempting to calumny, by fabricating a a written document. Can I call this event as “Calumny attempt”? Answer Yes, you can, and it is grammatical and understandable. It is probably not idiomatic. In English, two nouns are often used together this way, with the first “modifying” the second. Examples include umbrella stand, … Read more
I originally heard this in an old episode of the Simpsons, where Apu refers to Marge as “Mrs. Homer Simpson”. I’ve also noticed something similar in the movie “The Wedding Singer” where the titular character refers to a newly-wed couple as “Mr. and Mrs. Harold Fonda”, and a few other times on TV shows at … Read more
In this article about a news anchor’s nearly dying of covid, he described the experience as very scare with this phrase: Ponderosa suddenly out of the prime rib in the middle of the buffet line scary. I am probably missing some cultural references here, because I don’t understand this sentence at all. Answer Ponderosa is … Read more
The joke is: why did the hipster burn his mouth? Because he drank his coffee / ate his pizza / etc. before it was cool. Why is it funny? Does the hipster have special meaning or background? Answer Hip and hep are adjectives from American slang of the early 20th century, meaning in the know. … Read more
Fences make good neighbors. Being a recent purchaser of a new plot and home, I have heard this phrase more than a few times when I spoke of getting a fence. To me, there is something antisocial and secretive about putting up a boundary (we still very much wanted to put it up). It seems, … Read more
I’ve recently come across a phrase unknown to me: “cup and Chaucer“. What does it mean? Obviously it is connected with the popularity and influence of Geoffrey Chaucer as the Father of English literature, and perhaps also with his most known work, The Canterbury Tales. EDIT: As noted in the comments, there also a appear … Read more
