Wednesday, January 11, 2023

Words and more words ~ idioms

One day, I observed an interaction between two people in our Café and thought, "She needs to sit on her hands and count to ten slowly before reacting to what he said."  When I got home, I googled to see what I'd find.  
  • sit on one's hands = to do nothing about a problem or a situation that needs dealing with.  Example:  "Every day the crisis worsens, and yet the government seems content to sit on its hands."
Another day, I woke from a dream of Clawdia slipping out of my arms and falling into the toilet.  I was about to laugh at the "wet cat" when she kept going ... and going ... and was gone.  I was grabbing for her, but she was just ... GONE.  As I got out of bed, I pondered the meaning of that dream.  Was her life about to go "down the drain" (a slightly different idiom)?  Was I failing her in some way?  I have no idea what (if anything) such a dream means.  Here's what I found online about those two idioms:
  • down the toilet = If something is or goes down the toilet, it is wasted or spoiled.  Example:  "After the drug scandal, his career went down the toilet."
  • down the drain = If work or money goes down the drain, it is wasted.  Example:  "If the factory closes, that will be a million dollars' worth of investment down the drain."  
(These definitions are from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press.)

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