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has-post-thumbnail hentry category-idioms category-the-english-language tag-english-language tag-fruit-expressions tag-idioms"> <a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2025/02/26/when-life-gives-you-lemons-fruit-idioms/" title="When life gives you lemons… (Fruit idioms)"><img width="900" height="600" src="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/When-life-gives-you-lemons_Kate_26.02.2025_537228258-e1737745714928.jpg?fit=900%2C600&ssl=1" class="attachment-lovecraft-post-image size-lovecraft-post-image wp-post-image" alt="sliced lemons around two glasses of lemonade" decoding="async" fetchpriority="high" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/When-life-gives-you-lemons_Kate_26.02.2025_537228258-e1737745714928.jpg?w=2120&ssl=1 2120w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/When-life-gives-you-lemons_Kate_26.02.2025_537228258-e1737745714928.jpg?resize=300%2C200&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/When-life-gives-you-lemons_Kate_26.02.2025_537228258-e1737745714928.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/When-life-gives-you-lemons_Kate_26.02.2025_537228258-e1737745714928.jpg?resize=768%2C512&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/When-life-gives-you-lemons_Kate_26.02.2025_537228258-e1737745714928.jpg?resize=1536%2C1024&ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/When-life-gives-you-lemons_Kate_26.02.2025_537228258-e1737745714928.jpg?resize=2048%2C1366&ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/When-life-gives-you-lemons_Kate_26.02.2025_537228258-e1737745714928.jpg?resize=900%2C600&ssl=1 900w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/When-life-gives-you-lemons_Kate_26.02.2025_537228258-e1737745714928.jpg?resize=1280%2C854&ssl=1 1280w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/When-life-gives-you-lemons_Kate_26.02.2025_537228258-e1737745714928.jpg?w=1920&ssl=1 1920w" sizes="(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px" data-attachment-id="21111" data-permalink="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2025/02/26/when-life-gives-you-lemons-fruit-idioms/mason-jar-glasses-of-homemade-lemonade-on-rustic-wood/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/When-life-gives-you-lemons_Kate_26.02.2025_537228258-e1737745714928.jpg?fit=2120%2C1414&ssl=1" data-orig-size="2120,1414" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"11","credit":"Getty Images\/iStockphoto","camera":"SLT-A77V","caption":"Two mason jar glasses of homemade lemonade on a rustic wooden background","created_timestamp":"1463391440","copyright":"jenifoto","focal_length":"35","iso":"100","shutter_speed":"3.2","title":"Mason jar glasses of homemade lemonade on rustic wood","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="When life gives you lemons (Fruit idioms)" data-image-description="<p>When life gives you lemons… (Fruit idioms), from About Words by Kate Woodford</p> " data-image-caption="<p>jenifoto / iStock / Getty Images Plus</p> " data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/When-life-gives-you-lemons_Kate_26.02.2025_537228258-e1737745714928.jpg?fit=300%2C200&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/When-life-gives-you-lemons_Kate_26.02.2025_537228258-e1737745714928.jpg?fit=640%2C427&ssl=1" /></a> <div class="entry-wrapper"> <header class="entry-header"> <h1 class="entry-title"><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2025/02/26/when-life-gives-you-lemons-fruit-idioms/" rel="bookmark">When life gives you lemons… (Fruit idioms)</a></h1> <div class="entry-meta"> <span class="posted-on">On <a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2025/02/26/when-life-gives-you-lemons-fruit-idioms/" rel="bookmark"><time class="entry-date published" datetime="2025-02-26T12:00:08+00:00">February 26, 2025</time><time class="updated" datetime="2025-01-28T15:19:57+00:00">January 28, 2025</time></a></span><span class="byline"> By <span class="author vcard"><a class="url fn n" href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/author/katewoodford/">Kate Woodford</a></span></span><span class="cat-links">In <a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/category/idioms/" rel="category tag">Idioms</a>, <a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/category/the-english-language/" rel="category tag">the English language</a></span><span class="comments-link"><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2025/02/26/when-life-gives-you-lemons-fruit-idioms/#respond">Leave a comment</a></span> </div> </header> <div class="entry-content"> <p><em>Listen to the author reading this blog post.</em></p>  <audio class="wp-audio-shortcode" id="audio-21066-1" preload="none" style="width: 100%;" controls="controls"><source type="audio/mpeg" src="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/When-life-gives-you-lemons_Kate_26.02.2025.mp3?_=1" /><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/When-life-gives-you-lemons_Kate_26.02.2025.mp3">https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/When-life-gives-you-lemons_Kate_26.02.2025.mp3</a></audio> <p> </p> <figure id="attachment_21111" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-21111" style="width: 300px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/When-life-gives-you-lemons_Kate_26.02.2025_537228258-e1737745714928.jpg?ssl=1"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" data-attachment-id="21111" data-permalink="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2025/02/26/when-life-gives-you-lemons-fruit-idioms/mason-jar-glasses-of-homemade-lemonade-on-rustic-wood/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/When-life-gives-you-lemons_Kate_26.02.2025_537228258-e1737745714928.jpg?fit=2120%2C1414&ssl=1" data-orig-size="2120,1414" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"11","credit":"Getty Images\/iStockphoto","camera":"SLT-A77V","caption":"Two mason jar glasses of homemade lemonade on a rustic wooden background","created_timestamp":"1463391440","copyright":"jenifoto","focal_length":"35","iso":"100","shutter_speed":"3.2","title":"Mason jar glasses of homemade lemonade on rustic wood","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="When life gives you lemons (Fruit idioms)" data-image-description="<p>When life gives you lemons… (Fruit idioms), from About Words by Kate Woodford</p> " data-image-caption="<p>jenifoto / iStock / Getty Images Plus</p> " data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/When-life-gives-you-lemons_Kate_26.02.2025_537228258-e1737745714928.jpg?fit=300%2C200&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/When-life-gives-you-lemons_Kate_26.02.2025_537228258-e1737745714928.jpg?fit=640%2C427&ssl=1" class="size-medium wp-image-21111" src="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/When-life-gives-you-lemons_Kate_26.02.2025_537228258-e1737745714928-300x200.jpg?resize=300%2C200&ssl=1" alt="sliced lemons around two glasses of lemonade" width="300" height="200" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/When-life-gives-you-lemons_Kate_26.02.2025_537228258-e1737745714928.jpg?resize=300%2C200&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/When-life-gives-you-lemons_Kate_26.02.2025_537228258-e1737745714928.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/When-life-gives-you-lemons_Kate_26.02.2025_537228258-e1737745714928.jpg?resize=768%2C512&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/When-life-gives-you-lemons_Kate_26.02.2025_537228258-e1737745714928.jpg?resize=1536%2C1024&ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/When-life-gives-you-lemons_Kate_26.02.2025_537228258-e1737745714928.jpg?resize=2048%2C1366&ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/When-life-gives-you-lemons_Kate_26.02.2025_537228258-e1737745714928.jpg?resize=900%2C600&ssl=1 900w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/When-life-gives-you-lemons_Kate_26.02.2025_537228258-e1737745714928.jpg?resize=1280%2C854&ssl=1 1280w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/When-life-gives-you-lemons_Kate_26.02.2025_537228258-e1737745714928.jpg?w=1920&ssl=1 1920w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-21111" class="wp-caption-text">jenifoto / iStock / Getty Images Plus</figcaption></figure> <p>by <strong><a href="https://twitter.com/katewoodford2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kate Woodford</a></strong></p> <p>You may have heard the cheery saying <strong>When life gives you lemons, make lemonade</strong>! It means, when something bad happens to you, take a positive attitude and use it to your advantage. (After all, lemons on their own are sour and unpleasant, but add sugar and water and you have a delicious drink!) This idiom (heard on a podcast this morning) reminded me of all the nice fruit idioms we have in the English language. I thought I’d share the best of them with you.</p> <p> <a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2025/02/26/when-life-gives-you-lemons-fruit-idioms/#more-21066" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">“When life gives you lemons… (Fruit idioms)”</span> <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></p> <div class="sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled"><div class="robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social sd-social-icon sd-sharing"><h3 class="sd-title">Share this:</h3><div class="sd-content"><ul><li class="share-facebook"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="sharing-facebook-21066" class="share-facebook sd-button share-icon no-text" href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2025/02/26/when-life-gives-you-lemons-fruit-idioms/?share=facebook" target="_blank" title="Click to share on Facebook" ><span></span><span class="sharing-screen-reader-text">Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)</span></a></li><li class="share-twitter"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="sharing-twitter-21066" class="share-twitter sd-button share-icon no-text" href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2025/02/26/when-life-gives-you-lemons-fruit-idioms/?share=twitter" target="_blank" title="Click to share on Twitter" ><span></span><span class="sharing-screen-reader-text">Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)</span></a></li><li class="share-reddit"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="" class="share-reddit sd-button share-icon no-text" href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2025/02/26/when-life-gives-you-lemons-fruit-idioms/?share=reddit" target="_blank" title="Click to share on Reddit" ><span></span><span class="sharing-screen-reader-text">Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)</span></a></li><li class="share-email"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="" class="share-email sd-button share-icon no-text" href="mailto:?subject=%5BShared%20Post%5D%20When%20life%20gives%20you%20lemons%E2%80%A6%20%28Fruit%20idioms%29&body=https%3A%2F%2Fdictionaryblog.cambridge.org%2F2025%2F02%2F26%2Fwhen-life-gives-you-lemons-fruit-idioms%2F&share=email" target="_blank" title="Click to email a link to a friend" data-email-share-error-title="Do you have email set up?" data-email-share-error-text="If you're having problems sharing via email, you might not have email set up for your browser. 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data-title='Like or Reblog'><h3 class="sd-title">Like this:</h3><div class='likes-widget-placeholder post-likes-widget-placeholder' style='height: 55px;'><span class='button'><span>Like</span></span> <span class="loading">Loading...</span></div><span class='sd-text-color'></span><a class='sd-link-color'></a></div> </div> </div> </article> <article id="post-20563" class="post-20563 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-idioms category-the-english-language category-vocabulary tag-collocations tag-english-language tag-idioms tag-improve-your-english tag-phrases tag-the-future"> <a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/12/18/its-written-in-the-stars-talking-about-what-might-happen-in-the-future/" title="It’s written in the stars: talking about things that might happen in the future"><img width="900" height="696" src="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Written-in-the-stars_2171679645-e1731616064538.jpg?fit=900%2C696&ssl=1" class="attachment-lovecraft-post-image size-lovecraft-post-image wp-post-image" alt="a couple seen from behind as they hold hands and look at the stars in the night sky" decoding="async" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Written-in-the-stars_2171679645-e1731616064538.jpg?w=1828&ssl=1 1828w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Written-in-the-stars_2171679645-e1731616064538.jpg?resize=300%2C232&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Written-in-the-stars_2171679645-e1731616064538.jpg?resize=1024%2C792&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Written-in-the-stars_2171679645-e1731616064538.jpg?resize=768%2C594&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Written-in-the-stars_2171679645-e1731616064538.jpg?resize=1536%2C1188&ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Written-in-the-stars_2171679645-e1731616064538.jpg?resize=900%2C696&ssl=1 900w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Written-in-the-stars_2171679645-e1731616064538.jpg?resize=1280%2C990&ssl=1 1280w" sizes="(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px" data-attachment-id="20759" data-permalink="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/12/18/its-written-in-the-stars-talking-about-what-might-happen-in-the-future/silhouette-couple-standing-against-star-field-in-sky-at-night/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Written-in-the-stars_2171679645-e1731616064538.jpg?fit=1828%2C1414&ssl=1" data-orig-size="1828,1414" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"4","credit":"Getty Images","camera":"NIKON D750","caption":"Photo taken in , Thailand","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"24","iso":"4000","shutter_speed":"30","title":"Silhouette Couple Standing Against Star Field In Sky At Night","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="It’s written in the stars: talking about what might happen in the future" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="<p>EyeEm Mobile GmbH / iStock / Getty Images Plus</p> " data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Written-in-the-stars_2171679645-e1731616064538.jpg?fit=300%2C232&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Written-in-the-stars_2171679645-e1731616064538.jpg?fit=640%2C495&ssl=1" /></a> <div class="entry-wrapper"> <header class="entry-header"> <h1 class="entry-title"><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/12/18/its-written-in-the-stars-talking-about-what-might-happen-in-the-future/" rel="bookmark">It’s written in the stars: talking about things that might happen in the future</a></h1> <div class="entry-meta"> <span class="posted-on">On <a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/12/18/its-written-in-the-stars-talking-about-what-might-happen-in-the-future/" rel="bookmark"><time class="entry-date published" datetime="2024-12-18T12:00:01+00:00">December 18, 2024</time><time class="updated" datetime="2024-12-05T16:46:28+00:00">December 5, 2024</time></a></span><span class="byline"> By <span class="author vcard"><a class="url fn n" href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/author/lizwalter2/">Liz Walter</a></span></span><span class="cat-links">In <a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/category/idioms/" rel="category tag">Idioms</a>, <a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/category/the-english-language/" rel="category tag">the English language</a>, <a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/category/vocabulary/" rel="category tag">Vocabulary</a></span><span class="comments-link"><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/12/18/its-written-in-the-stars-talking-about-what-might-happen-in-the-future/#comments">4 Comments</a></span> </div> </header> <div class="entry-content"> <p><em>Listen to the author reading this blog post.</em></p> <audio class="wp-audio-shortcode" id="audio-20563-2" preload="none" style="width: 100%;" controls="controls"><source type="audio/mpeg" src="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Its-written-in-the-stars_Liz_18.12.24.mp3?_=2" /><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Its-written-in-the-stars_Liz_18.12.24.mp3">https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Its-written-in-the-stars_Liz_18.12.24.mp3</a></audio> <p> </p> <figure id="attachment_20759" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-20759" style="width: 300px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Written-in-the-stars_2171679645-e1731616064538.jpg?ssl=1"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-attachment-id="20759" data-permalink="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/12/18/its-written-in-the-stars-talking-about-what-might-happen-in-the-future/silhouette-couple-standing-against-star-field-in-sky-at-night/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Written-in-the-stars_2171679645-e1731616064538.jpg?fit=1828%2C1414&ssl=1" data-orig-size="1828,1414" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"4","credit":"Getty Images","camera":"NIKON D750","caption":"Photo taken in , Thailand","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"24","iso":"4000","shutter_speed":"30","title":"Silhouette Couple Standing Against Star Field In Sky At Night","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="It’s written in the stars: talking about what might happen in the future" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="<p>EyeEm Mobile GmbH / iStock / Getty Images Plus</p> " data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Written-in-the-stars_2171679645-e1731616064538.jpg?fit=300%2C232&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Written-in-the-stars_2171679645-e1731616064538.jpg?fit=640%2C495&ssl=1" class="size-medium wp-image-20759" src="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Written-in-the-stars_2171679645-e1731616064538-300x232.jpg?resize=300%2C232&ssl=1" alt="a couple seen from behind as they hold hands and look at the stars in the night sky" width="300" height="232" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Written-in-the-stars_2171679645-e1731616064538.jpg?resize=300%2C232&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Written-in-the-stars_2171679645-e1731616064538.jpg?resize=1024%2C792&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Written-in-the-stars_2171679645-e1731616064538.jpg?resize=768%2C594&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Written-in-the-stars_2171679645-e1731616064538.jpg?resize=1536%2C1188&ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Written-in-the-stars_2171679645-e1731616064538.jpg?resize=900%2C696&ssl=1 900w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Written-in-the-stars_2171679645-e1731616064538.jpg?resize=1280%2C990&ssl=1 1280w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Written-in-the-stars_2171679645-e1731616064538.jpg?w=1828&ssl=1 1828w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-20759" class="wp-caption-text">EyeEm Mobile GmbH / iStock / Getty Images Plus</figcaption></figure> <p> </p> <p>by <strong>Liz Walter</strong></p> <p>Today’s post looks at phrases for talking about what the future holds. In particular, it will cover vocabulary relating to how much – if at all – we can control what happens to us.</p> <p> <a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/12/18/its-written-in-the-stars-talking-about-what-might-happen-in-the-future/#more-20563" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">“It’s written in the stars: talking about things that might happen in the future”</span> <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></p> <div class="sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled"><div class="robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social sd-social-icon sd-sharing"><h3 class="sd-title">Share this:</h3><div class="sd-content"><ul><li class="share-facebook"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="sharing-facebook-20563" class="share-facebook sd-button share-icon no-text" href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/12/18/its-written-in-the-stars-talking-about-what-might-happen-in-the-future/?share=facebook" target="_blank" title="Click to share on Facebook" ><span></span><span class="sharing-screen-reader-text">Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)</span></a></li><li class="share-twitter"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="sharing-twitter-20563" class="share-twitter sd-button share-icon no-text" href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/12/18/its-written-in-the-stars-talking-about-what-might-happen-in-the-future/?share=twitter" target="_blank" title="Click to share on Twitter" ><span></span><span class="sharing-screen-reader-text">Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)</span></a></li><li class="share-reddit"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="" class="share-reddit sd-button share-icon no-text" href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/12/18/its-written-in-the-stars-talking-about-what-might-happen-in-the-future/?share=reddit" target="_blank" title="Click to share on Reddit" ><span></span><span class="sharing-screen-reader-text">Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)</span></a></li><li class="share-email"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="" class="share-email sd-button share-icon no-text" href="mailto:?subject=%5BShared%20Post%5D%20It%E2%80%99s%20written%20in%20the%20stars%3A%20talking%20about%20things%20that%20might%20happen%20in%20the%20future&body=https%3A%2F%2Fdictionaryblog.cambridge.org%2F2024%2F12%2F18%2Fits-written-in-the-stars-talking-about-what-might-happen-in-the-future%2F&share=email" target="_blank" title="Click to email a link to a friend" data-email-share-error-title="Do you have email set up?" data-email-share-error-text="If you're having problems sharing via email, you might not have email set up for your browser. 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data-src='https://widgets.wp.com/likes/?ver=14.4-a.7#blog_id=18458032&post_id=20563&origin=dictionaryblog.cambridge.org&obj_id=18458032-20563-67bf174660640' data-name='like-post-frame-18458032-20563-67bf174660640' data-title='Like or Reblog'><h3 class="sd-title">Like this:</h3><div class='likes-widget-placeholder post-likes-widget-placeholder' style='height: 55px;'><span class='button'><span>Like</span></span> <span class="loading">Loading...</span></div><span class='sd-text-color'></span><a class='sd-link-color'></a></div> </div> </div> </article> <article id="post-20646" class="post-20646 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-idioms category-synonyms category-the-english-language category-vocabulary tag-embarrassment tag-english-language tag-idioms tag-improve-your-english"> <a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/12/11/cringeworthy-and-toe-curling-the-language-of-embarrassment/" title="Cringeworthy and toe-curling (The language of embarrassment)"><img width="900" height="665" src="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Cringeworthy_527526097-e1730928393435.jpg?fit=900%2C665&ssl=1" class="attachment-lovecraft-post-image size-lovecraft-post-image wp-post-image" alt="Two office workers in the office kitchen reacting with shock and embarrassment at something on one of their phones" decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Cringeworthy_527526097-e1730928393435.jpg?w=1915&ssl=1 1915w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Cringeworthy_527526097-e1730928393435.jpg?resize=300%2C222&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Cringeworthy_527526097-e1730928393435.jpg?resize=1024%2C756&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Cringeworthy_527526097-e1730928393435.jpg?resize=768%2C567&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Cringeworthy_527526097-e1730928393435.jpg?resize=1536%2C1134&ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Cringeworthy_527526097-e1730928393435.jpg?resize=900%2C665&ssl=1 900w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Cringeworthy_527526097-e1730928393435.jpg?resize=1280%2C945&ssl=1 1280w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px" data-attachment-id="20688" data-permalink="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/12/11/cringeworthy-and-toe-curling-the-language-of-embarrassment/supervisor-shocked-at-messages-on-co-workers-smart-phone/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Cringeworthy_527526097-e1730928393435.jpg?fit=1915%2C1414&ssl=1" data-orig-size="1915,1414" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"Getty Images\/Design Pics RF","camera":"","caption":"Edmonton, Alberta, Canada","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"Supervisor shocked at messages on co-worker's smart phone","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="Cringeworthy and toe-curling (The language of embarrassment)" data-image-description="<p>Cringeworthy and toe-curling (The language of embarrassment), from About Words, by Kate Woodford</p> " data-image-caption="<p>LJM Photo / Design Pics</p> " data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Cringeworthy_527526097-e1730928393435.jpg?fit=300%2C222&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Cringeworthy_527526097-e1730928393435.jpg?fit=640%2C473&ssl=1" /></a> <div class="entry-wrapper"> <header class="entry-header"> <h1 class="entry-title"><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/12/11/cringeworthy-and-toe-curling-the-language-of-embarrassment/" rel="bookmark">Cringeworthy and toe-curling (The language of embarrassment)</a></h1> <div class="entry-meta"> <span class="posted-on">On <a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/12/11/cringeworthy-and-toe-curling-the-language-of-embarrassment/" rel="bookmark"><time class="entry-date published" datetime="2024-12-11T12:00:13+00:00">December 11, 2024</time><time class="updated" datetime="2024-11-08T17:17:04+00:00">November 8, 2024</time></a></span><span class="byline"> By <span class="author vcard"><a class="url fn n" href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/author/katewoodford/">Kate Woodford</a></span></span><span class="cat-links">In <a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/category/idioms/" rel="category tag">Idioms</a>, <a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/category/synonyms/" rel="category tag">Synonyms</a>, <a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/category/the-english-language/" rel="category tag">the English language</a>, <a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/category/vocabulary/" rel="category tag">Vocabulary</a></span><span class="comments-link"><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/12/11/cringeworthy-and-toe-curling-the-language-of-embarrassment/#comments">13 Comments</a></span> </div> </header> <div class="entry-content"> <p><em>Listen to the author reading this blog post.</em></p> <audio class="wp-audio-shortcode" id="audio-20646-3" preload="none" style="width: 100%;" controls="controls"><source type="audio/mpeg" src="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Cringeworthy-and-toe-curling_Kate_11.12.24.mp3?_=3" /><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Cringeworthy-and-toe-curling_Kate_11.12.24.mp3">https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Cringeworthy-and-toe-curling_Kate_11.12.24.mp3</a></audio> <p> </p> <figure id="attachment_20688" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-20688" style="width: 300px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Cringeworthy_527526097-e1730928393435.jpg?ssl=1"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-attachment-id="20688" data-permalink="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/12/11/cringeworthy-and-toe-curling-the-language-of-embarrassment/supervisor-shocked-at-messages-on-co-workers-smart-phone/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Cringeworthy_527526097-e1730928393435.jpg?fit=1915%2C1414&ssl=1" data-orig-size="1915,1414" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"Getty Images\/Design Pics RF","camera":"","caption":"Edmonton, Alberta, Canada","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"Supervisor shocked at messages on co-worker's smart phone","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="Cringeworthy and toe-curling (The language of embarrassment)" data-image-description="<p>Cringeworthy and toe-curling (The language of embarrassment), from About Words, by Kate Woodford</p> " data-image-caption="<p>LJM Photo / Design Pics</p> " data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Cringeworthy_527526097-e1730928393435.jpg?fit=300%2C222&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Cringeworthy_527526097-e1730928393435.jpg?fit=640%2C473&ssl=1" class="size-medium wp-image-20688" src="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Cringeworthy_527526097-e1730928393435-300x222.jpg?resize=300%2C222&ssl=1" alt="Two office workers in the office kitchen reacting with shock and embarrassment at something on one of their phones" width="300" height="222" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Cringeworthy_527526097-e1730928393435.jpg?resize=300%2C222&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Cringeworthy_527526097-e1730928393435.jpg?resize=1024%2C756&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Cringeworthy_527526097-e1730928393435.jpg?resize=768%2C567&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Cringeworthy_527526097-e1730928393435.jpg?resize=1536%2C1134&ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Cringeworthy_527526097-e1730928393435.jpg?resize=900%2C665&ssl=1 900w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Cringeworthy_527526097-e1730928393435.jpg?resize=1280%2C945&ssl=1 1280w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Cringeworthy_527526097-e1730928393435.jpg?w=1915&ssl=1 1915w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-20688" class="wp-caption-text">LJM Photo / Design Pics</figcaption></figure> <p>by <strong><a href="https://twitter.com/katewoodford2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kate Woodford</a></strong></p> <p>Today’s post deals with the language around a feeling that we all experience from time to time, embarrassment – that is, the feeling of being ashamed or shy in the company of others.</p> <p> <a 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idioms)"><img width="900" height="520" src="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Safe-pair-of-hands_2163791452-e1728309439260.jpg?fit=900%2C520&ssl=1" class="attachment-lovecraft-post-image size-lovecraft-post-image wp-post-image" alt="A duckling rests in a pair of cupped hands" decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Safe-pair-of-hands_2163791452-e1728309439260.jpg?w=2121&ssl=1 2121w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Safe-pair-of-hands_2163791452-e1728309439260.jpg?resize=300%2C173&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Safe-pair-of-hands_2163791452-e1728309439260.jpg?resize=1024%2C592&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Safe-pair-of-hands_2163791452-e1728309439260.jpg?resize=768%2C444&ssl=1 768w, 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data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Safe-pair-of-hands_2163791452-e1728309439260.jpg?fit=2121%2C1226&ssl=1" data-orig-size="2121,1226" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"Getty Images","camera":"","caption":"Midsection Of Person Holding Duckling","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"Ujvarosi Geza Balint","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"Midsection Of Person Holding Duckling","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="A safe pairs of hands" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="<p>EyeEm Mobile GmbH / iStock / Getty Images Plus</p> " data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Safe-pair-of-hands_2163791452-e1728309439260.jpg?fit=300%2C173&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Safe-pair-of-hands_2163791452-e1728309439260.jpg?fit=640%2C370&ssl=1" /></a> <div class="entry-wrapper"> <header class="entry-header"> <h1 class="entry-title"><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/11/13/a-safe-pair-of-hands-newspaper-idioms/" rel="bookmark">A safe pair of hands (Newspaper idioms)</a></h1> <div class="entry-meta"> <span class="posted-on">On <a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/11/13/a-safe-pair-of-hands-newspaper-idioms/" rel="bookmark"><time class="entry-date published" datetime="2024-11-13T12:00:37+00:00">November 13, 2024</time><time class="updated" datetime="2024-10-10T11:30:54+01:00">October 10, 2024</time></a></span><span class="byline"> By <span class="author vcard"><a class="url fn n" href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/author/katewoodford/">Kate Woodford</a></span></span><span class="cat-links">In <a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/category/idioms/" rel="category tag">Idioms</a>, <a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/category/idioms-and-phrases-in-newspapers/" rel="category tag">Idioms and phrases in newspapers</a>, <a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/category/the-english-language/" rel="category tag">the English language</a></span><span class="comments-link"><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/11/13/a-safe-pair-of-hands-newspaper-idioms/#comments">10 Comments</a></span> </div> </header> <div class="entry-content"> <p><em>Listen to the author reading this blog post.</em></p> <audio class="wp-audio-shortcode" id="audio-20432-4" preload="none" style="width: 100%;" controls="controls"><source type="audio/mpeg" src="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/A-safe-pair-of-hands_Kate_13.11.24.mp3?_=4" /><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/A-safe-pair-of-hands_Kate_13.11.24.mp3">https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/A-safe-pair-of-hands_Kate_13.11.24.mp3</a></audio> <p> </p> <figure id="attachment_20529" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-20529" style="width: 300px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Safe-pair-of-hands_2163791452-e1728309439260.jpg?ssl=1"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-attachment-id="20529" data-permalink="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/11/13/a-safe-pair-of-hands-newspaper-idioms/midsection-of-person-holding-duckling/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Safe-pair-of-hands_2163791452-e1728309439260.jpg?fit=2121%2C1226&ssl=1" data-orig-size="2121,1226" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"Getty Images","camera":"","caption":"Midsection Of Person Holding Duckling","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"Ujvarosi Geza Balint","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"Midsection Of Person Holding Duckling","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="A safe pairs of hands" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="<p>EyeEm Mobile GmbH / iStock / Getty Images Plus</p> " data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Safe-pair-of-hands_2163791452-e1728309439260.jpg?fit=300%2C173&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Safe-pair-of-hands_2163791452-e1728309439260.jpg?fit=640%2C370&ssl=1" class="size-medium wp-image-20529" src="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Safe-pair-of-hands_2163791452-e1728309439260-300x173.jpg?resize=300%2C173&ssl=1" alt="A duckling rests in a pair of cupped hands" width="300" height="173" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Safe-pair-of-hands_2163791452-e1728309439260.jpg?resize=300%2C173&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Safe-pair-of-hands_2163791452-e1728309439260.jpg?resize=1024%2C592&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Safe-pair-of-hands_2163791452-e1728309439260.jpg?resize=768%2C444&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Safe-pair-of-hands_2163791452-e1728309439260.jpg?resize=1536%2C888&ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Safe-pair-of-hands_2163791452-e1728309439260.jpg?resize=2048%2C1184&ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Safe-pair-of-hands_2163791452-e1728309439260.jpg?resize=900%2C520&ssl=1 900w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Safe-pair-of-hands_2163791452-e1728309439260.jpg?resize=1280%2C740&ssl=1 1280w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Safe-pair-of-hands_2163791452-e1728309439260.jpg?w=1920&ssl=1 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-20529" class="wp-caption-text">EyeEm Mobile GmbH / iStock / Getty Images Plus</figcaption></figure> <p>by <a href="https://twitter.com/katewoodford2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kate Woodford</a></p> <p>Today’s post is <a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/category/idioms-and-phrases-in-newspapers/">the latest in my ‘Idioms and phrases in newspapers’ series</a>, which provides you with a regular supply of common, contemporary English idioms and expressions. The phrases in this post are taken from a range of national newspapers published on the same day.</p> <p> <a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/11/13/a-safe-pair-of-hands-newspaper-idioms/#more-20432" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">“A safe pair of hands (Newspaper idioms)”</span> <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></p> <div class="sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled"><div class="robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social sd-social-icon sd-sharing"><h3 class="sd-title">Share this:</h3><div class="sd-content"><ul><li class="share-facebook"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="sharing-facebook-20432" class="share-facebook sd-button share-icon no-text" href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/11/13/a-safe-pair-of-hands-newspaper-idioms/?share=facebook" target="_blank" title="Click to share on Facebook" ><span></span><span class="sharing-screen-reader-text">Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)</span></a></li><li class="share-twitter"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="sharing-twitter-20432" class="share-twitter sd-button share-icon no-text" href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/11/13/a-safe-pair-of-hands-newspaper-idioms/?share=twitter" target="_blank" title="Click to share on Twitter" ><span></span><span class="sharing-screen-reader-text">Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)</span></a></li><li class="share-reddit"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="" class="share-reddit sd-button share-icon no-text" href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/11/13/a-safe-pair-of-hands-newspaper-idioms/?share=reddit" target="_blank" title="Click to share on Reddit" ><span></span><span class="sharing-screen-reader-text">Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)</span></a></li><li class="share-email"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="" class="share-email sd-button share-icon no-text" href="mailto:?subject=%5BShared%20Post%5D%20A%20safe%20pair%20of%20hands%20%28Newspaper%20idioms%29&body=https%3A%2F%2Fdictionaryblog.cambridge.org%2F2024%2F11%2F13%2Fa-safe-pair-of-hands-newspaper-idioms%2F&share=email" target="_blank" title="Click to email a link to a friend" data-email-share-error-title="Do you have email set up?" data-email-share-error-text="If you're having problems sharing via email, you might not have email set up for your browser. 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(Idioms with ‘book’)"><img width="900" height="600" src="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Cooking-or-hitting-books_82193302.jpg?fit=900%2C600&ssl=1" class="attachment-lovecraft-post-image size-lovecraft-post-image wp-post-image" alt="Two sleeping passengers leaning on either shoulder of another passenger who is trying to read a book" decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Cooking-or-hitting-books_82193302.jpg?w=4992&ssl=1 4992w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Cooking-or-hitting-books_82193302.jpg?resize=300%2C200&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Cooking-or-hitting-books_82193302.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Cooking-or-hitting-books_82193302.jpg?resize=768%2C512&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Cooking-or-hitting-books_82193302.jpg?resize=1536%2C1024&ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Cooking-or-hitting-books_82193302.jpg?resize=2048%2C1365&ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Cooking-or-hitting-books_82193302.jpg?resize=900%2C600&ssl=1 900w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Cooking-or-hitting-books_82193302.jpg?resize=1280%2C853&ssl=1 1280w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Cooking-or-hitting-books_82193302.jpg?w=1920&ssl=1 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px" data-attachment-id="20244" data-permalink="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/10/23/cooking-or-hitting-the-books-idioms-with-book/woman-sat-on-plane-two-men-asleep-on-her-shoulders/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Cooking-or-hitting-books_82193302.jpg?fit=4992%2C3328&ssl=1" data-orig-size="4992,3328" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"Getty Images","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1208361526","copyright":"Peter Cade","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"Woman sat on plane two men asleep on her shoulders","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="Woman sat on plane two men asleep on her shoulders" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="<p>Peter Cade / Stone </p> " data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Cooking-or-hitting-books_82193302.jpg?fit=300%2C200&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Cooking-or-hitting-books_82193302.jpg?fit=640%2C427&ssl=1" /></a> <div class="entry-wrapper"> <header class="entry-header"> <h1 class="entry-title"><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/10/23/cooking-or-hitting-the-books-idioms-with-book/" rel="bookmark">Cooking or hitting the books? (Idioms with ‘book’)</a></h1> <div class="entry-meta"> <span class="posted-on">On <a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/10/23/cooking-or-hitting-the-books-idioms-with-book/" rel="bookmark"><time class="entry-date published" datetime="2024-10-23T12:00:16+01:00">October 23, 2024</time><time class="updated" datetime="2024-10-24T10:28:43+01:00">October 24, 2024</time></a></span><span class="byline"> By <span class="author vcard"><a class="url fn n" href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/author/katewoodford/">Kate Woodford</a></span></span><span class="cat-links">In <a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/category/idioms/" rel="category tag">Idioms</a>, <a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/category/the-english-language/" rel="category tag">the English language</a></span><span class="comments-link"><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/10/23/cooking-or-hitting-the-books-idioms-with-book/#comments">16 Comments</a></span> </div> </header> <div class="entry-content"> <p><em>Listen to the author reading this blog post.</em></p> <audio class="wp-audio-shortcode" id="audio-20059-5" preload="none" style="width: 100%;" controls="controls"><source type="audio/mpeg" src="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Cooking-or-hitting-the-books_Kate_23.10.24.mp3?_=5" /><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Cooking-or-hitting-the-books_Kate_23.10.24.mp3">https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Cooking-or-hitting-the-books_Kate_23.10.24.mp3</a></audio> <p> </p> <figure id="attachment_20244" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-20244" style="width: 300px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Cooking-or-hitting-books_82193302.jpg?ssl=1"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-attachment-id="20244" data-permalink="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/10/23/cooking-or-hitting-the-books-idioms-with-book/woman-sat-on-plane-two-men-asleep-on-her-shoulders/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Cooking-or-hitting-books_82193302.jpg?fit=4992%2C3328&ssl=1" data-orig-size="4992,3328" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"Getty Images","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1208361526","copyright":"Peter Cade","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"Woman sat on plane two men asleep on her shoulders","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="Woman sat on plane two men asleep on her shoulders" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="<p>Peter Cade / Stone </p> " data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Cooking-or-hitting-books_82193302.jpg?fit=300%2C200&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Cooking-or-hitting-books_82193302.jpg?fit=640%2C427&ssl=1" class="size-medium wp-image-20244" src="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Cooking-or-hitting-books_82193302.jpg?resize=300%2C200&ssl=1" alt="Two sleeping passengers leaning on either shoulder of another passenger who is trying to read a book" width="300" height="200" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Cooking-or-hitting-books_82193302.jpg?resize=300%2C200&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Cooking-or-hitting-books_82193302.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Cooking-or-hitting-books_82193302.jpg?resize=768%2C512&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Cooking-or-hitting-books_82193302.jpg?resize=1536%2C1024&ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Cooking-or-hitting-books_82193302.jpg?resize=2048%2C1365&ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Cooking-or-hitting-books_82193302.jpg?resize=900%2C600&ssl=1 900w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Cooking-or-hitting-books_82193302.jpg?resize=1280%2C853&ssl=1 1280w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Cooking-or-hitting-books_82193302.jpg?w=1920&ssl=1 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-20244" class="wp-caption-text">Peter Cade / Stone</figcaption></figure> <p>by <strong><a href="https://twitter.com/katewoodford2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kate Woodford</a></strong></p> <p>Books play a hugely significant role in all our lives, so it’s probably no surprise that there are a lot of English idioms that include the word ‘book’. In this post, I’ve selected what I consider to be the most useful and current ones and look at how they are used.</p> <p> <a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/10/23/cooking-or-hitting-the-books-idioms-with-book/#more-20059" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">“Cooking or hitting the books? 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You may need to create a new email yourself." data-email-share-nonce="7614260b7c" data-email-share-track-url="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/10/23/cooking-or-hitting-the-books-idioms-with-book/?share=email"><span></span><span class="sharing-screen-reader-text">Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)</span></a></li><li class="share-print"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="" class="share-print sd-button share-icon no-text" href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/10/23/cooking-or-hitting-the-books-idioms-with-book/" target="_blank" title="Click to print" ><span></span><span class="sharing-screen-reader-text">Click to print (Opens in new window)</span></a></li><li class="share-linkedin"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="sharing-linkedin-20059" class="share-linkedin sd-button share-icon no-text" href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/10/23/cooking-or-hitting-the-books-idioms-with-book/?share=linkedin" target="_blank" title="Click to share on LinkedIn" ><span></span><span class="sharing-screen-reader-text">Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)</span></a></li><li class="share-pinterest"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="sharing-pinterest-20059" class="share-pinterest sd-button share-icon no-text" href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/10/23/cooking-or-hitting-the-books-idioms-with-book/?share=pinterest" target="_blank" title="Click to share on Pinterest" ><span></span><span class="sharing-screen-reader-text">Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)</span></a></li><li class="share-end"></li></ul></div></div></div><div class='sharedaddy sd-block sd-like jetpack-likes-widget-wrapper jetpack-likes-widget-unloaded' id='like-post-wrapper-18458032-20059-67bf1746693d5' data-src='https://widgets.wp.com/likes/?ver=14.4-a.7#blog_id=18458032&post_id=20059&origin=dictionaryblog.cambridge.org&obj_id=18458032-20059-67bf1746693d5' data-name='like-post-frame-18458032-20059-67bf1746693d5' data-title='Like or Reblog'><h3 class="sd-title">Like this:</h3><div class='likes-widget-placeholder post-likes-widget-placeholder' style='height: 55px;'><span class='button'><span>Like</span></span> <span class="loading">Loading...</span></div><span class='sd-text-color'></span><a class='sd-link-color'></a></div> </div> </div> </article> <article id="post-20053" class="post-20053 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-idioms category-the-english-language tag-clear-as-mud tag-english-language tag-idioms tag-vocabulary"> <a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/09/25/its-as-clear-as-mud-difficult-to-understand/" title="It’s as clear as mud! (Words and expressions that mean ‘difficult to understand’)"><img width="900" height="727" src="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/As-clear-as-mud-e1723817611391.jpg?fit=900%2C727&ssl=1" class="attachment-lovecraft-post-image size-lovecraft-post-image wp-post-image" alt="A man looking at a financial statement with a look of confusion" decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/As-clear-as-mud-e1723817611391.jpg?w=6239&ssl=1 6239w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/As-clear-as-mud-e1723817611391.jpg?resize=300%2C242&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/As-clear-as-mud-e1723817611391.jpg?resize=1024%2C827&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/As-clear-as-mud-e1723817611391.jpg?resize=768%2C620&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/As-clear-as-mud-e1723817611391.jpg?resize=1536%2C1240&ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/As-clear-as-mud-e1723817611391.jpg?resize=2048%2C1654&ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/As-clear-as-mud-e1723817611391.jpg?resize=900%2C727&ssl=1 900w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/As-clear-as-mud-e1723817611391.jpg?resize=1280%2C1034&ssl=1 1280w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/As-clear-as-mud-e1723817611391.jpg?w=1920&ssl=1 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px" data-attachment-id="20188" data-permalink="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/09/25/its-as-clear-as-mud-difficult-to-understand/man-checking-personal-finances-at-home/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/As-clear-as-mud-e1723817611391.jpg?fit=6239%2C5038&ssl=1" data-orig-size="6239,5038" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"1.4","credit":"Getty Images","camera":"Canon EOS R5","caption":"Man checking personal finances at home, while sitting at a table.","created_timestamp":"1680119291","copyright":"","focal_length":"50","iso":"800","shutter_speed":"0.005","title":"Man Checking Personal Finances at Home","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="It’s as clear as mud! (difficult to understand)" data-image-description="<p>1497188096</p> " data-image-caption="<p>urbazon / E+</p> " data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/As-clear-as-mud-e1723817611391.jpg?fit=300%2C242&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/As-clear-as-mud-e1723817611391.jpg?fit=640%2C517&ssl=1" /></a> <div class="entry-wrapper"> <header class="entry-header"> <h1 class="entry-title"><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/09/25/its-as-clear-as-mud-difficult-to-understand/" rel="bookmark">It’s as clear as mud! (Words and expressions that mean ‘difficult to understand’)</a></h1> <div class="entry-meta"> <span class="posted-on">On <a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/09/25/its-as-clear-as-mud-difficult-to-understand/" rel="bookmark"><time class="entry-date published" datetime="2024-09-25T12:00:47+01:00">September 25, 2024</time><time class="updated" datetime="2024-09-03T19:57:43+01:00">September 3, 2024</time></a></span><span class="byline"> By <span class="author vcard"><a class="url fn n" href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/author/katewoodford/">Kate Woodford</a></span></span><span class="cat-links">In <a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/category/idioms/" rel="category tag">Idioms</a>, <a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/category/the-english-language/" rel="category tag">the English language</a></span><span class="comments-link"><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/09/25/its-as-clear-as-mud-difficult-to-understand/#comments">26 Comments</a></span> </div> </header> <div class="entry-content"> <p><em>Listen to the author reading this blog post.</em></p> <audio class="wp-audio-shortcode" id="audio-20053-6" preload="none" style="width: 100%;" controls="controls"><source type="audio/mpeg" src="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Its_as_clear_as_mud_Kate_25.09.24.mp3?_=6" /><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Its_as_clear_as_mud_Kate_25.09.24.mp3">https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Its_as_clear_as_mud_Kate_25.09.24.mp3</a></audio> <p> </p> <figure id="attachment_20188" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-20188" style="width: 300px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/As-clear-as-mud-e1723817611391.jpg?ssl=1"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-attachment-id="20188" data-permalink="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/09/25/its-as-clear-as-mud-difficult-to-understand/man-checking-personal-finances-at-home/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/As-clear-as-mud-e1723817611391.jpg?fit=6239%2C5038&ssl=1" data-orig-size="6239,5038" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"1.4","credit":"Getty Images","camera":"Canon EOS R5","caption":"Man checking personal finances at home, while sitting at a table.","created_timestamp":"1680119291","copyright":"","focal_length":"50","iso":"800","shutter_speed":"0.005","title":"Man Checking Personal Finances at Home","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="It’s as clear as mud! (difficult to understand)" data-image-description="<p>1497188096</p> " data-image-caption="<p>urbazon / E+</p> " data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/As-clear-as-mud-e1723817611391.jpg?fit=300%2C242&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/As-clear-as-mud-e1723817611391.jpg?fit=640%2C517&ssl=1" class="size-medium wp-image-20188" src="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/As-clear-as-mud-e1723817611391-300x242.jpg?resize=300%2C242&ssl=1" alt="A man looking at a financial statement with a look of confusion" width="300" height="242" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/As-clear-as-mud-e1723817611391.jpg?resize=300%2C242&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/As-clear-as-mud-e1723817611391.jpg?resize=1024%2C827&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/As-clear-as-mud-e1723817611391.jpg?resize=768%2C620&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/As-clear-as-mud-e1723817611391.jpg?resize=1536%2C1240&ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/As-clear-as-mud-e1723817611391.jpg?resize=2048%2C1654&ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/As-clear-as-mud-e1723817611391.jpg?resize=900%2C727&ssl=1 900w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/As-clear-as-mud-e1723817611391.jpg?resize=1280%2C1034&ssl=1 1280w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/As-clear-as-mud-e1723817611391.jpg?w=1920&ssl=1 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-20188" class="wp-caption-text">urbazon / E+</figcaption></figure> <p>by <strong><a href="https://twitter.com/katewoodford2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kate Woodford</a></strong></p> <p>I recently heard a journalist complaining that she didn’t understand the government’s position on a particular issue. It was, she said, <a href="https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/as-clear-as-mud"><strong>as clear as mud</strong></a>, meaning, of course, that it was not at all clear! This humorous idiom made me think about the various ways in which we say that something is difficult or impossible to understand. Today’s post, including both single words and idioms, is the result.</p> <p> <a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/09/25/its-as-clear-as-mud-difficult-to-understand/#more-20053" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">“It’s as clear as mud! 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data-name='like-post-frame-18458032-20053-67bf17466c0ef' data-title='Like or Reblog'><h3 class="sd-title">Like this:</h3><div class='likes-widget-placeholder post-likes-widget-placeholder' style='height: 55px;'><span class='button'><span>Like</span></span> <span class="loading">Loading...</span></div><span class='sd-text-color'></span><a class='sd-link-color'></a></div> </div> </div> </article> <article id="post-19883" class="post-19883 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-idioms category-the-english-language category-vocabulary tag-english tag-english-language tag-finger tag-idioms tag-phrases tag-vocabulary"> <a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/09/18/a-finger-in-every-pie-phrases-with-the-word-finger/" title="A finger in every pie: phrases with the word ‘finger’"><img width="900" height="600" src="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/A-finger-in-every-pie.jpg?fit=900%2C600&ssl=1" class="attachment-lovecraft-post-image size-lovecraft-post-image wp-post-image" alt="handprints in flour next to a rolling pin and pie crust dough" decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/A-finger-in-every-pie.jpg?w=7952&ssl=1 7952w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/A-finger-in-every-pie.jpg?resize=300%2C200&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/A-finger-in-every-pie.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/A-finger-in-every-pie.jpg?resize=768%2C512&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/A-finger-in-every-pie.jpg?resize=1536%2C1025&ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/A-finger-in-every-pie.jpg?resize=2048%2C1366&ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/A-finger-in-every-pie.jpg?resize=900%2C600&ssl=1 900w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/A-finger-in-every-pie.jpg?resize=1280%2C854&ssl=1 1280w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/A-finger-in-every-pie.jpg?w=1920&ssl=1 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px" data-attachment-id="20182" data-permalink="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/09/18/a-finger-in-every-pie-phrases-with-the-word-finger/baking-dough-handprints/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/A-finger-in-every-pie.jpg?fit=7952%2C5304&ssl=1" data-orig-size="7952,5304" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"Getty Images","camera":"","caption":"Baking dough for apple pie and playing with flour","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"Baking dough handprints","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="A finger in every pie: phrases with the word ‘finger’" data-image-description="<p>949208474</p> " data-image-caption="<p>Jasmin Merdan / Moment / Getty Images</p> " data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/A-finger-in-every-pie.jpg?fit=300%2C200&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/A-finger-in-every-pie.jpg?fit=640%2C427&ssl=1" /></a> <div class="entry-wrapper"> <header class="entry-header"> <h1 class="entry-title"><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/09/18/a-finger-in-every-pie-phrases-with-the-word-finger/" rel="bookmark">A finger in every pie: phrases with the word ‘finger’</a></h1> <div class="entry-meta"> <span class="posted-on">On <a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/09/18/a-finger-in-every-pie-phrases-with-the-word-finger/" rel="bookmark"><time class="entry-date published" datetime="2024-09-18T12:00:58+01:00">September 18, 2024</time><time class="updated" datetime="2024-09-03T19:38:17+01:00">September 3, 2024</time></a></span><span class="byline"> By <span class="author vcard"><a class="url fn n" href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/author/lizwalter2/">Liz Walter</a></span></span><span class="cat-links">In <a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/category/idioms/" rel="category tag">Idioms</a>, <a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/category/the-english-language/" rel="category tag">the English language</a>, <a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/category/vocabulary/" rel="category tag">Vocabulary</a></span><span class="comments-link"><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/09/18/a-finger-in-every-pie-phrases-with-the-word-finger/#comments">10 Comments</a></span> </div> </header> <div class="entry-content"> <p><em>Listen to the author reading this blog post.</em></p> <audio class="wp-audio-shortcode" id="audio-19883-7" preload="none" style="width: 100%;" controls="controls"><source type="audio/mpeg" src="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/A_finger_in_every_pie.mp3?_=7" /><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/A_finger_in_every_pie.mp3">https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/A_finger_in_every_pie.mp3</a></audio> <p> </p> <figure id="attachment_20182" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-20182" style="width: 300px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/A-finger-in-every-pie.jpg?ssl=1"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-attachment-id="20182" data-permalink="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/09/18/a-finger-in-every-pie-phrases-with-the-word-finger/baking-dough-handprints/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/A-finger-in-every-pie.jpg?fit=7952%2C5304&ssl=1" data-orig-size="7952,5304" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"Getty Images","camera":"","caption":"Baking dough for apple pie and playing with flour","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"Baking dough handprints","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="A finger in every pie: phrases with the word ‘finger’" data-image-description="<p>949208474</p> " data-image-caption="<p>Jasmin Merdan / Moment / Getty Images</p> " data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/A-finger-in-every-pie.jpg?fit=300%2C200&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/A-finger-in-every-pie.jpg?fit=640%2C427&ssl=1" class="size-medium wp-image-20182" src="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/A-finger-in-every-pie.jpg?resize=300%2C200&ssl=1" alt="handprints in flour next to a rolling pin and pie crust dough" width="300" height="200" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/A-finger-in-every-pie.jpg?resize=300%2C200&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/A-finger-in-every-pie.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/A-finger-in-every-pie.jpg?resize=768%2C512&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/A-finger-in-every-pie.jpg?resize=1536%2C1025&ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/A-finger-in-every-pie.jpg?resize=2048%2C1366&ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/A-finger-in-every-pie.jpg?resize=900%2C600&ssl=1 900w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/A-finger-in-every-pie.jpg?resize=1280%2C854&ssl=1 1280w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/A-finger-in-every-pie.jpg?w=1920&ssl=1 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-20182" class="wp-caption-text">Jasmin Merdan / Moment / Getty Images</figcaption></figure> <p>by <strong>Liz Walter</strong></p> <p>In my last post on words for being clumsy, I included the phrase <strong><a href="https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/be-all-fingers-and-thumbs?q=fingers+and+thumbs">all fingers and thumbs</a></strong>. This made me think about how many phrases we have that contain the word ‘finger’. This post covers some of the most common and useful ones.</p> <p> <a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/09/18/a-finger-in-every-pie-phrases-with-the-word-finger/#more-19883" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">“A finger in every pie: phrases with the word ‘finger’”</span> <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></p> <div class="sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled"><div class="robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social sd-social-icon sd-sharing"><h3 class="sd-title">Share this:</h3><div class="sd-content"><ul><li class="share-facebook"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="sharing-facebook-19883" class="share-facebook sd-button share-icon no-text" href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/09/18/a-finger-in-every-pie-phrases-with-the-word-finger/?share=facebook" target="_blank" title="Click to share on Facebook" ><span></span><span class="sharing-screen-reader-text">Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)</span></a></li><li class="share-twitter"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="sharing-twitter-19883" class="share-twitter sd-button share-icon no-text" href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/09/18/a-finger-in-every-pie-phrases-with-the-word-finger/?share=twitter" target="_blank" title="Click to share on Twitter" ><span></span><span class="sharing-screen-reader-text">Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)</span></a></li><li class="share-reddit"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="" class="share-reddit sd-button share-icon no-text" href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/09/18/a-finger-in-every-pie-phrases-with-the-word-finger/?share=reddit" target="_blank" title="Click to share on Reddit" ><span></span><span class="sharing-screen-reader-text">Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)</span></a></li><li class="share-email"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="" class="share-email sd-button share-icon no-text" href="mailto:?subject=%5BShared%20Post%5D%20A%20finger%20in%20every%20pie%3A%20phrases%20with%20the%20word%20%E2%80%98finger%E2%80%99&body=https%3A%2F%2Fdictionaryblog.cambridge.org%2F2024%2F09%2F18%2Fa-finger-in-every-pie-phrases-with-the-word-finger%2F&share=email" target="_blank" title="Click to email a link to a friend" data-email-share-error-title="Do you have email set up?" data-email-share-error-text="If you're having problems sharing via email, you might not have email set up for your browser. You may need to create a new email yourself." data-email-share-nonce="6d7fdde36b" data-email-share-track-url="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/09/18/a-finger-in-every-pie-phrases-with-the-word-finger/?share=email"><span></span><span class="sharing-screen-reader-text">Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)</span></a></li><li class="share-print"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="" class="share-print sd-button share-icon no-text" href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/09/18/a-finger-in-every-pie-phrases-with-the-word-finger/" target="_blank" title="Click to print" ><span></span><span class="sharing-screen-reader-text">Click to print (Opens in new window)</span></a></li><li class="share-linkedin"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="sharing-linkedin-19883" class="share-linkedin sd-button share-icon no-text" 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data-src='https://widgets.wp.com/likes/?ver=14.4-a.7#blog_id=18458032&post_id=19883&origin=dictionaryblog.cambridge.org&obj_id=18458032-19883-67bf17466ee59' data-name='like-post-frame-18458032-19883-67bf17466ee59' data-title='Like or Reblog'><h3 class="sd-title">Like this:</h3><div class='likes-widget-placeholder post-likes-widget-placeholder' style='height: 55px;'><span class='button'><span>Like</span></span> <span class="loading">Loading...</span></div><span class='sd-text-color'></span><a class='sd-link-color'></a></div> </div> </div> </article> <article id="post-19874" class="post-19874 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-idioms category-the-english-language tag-clumsy tag-english-language tag-idioms tag-improve-your-english tag-vocabulary"> <a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/09/04/like-a-bull-in-a-china-shop-talking-about-people-who-are-clumsy/" title="Like a bull in a china shop: talking about people who are clumsy"><img width="900" height="724" src="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/GettyImages-453627785-e1721932444892.jpg?fit=900%2C724&ssl=1" class="attachment-lovecraft-post-image size-lovecraft-post-image wp-post-image" alt="A woman reaches for a phone that she has just dropped in a pool" decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/GettyImages-453627785-e1721932444892.jpg?w=4199&ssl=1 4199w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/GettyImages-453627785-e1721932444892.jpg?resize=300%2C241&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/GettyImages-453627785-e1721932444892.jpg?resize=1024%2C824&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/GettyImages-453627785-e1721932444892.jpg?resize=768%2C618&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/GettyImages-453627785-e1721932444892.jpg?resize=1536%2C1236&ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/GettyImages-453627785-e1721932444892.jpg?resize=2048%2C1648&ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/GettyImages-453627785-e1721932444892.jpg?resize=1200%2C966&ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/GettyImages-453627785-e1721932444892.jpg?resize=900%2C724&ssl=1 900w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/GettyImages-453627785-e1721932444892.jpg?resize=1280%2C1030&ssl=1 1280w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/GettyImages-453627785-e1721932444892.jpg?w=1920&ssl=1 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px" data-attachment-id="19921" data-permalink="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/09/04/like-a-bull-in-a-china-shop-talking-about-people-who-are-clumsy/woman-dropping-phone-into-swimming-pool/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/GettyImages-453627785-e1721932444892.jpg?fit=4199%2C3379&ssl=1" data-orig-size="4199,3379" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"11","credit":"Getty Images","camera":"Canon EOS 500D","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1380953508","copyright":"Peter Cade","focal_length":"15","iso":"100","shutter_speed":"0.00625","title":"Woman dropping phone into swimming pool","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="About Words" data-image-description="<p>Like a bull in a china shop_blog_04.09.24</p> " data-image-caption="<p>Peter Cade / Stone</p> " data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/GettyImages-453627785-e1721932444892.jpg?fit=300%2C241&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/GettyImages-453627785-e1721932444892.jpg?fit=640%2C515&ssl=1" /></a> <div class="entry-wrapper"> <header class="entry-header"> <h1 class="entry-title"><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/09/04/like-a-bull-in-a-china-shop-talking-about-people-who-are-clumsy/" rel="bookmark">Like a bull in a china shop: talking about people who are clumsy</a></h1> <div class="entry-meta"> <span class="posted-on">On <a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/09/04/like-a-bull-in-a-china-shop-talking-about-people-who-are-clumsy/" rel="bookmark"><time class="entry-date published" datetime="2024-09-04T12:00:08+01:00">September 4, 2024</time><time class="updated" datetime="2024-09-03T14:40:11+01:00">September 3, 2024</time></a></span><span class="byline"> By <span class="author vcard"><a class="url fn n" href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/author/lizwalter2/">Liz Walter</a></span></span><span class="cat-links">In <a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/category/idioms/" rel="category tag">Idioms</a>, <a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/category/the-english-language/" rel="category tag">the English language</a></span><span class="comments-link"><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/09/04/like-a-bull-in-a-china-shop-talking-about-people-who-are-clumsy/#comments">10 Comments</a></span> </div> </header> <div class="entry-content"> <p><em>Listen to the author reading this blog post.</em></p> <audio class="wp-audio-shortcode" id="audio-19874-8" preload="none" style="width: 100%;" controls="controls"><source type="audio/mpeg" src="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Like_a_bull_in_a_china_shop.mp3?_=8" /><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Like_a_bull_in_a_china_shop.mp3">https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Like_a_bull_in_a_china_shop.mp3</a></audio> <figure id="attachment_19921" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-19921" style="width: 300px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/GettyImages-453627785-e1721932444892.jpg?ssl=1"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-attachment-id="19921" data-permalink="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/09/04/like-a-bull-in-a-china-shop-talking-about-people-who-are-clumsy/woman-dropping-phone-into-swimming-pool/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/GettyImages-453627785-e1721932444892.jpg?fit=4199%2C3379&ssl=1" data-orig-size="4199,3379" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"11","credit":"Getty Images","camera":"Canon EOS 500D","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1380953508","copyright":"Peter Cade","focal_length":"15","iso":"100","shutter_speed":"0.00625","title":"Woman dropping phone into swimming pool","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="About Words" data-image-description="<p>Like a bull in a china shop_blog_04.09.24</p> " data-image-caption="<p>Peter Cade / Stone</p> " data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/GettyImages-453627785-e1721932444892.jpg?fit=300%2C241&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/GettyImages-453627785-e1721932444892.jpg?fit=640%2C515&ssl=1" class="size-medium wp-image-19921" src="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/GettyImages-453627785-e1721932444892-300x241.jpg?resize=300%2C241&ssl=1" alt="A woman reaches for a phone that she has just dropped in a pool" width="300" height="241" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/GettyImages-453627785-e1721932444892.jpg?resize=300%2C241&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/GettyImages-453627785-e1721932444892.jpg?resize=1024%2C824&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/GettyImages-453627785-e1721932444892.jpg?resize=768%2C618&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/GettyImages-453627785-e1721932444892.jpg?resize=1536%2C1236&ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/GettyImages-453627785-e1721932444892.jpg?resize=2048%2C1648&ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/GettyImages-453627785-e1721932444892.jpg?resize=1200%2C966&ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/GettyImages-453627785-e1721932444892.jpg?resize=900%2C724&ssl=1 900w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/GettyImages-453627785-e1721932444892.jpg?resize=1280%2C1030&ssl=1 1280w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/GettyImages-453627785-e1721932444892.jpg?w=1920&ssl=1 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-19921" class="wp-caption-text">Peter Cade / Stone</figcaption></figure> <p>by <strong>Liz Walter</strong></p> <p>We all know someone who seems to have trouble with everyday life; someone who drops things, bumps into things, breaks things, and generally has more accidents than other people. There are lot of ways of talking about <a href="https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/clumsy"><strong>clumsy</strong></a> people like this.</p> <p> <a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/09/04/like-a-bull-in-a-china-shop-talking-about-people-who-are-clumsy/#more-19874" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">“Like a bull in a china shop: talking about people who are clumsy”</span> <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></p> <div class="sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled"><div class="robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social sd-social-icon sd-sharing"><h3 class="sd-title">Share this:</h3><div class="sd-content"><ul><li class="share-facebook"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="sharing-facebook-19874" class="share-facebook sd-button share-icon no-text" href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/09/04/like-a-bull-in-a-china-shop-talking-about-people-who-are-clumsy/?share=facebook" target="_blank" title="Click to share on Facebook" ><span></span><span class="sharing-screen-reader-text">Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)</span></a></li><li class="share-twitter"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="sharing-twitter-19874" class="share-twitter sd-button share-icon no-text" href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/09/04/like-a-bull-in-a-china-shop-talking-about-people-who-are-clumsy/?share=twitter" target="_blank" title="Click to share on Twitter" ><span></span><span class="sharing-screen-reader-text">Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)</span></a></li><li class="share-reddit"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="" class="share-reddit sd-button share-icon no-text" href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/09/04/like-a-bull-in-a-china-shop-talking-about-people-who-are-clumsy/?share=reddit" target="_blank" title="Click to share on Reddit" ><span></span><span class="sharing-screen-reader-text">Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)</span></a></li><li class="share-email"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="" class="share-email sd-button share-icon no-text" href="mailto:?subject=%5BShared%20Post%5D%20Like%20a%20bull%20in%20a%20china%20shop%3A%20talking%20about%20people%20who%20are%20clumsy&body=https%3A%2F%2Fdictionaryblog.cambridge.org%2F2024%2F09%2F04%2Flike-a-bull-in-a-china-shop-talking-about-people-who-are-clumsy%2F&share=email" target="_blank" title="Click to email a link to a friend" data-email-share-error-title="Do you have email set up?" data-email-share-error-text="If you're having problems sharing via email, you might not have email set up for your browser. 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data-src='https://widgets.wp.com/likes/?ver=14.4-a.7#blog_id=18458032&post_id=19874&origin=dictionaryblog.cambridge.org&obj_id=18458032-19874-67bf174671a58' data-name='like-post-frame-18458032-19874-67bf174671a58' data-title='Like or Reblog'><h3 class="sd-title">Like this:</h3><div class='likes-widget-placeholder post-likes-widget-placeholder' style='height: 55px;'><span class='button'><span>Like</span></span> <span class="loading">Loading...</span></div><span class='sd-text-color'></span><a class='sd-link-color'></a></div> </div> </div> </article> <article id="post-19457" class="post-19457 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-idioms category-the-english-language tag-annie-barrows tag-mary-ann-shaffer tag-the-guernsey-literary-and-potato-peel-pie-society"> <a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/07/24/idioms-in-the-guernsey-literary-and-potato-peel-pie-society/" title="Putting a spanner in the works – Idioms in The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society"><img width="900" height="600" src="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Cambridge-Book-Club_2.jpg?fit=900%2C600&ssl=1" class="attachment-lovecraft-post-image size-lovecraft-post-image wp-post-image" alt="a sepia photograph of a young woman in old-fashioned clothing resting her chin thoughtfully in her hand as she writes a letter" decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Cambridge-Book-Club_2.jpg?w=4096&ssl=1 4096w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Cambridge-Book-Club_2.jpg?resize=300%2C200&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Cambridge-Book-Club_2.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Cambridge-Book-Club_2.jpg?resize=768%2C512&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Cambridge-Book-Club_2.jpg?resize=1536%2C1024&ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Cambridge-Book-Club_2.jpg?resize=2048%2C1366&ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Cambridge-Book-Club_2.jpg?resize=1200%2C800&ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Cambridge-Book-Club_2.jpg?resize=900%2C600&ssl=1 900w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Cambridge-Book-Club_2.jpg?resize=1280%2C853&ssl=1 1280w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Cambridge-Book-Club_2.jpg?w=1920&ssl=1 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px" data-attachment-id="19460" data-permalink="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/07/24/idioms-in-the-guernsey-literary-and-potato-peel-pie-society/cambridge-book-club_2/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Cambridge-Book-Club_2.jpg?fit=4096%2C2731&ssl=1" data-orig-size="4096,2731" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1146614400","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="Cambridge Book Club_2" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="<p>George Marks / Retrofile RF / Getty Images</p> " data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Cambridge-Book-Club_2.jpg?fit=300%2C200&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Cambridge-Book-Club_2.jpg?fit=640%2C427&ssl=1" /></a> <div class="entry-wrapper"> <header class="entry-header"> <h1 class="entry-title"><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/07/24/idioms-in-the-guernsey-literary-and-potato-peel-pie-society/" rel="bookmark">Putting a spanner in the works – Idioms in The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society</a></h1> <div class="entry-meta"> <span class="posted-on">On <a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/07/24/idioms-in-the-guernsey-literary-and-potato-peel-pie-society/" rel="bookmark"><time class="entry-date published" datetime="2024-07-24T12:00:46+01:00">July 24, 2024</time><time class="updated" datetime="2024-10-08T11:06:33+01:00">October 8, 2024</time></a></span><span class="byline"> By <span class="author vcard"><a class="url fn n" href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/author/patriciaferraz/">Patricia Ferraz</a></span></span><span class="cat-links">In <a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/category/idioms/" rel="category tag">Idioms</a>, <a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/category/the-english-language/" rel="category tag">the English language</a></span><span class="comments-link"><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/07/24/idioms-in-the-guernsey-literary-and-potato-peel-pie-society/#comments">8 Comments</a></span> </div> </header> <div class="entry-content"> <p> </p> <figure id="attachment_19460" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-19460" style="width: 300px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-attachment-id="19460" data-permalink="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/07/24/idioms-in-the-guernsey-literary-and-potato-peel-pie-society/cambridge-book-club_2/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Cambridge-Book-Club_2.jpg?fit=4096%2C2731&ssl=1" data-orig-size="4096,2731" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1146614400","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="Cambridge Book Club_2" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="<p>George Marks / Retrofile RF / Getty Images</p> " data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Cambridge-Book-Club_2.jpg?fit=300%2C200&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Cambridge-Book-Club_2.jpg?fit=640%2C427&ssl=1" class="size-medium wp-image-19460" src="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Cambridge-Book-Club_2.jpg?resize=300%2C200&ssl=1" alt="a sepia photograph of a young woman in old-fashioned clothing resting her chin thoughtfully in her hand as she writes a letter" width="300" height="200" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Cambridge-Book-Club_2.jpg?resize=300%2C200&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Cambridge-Book-Club_2.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Cambridge-Book-Club_2.jpg?resize=768%2C512&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Cambridge-Book-Club_2.jpg?resize=1536%2C1024&ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Cambridge-Book-Club_2.jpg?resize=2048%2C1366&ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Cambridge-Book-Club_2.jpg?resize=1200%2C800&ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Cambridge-Book-Club_2.jpg?resize=900%2C600&ssl=1 900w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Cambridge-Book-Club_2.jpg?resize=1280%2C853&ssl=1 1280w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Cambridge-Book-Club_2.jpg?w=1920&ssl=1 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-19460" class="wp-caption-text">George Marks / Retrofile RF / Getty Images</figcaption></figure> <p> </p> <p>By <strong>Patricia Ferraz</strong></p> <p>Brush up on your English through your love of reading. In this post, we highlight interesting phrases and idioms from the popular novel, <em>The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society</em>. <a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/07/24/idioms-in-the-guernsey-literary-and-potato-peel-pie-society/#more-19457" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">“Putting a spanner in the works – Idioms in The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society”</span> <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></p> <div class="sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled"><div class="robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social sd-social-icon sd-sharing"><h3 class="sd-title">Share this:</h3><div class="sd-content"><ul><li class="share-facebook"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="sharing-facebook-19457" class="share-facebook sd-button share-icon no-text" href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/07/24/idioms-in-the-guernsey-literary-and-potato-peel-pie-society/?share=facebook" target="_blank" title="Click to share on Facebook" ><span></span><span class="sharing-screen-reader-text">Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)</span></a></li><li class="share-twitter"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="sharing-twitter-19457" class="share-twitter sd-button share-icon no-text" href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/07/24/idioms-in-the-guernsey-literary-and-potato-peel-pie-society/?share=twitter" target="_blank" title="Click to share on Twitter" ><span></span><span class="sharing-screen-reader-text">Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)</span></a></li><li class="share-reddit"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="" class="share-reddit sd-button share-icon no-text" href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/07/24/idioms-in-the-guernsey-literary-and-potato-peel-pie-society/?share=reddit" target="_blank" title="Click to share on Reddit" ><span></span><span class="sharing-screen-reader-text">Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)</span></a></li><li class="share-email"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="" class="share-email sd-button share-icon no-text" href="mailto:?subject=%5BShared%20Post%5D%20Putting%20a%20spanner%20in%20the%20works%20%E2%80%93%20Idioms%20in%20The%20Guernsey%20Literary%20and%20Potato%20Peel%20Pie%20Society&body=https%3A%2F%2Fdictionaryblog.cambridge.org%2F2024%2F07%2F24%2Fidioms-in-the-guernsey-literary-and-potato-peel-pie-society%2F&share=email" target="_blank" title="Click to email a link to a friend" data-email-share-error-title="Do you have email set up?" data-email-share-error-text="If you're having problems sharing via email, you might not have email set up for your browser. 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data-src='https://widgets.wp.com/likes/?ver=14.4-a.7#blog_id=18458032&post_id=19457&origin=dictionaryblog.cambridge.org&obj_id=18458032-19457-67bf17467459b' data-name='like-post-frame-18458032-19457-67bf17467459b' data-title='Like or Reblog'><h3 class="sd-title">Like this:</h3><div class='likes-widget-placeholder post-likes-widget-placeholder' style='height: 55px;'><span class='button'><span>Like</span></span> <span class="loading">Loading...</span></div><span class='sd-text-color'></span><a class='sd-link-color'></a></div> </div> </div> </article> <article id="post-19359" class="post-19359 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-idioms category-the-english-language tag-richard-osman tag-the-thursday-murder-club"> <a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/07/17/idioms-in-the-thursday-murder-club/" title="In for a penny, in for a pound: Idioms in The Thursday Murder Club"><img width="900" height="600" 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data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Cambridge-Book-Club_1.jpg?fit=4096%2C2731&ssl=1" data-orig-size="4096,2731" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1511106325","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="Cambridge Book Club_1" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="<p>Marina113 / iStock / Getty Images Plus</p> " data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Cambridge-Book-Club_1.jpg?fit=300%2C200&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Cambridge-Book-Club_1.jpg?fit=640%2C427&ssl=1" /></a> <div class="entry-wrapper"> <header class="entry-header"> <h1 class="entry-title"><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/07/17/idioms-in-the-thursday-murder-club/" rel="bookmark">In for a penny, in for a pound: Idioms in The Thursday Murder Club</a></h1> <div class="entry-meta"> <span class="posted-on">On <a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/07/17/idioms-in-the-thursday-murder-club/" rel="bookmark"><time class="entry-date published" datetime="2024-07-17T12:00:36+01:00">July 17, 2024</time><time class="updated" datetime="2024-10-08T11:05:02+01:00">October 8, 2024</time></a></span><span class="byline"> By <span class="author vcard"><a class="url fn n" href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/author/patriciaferraz/">Patricia Ferraz</a></span></span><span class="cat-links">In <a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/category/idioms/" rel="category tag">Idioms</a>, <a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/category/the-english-language/" rel="category tag">the English language</a></span><span class="comments-link"><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/07/17/idioms-in-the-thursday-murder-club/#comments">13 Comments</a></span> </div> </header> <div class="entry-content"> <p> </p> <figure id="attachment_19412" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-19412" style="width: 300px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Cambridge-Book-Club_1.jpg?ssl=1"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-attachment-id="19412" data-permalink="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/07/17/idioms-in-the-thursday-murder-club/cambridge-book-club_1/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Cambridge-Book-Club_1.jpg?fit=4096%2C2731&ssl=1" data-orig-size="4096,2731" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1511106325","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="Cambridge Book Club_1" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="<p>Marina113 / iStock / Getty Images Plus</p> " data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Cambridge-Book-Club_1.jpg?fit=300%2C200&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Cambridge-Book-Club_1.jpg?fit=640%2C427&ssl=1" class="size-medium wp-image-19412" src="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Cambridge-Book-Club_1.jpg?resize=300%2C200&ssl=1" alt="portrait photograph of a woman with white hair looking at the viewer through a magnifying glass as though she is a detective" width="300" height="200" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Cambridge-Book-Club_1.jpg?resize=300%2C200&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Cambridge-Book-Club_1.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Cambridge-Book-Club_1.jpg?resize=768%2C512&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Cambridge-Book-Club_1.jpg?resize=1536%2C1024&ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Cambridge-Book-Club_1.jpg?resize=2048%2C1366&ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Cambridge-Book-Club_1.jpg?resize=1200%2C800&ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Cambridge-Book-Club_1.jpg?resize=900%2C600&ssl=1 900w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Cambridge-Book-Club_1.jpg?resize=1280%2C853&ssl=1 1280w, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Cambridge-Book-Club_1.jpg?w=1920&ssl=1 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-19412" class="wp-caption-text">Marina113 / iStock / Getty Images Plus</figcaption></figure> <p>By <strong>Patricia Ferraz</strong></p> <p>Brush up on your English through your love of reading! In this post, we highlight interesting phrases and idioms from the popular mystery novel, <em>The Thursday Murder Club</em>. If you like mysteries and unusual detectives, you’ll love this best-seller by Richard Osman, which is soon to be made into a film by Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment.</p> <p> <a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/07/17/idioms-in-the-thursday-murder-club/#more-19359" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">“In for a penny, in for a pound: Idioms in The Thursday Murder Club”</span> <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></p> <div class="sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled"><div class="robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social sd-social-icon sd-sharing"><h3 class="sd-title">Share this:</h3><div class="sd-content"><ul><li class="share-facebook"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="sharing-facebook-19359" class="share-facebook sd-button share-icon no-text" href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/07/17/idioms-in-the-thursday-murder-club/?share=facebook" target="_blank" title="Click to share on Facebook" ><span></span><span class="sharing-screen-reader-text">Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)</span></a></li><li class="share-twitter"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="sharing-twitter-19359" class="share-twitter sd-button share-icon no-text" href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/07/17/idioms-in-the-thursday-murder-club/?share=twitter" target="_blank" title="Click to share on Twitter" ><span></span><span class="sharing-screen-reader-text">Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)</span></a></li><li class="share-reddit"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="" class="share-reddit sd-button share-icon no-text" href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/07/17/idioms-in-the-thursday-murder-club/?share=reddit" target="_blank" title="Click to share on Reddit" ><span></span><span class="sharing-screen-reader-text">Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)</span></a></li><li class="share-email"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="" class="share-email sd-button share-icon no-text" href="mailto:?subject=%5BShared%20Post%5D%20In%20for%20a%20penny%2C%20in%20for%20a%20pound%3A%20Idioms%20in%20The%20Thursday%20Murder%20Club&body=https%3A%2F%2Fdictionaryblog.cambridge.org%2F2024%2F07%2F17%2Fidioms-in-the-thursday-murder-club%2F&share=email" target="_blank" title="Click to email a link to a friend" data-email-share-error-title="Do you have email set up?" data-email-share-error-text="If you're having problems sharing via email, you might not have email set up for your browser. 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(The effect that the weather has on us)" data-pin-nopin="true"/></a></div><div class="widget-grid-view-image"><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2025/02/17/new-words-17-february-2025/" title="New words – 17 February 2025" class="bump-view" data-bump-view="tp"><img loading="lazy" width="200" height="200" src="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/noctourism.jpg?fit=600%2C400&ssl=1&resize=200%2C200" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/noctourism.jpg?fit=600%2C400&ssl=1&resize=200%2C200 1x, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/noctourism.jpg?fit=600%2C400&ssl=1&resize=300%2C300 1.5x, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/noctourism.jpg?fit=600%2C400&ssl=1&resize=400%2C400 2x, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/noctourism.jpg?fit=600%2C400&ssl=1&resize=600%2C600 3x" alt="New words – 17 February 2025" data-pin-nopin="true"/></a></div><div class="widget-grid-view-image"><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2025/01/29/getting-hitched-and-biting-your-tongue-newspaper-idioms/" title="Getting hitched and biting your tongue (Newspaper idioms)" class="bump-view" data-bump-view="tp"><img loading="lazy" width="200" height="200" src="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Getting-hitched_Kate_29.01.2025_517554541.jpg?resize=200%2C200&ssl=1" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Getting-hitched_Kate_29.01.2025_517554541.jpg?resize=200%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Getting-hitched_Kate_29.01.2025_517554541.jpg?resize=300%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Getting-hitched_Kate_29.01.2025_517554541.jpg?resize=400%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Getting-hitched_Kate_29.01.2025_517554541.jpg?resize=600%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Getting-hitched_Kate_29.01.2025_517554541.jpg?resize=800%2C800&ssl=1 4x" alt="Getting hitched and biting your tongue (Newspaper idioms)" data-pin-nopin="true"/></a></div><div class="widget-grid-view-image"><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2025/02/05/reckless-and-impulsive-acting-without-enough-thought/" title="Reckless and impulsive: words for acting without enough thought" class="bump-view" data-bump-view="tp"><img loading="lazy" width="200" height="200" src="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Rash-reckless_a0048-000236a-e1734628709790.jpg?resize=200%2C200&ssl=1" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Rash-reckless_a0048-000236a-e1734628709790.jpg?resize=200%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Rash-reckless_a0048-000236a-e1734628709790.jpg?resize=300%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Rash-reckless_a0048-000236a-e1734628709790.jpg?resize=400%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Rash-reckless_a0048-000236a-e1734628709790.jpg?resize=600%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Rash-reckless_a0048-000236a-e1734628709790.jpg?resize=800%2C800&ssl=1 4x" alt="Reckless and impulsive: words for acting without enough thought" data-pin-nopin="true"/></a></div><div class="widget-grid-view-image"><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2025/02/10/new-words-10-february-2025/" title="New words – 10 February 2025" class="bump-view" data-bump-view="tp"><img loading="lazy" width="200" height="200" src="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/painsomnia2.jpg?resize=200%2C200&ssl=1" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/painsomnia2.jpg?resize=200%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/painsomnia2.jpg?resize=300%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/painsomnia2.jpg?resize=400%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/painsomnia2.jpg?resize=600%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/painsomnia2.jpg?resize=800%2C800&ssl=1 4x" alt="New words – 10 February 2025" data-pin-nopin="true"/></a></div></div> </aside><aside id="authors-2" class="widget widget_authors"><h1 class="widget-title">Authors</h1><ul><li><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/author/aezrac/"> <img alt='1' src='https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/26f314c4585b5bdb9d749f149ee7f10b?s=48&d=identicon&r=g' srcset='https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/26f314c4585b5bdb9d749f149ee7f10b?s=96&d=identicon&r=g 2x' class='avatar avatar-48 photo' height='48' width='48' loading='lazy' decoding='async'/> <strong>Ron Carter</strong></a><ul><li><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2011/12/14/a-few-words-on-corpus-linguistics-part-2/" title="A few words on corpus linguistics part 2">A few words on corpus linguistics part 2</a></li><li><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2011/12/12/a-few-words-on-corpus-linguistics/" title="A few words on corpus linguistics">A few words on corpus linguistics</a></li></ul></li><li><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/author/cambridgewords/"> <img alt='1' src='https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/aef1e4cb2fd31e8f50444ca18ada3b49?s=48&d=identicon&r=g' srcset='https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/aef1e4cb2fd31e8f50444ca18ada3b49?s=96&d=identicon&r=g 2x' class='avatar avatar-48 photo' height='48' width='48' loading='lazy' decoding='async'/> <strong>Cambridge Words</strong></a><ul><li><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2025/02/24/new-words-24-february-2025/" title="New words – 24 February 2025">New words – 24 February 2025</a></li><li><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2025/02/17/new-words-17-february-2025/" title="New words – 17 February 2025">New words – 17 February 2025</a></li></ul></li><li><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/author/colinjmcintosh/"> <img alt='1' src='https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/50053df1e6dad3114823d445b2ffaa08?s=48&d=identicon&r=g' srcset='https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/50053df1e6dad3114823d445b2ffaa08?s=96&d=identicon&r=g 2x' class='avatar avatar-48 photo' height='48' width='48' loading='lazy' decoding='async'/> <strong>colinjmcintosh</strong></a><ul><li><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2016/08/02/a-life-beyond-fiction/" title="A life beyond fiction">A life beyond fiction</a></li><li><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2016/07/26/whats-in-a-name/" title="What’s in a name?">What’s in a name?</a></li></ul></li><li><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/author/domcambridge/"> <img alt='1' src='https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/0f327ac6616afccb2cad6596b5597928?s=48&d=identicon&r=g' srcset='https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/0f327ac6616afccb2cad6596b5597928?s=96&d=identicon&r=g 2x' class='avatar avatar-48 photo' height='48' width='48' loading='lazy' decoding='async'/> <strong>Dom Glennon</strong></a><ul><li><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2014/11/26/countability-grammar-codes/" title="Countability – grammar codes">Countability – grammar codes</a></li><li><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2014/06/04/hairdryers-and-squeaky-bums-the-colourful-world-of-football-words/" title="Hairdryers and squeaky bums: the colourful world of football words">Hairdryers and squeaky bums: the colourful world of football words</a></li></ul></li><li><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/author/drheikek/"> <img alt='1' src='https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/ca0ebdcb2fdc28a6eeaf6b28ca63a6cb?s=48&d=identicon&r=g' srcset='https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/ca0ebdcb2fdc28a6eeaf6b28ca63a6cb?s=96&d=identicon&r=g 2x' class='avatar avatar-48 photo' height='48' width='48' loading='lazy' decoding='async'/> <strong>Dr Heike Krüsemann</strong></a><ul><li><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2020/08/21/how-to-stay-motivated-during-the-pandemic-what-you-told-us-and-why-it-matters/" title="How to stay motivated during the pandemic: What you told us, and why it matters" aria-current="page">How to stay motivated during the pandemic: What you told us, and why it matters</a></li></ul></li><li><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/author/hughrawson/"> <img alt='1' src='https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/b0b0435c3c567be5d0f6979e5d464be5?s=48&d=identicon&r=g' srcset='https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/b0b0435c3c567be5d0f6979e5d464be5?s=96&d=identicon&r=g 2x' class='avatar avatar-48 photo' height='48' width='48' loading='lazy' decoding='async'/> <strong>hughrawson</strong></a><ul><li><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2013/07/01/janus-words-two-faced-english/" title="Janus Words – Two-faced English">Janus Words – Two-faced English</a></li><li><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2013/06/24/yet-more-yiddish/" title="Yet More Yiddish">Yet More Yiddish</a></li></ul></li><li><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/author/katewoodford/"> <img alt='1' src='https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/bac5c241ed0266a1b470307bc436f58f?s=48&d=identicon&r=g' srcset='https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/bac5c241ed0266a1b470307bc436f58f?s=96&d=identicon&r=g 2x' class='avatar avatar-48 photo' height='48' width='48' loading='lazy' decoding='async'/> <strong>Kate Woodford</strong></a><ul><li><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2025/02/26/when-life-gives-you-lemons-fruit-idioms/" title="When life gives you lemons… (Fruit idioms)">When life gives you lemons… (Fruit idioms)</a></li><li><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2025/02/12/chilled-to-the-bone-or-roasting-the-effect-that-the-weather-has-on-us/" title="Chilled to the bone or roasting? (The effect that the weather has on us)">Chilled to the bone or roasting? (The effect that the weather has on us)</a></li></ul></li><li><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/author/lizwalter2/"> <img alt='1' src='https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/4a29a1e94375522c0920818e6d4c4249?s=48&d=identicon&r=g' srcset='https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/4a29a1e94375522c0920818e6d4c4249?s=96&d=identicon&r=g 2x' class='avatar avatar-48 photo' height='48' width='48' loading='lazy' decoding='async'/> <strong>Liz Walter</strong></a><ul><li><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2025/02/19/we-was-hungry-understanding-non-standard-grammar-forms-1/" title="We was hungry: understanding non-standard grammar forms (1)">We was hungry: understanding non-standard grammar forms (1)</a></li><li><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2025/02/05/reckless-and-impulsive-acting-without-enough-thought/" title="Reckless and impulsive: words for acting without enough thought">Reckless and impulsive: words for acting without enough thought</a></li></ul></li><li><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/author/patriciaferraz/"> <img alt='1' src='https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/6cc62e6d9d2486f6f3e1d23e8ed1954c?s=48&d=identicon&r=g' srcset='https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/6cc62e6d9d2486f6f3e1d23e8ed1954c?s=96&d=identicon&r=g 2x' class='avatar avatar-48 photo' height='48' width='48' loading='lazy' decoding='async'/> <strong>Patricia Ferraz</strong></a><ul><li><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/07/24/idioms-in-the-guernsey-literary-and-potato-peel-pie-society/" title="Putting a spanner in the works – Idioms in The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society">Putting a spanner in the works – Idioms in The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society</a></li><li><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/07/17/idioms-in-the-thursday-murder-club/" title="In for a penny, in for a pound: Idioms in The Thursday Murder Club">In for a penny, in for a pound: Idioms in The Thursday Murder Club</a></li></ul></li><li><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/author/pheacock/"> <img alt='1' src='https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/4e3a803c8f45bbf76eeaa384a0210bd5?s=48&d=identicon&r=g' srcset='https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/4e3a803c8f45bbf76eeaa384a0210bd5?s=96&d=identicon&r=g 2x' class='avatar avatar-48 photo' height='48' width='48' loading='lazy' decoding='async'/> <strong>Paul Heacock</strong></a><ul><li><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2013/06/12/asadfarewell/" title="A sad farewell">A sad farewell</a></li><li><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2012/12/18/the-words-of-2012/" title="The words of 2012">The words of 2012</a></li></ul></li><li><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/author/racheledf/"> <img alt='1' src='https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/13391686972a7e5cb25e9c3e7c977088?s=48&d=identicon&r=g' srcset='https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/13391686972a7e5cb25e9c3e7c977088?s=96&d=identicon&r=g 2x' class='avatar avatar-48 photo' height='48' width='48' loading='lazy' decoding='async'/> <strong>racheledf</strong></a><ul><li><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2012/01/13/what-can-we-learn-from-emails/" title="What can we learn from emails?">What can we learn from emails?</a></li></ul></li><li><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/author/trevorbryden/"> <img alt='1' src='https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/c1bae3f8b5386d3c4e41bef30ba924e8?s=48&d=identicon&r=g' srcset='https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/c1bae3f8b5386d3c4e41bef30ba924e8?s=96&d=identicon&r=g 2x' class='avatar avatar-48 photo' height='48' width='48' loading='lazy' decoding='async'/> <strong>Trevor Bryden</strong></a><ul><li><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2012/04/17/mind-your-ps-and-qs/" title="Mind your p’s and q’s">Mind your p’s and q’s</a></li><li><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2012/02/27/what-makes-a-litter/" title="What makes a litter?">What makes a litter?</a></li></ul></li></ul></aside><aside id="twitter_timeline-3" 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