ENGLISH EXPLAINED 10/2019 Spotlight 47If someone commanded you to, “about-face!”, would
you know what to do? Well, here’s a clue: you proba-
bly wouldn’t be reading this page. In fact, you proba-
bly wouldn’t even be able to see the page.
If someone tells you to do an “about-face,” it
means they want you to stand in place and turn your
whole body 180 degrees. This was originally a mili-
tary term for when a soldier turns around to face the
opposite direction. Today, the phrase is also used to
mean “change your mind completely.”
To do an “about face” is one of a number of idioms
that my students have enjoyed learning — and using.
Let’s look at a few more that could be useful to know.
Here we go!
Goody two -shoes:
Did you know somebody in grade school who would
always play by the rules, always do the right thing, and
who was always quick to moralize? Well, such a per-
son is known as a “goody two-shoes.” For example:
Johnny: Hey, guys, let’s go swim in the neighbors’
pool. They’re on vacation for the week, and no one
will know.
Timmy: No, no. I don’t think that’s a good idea.
After all, it’s wrong to go onto other people’s property
when they’re not home.
Johnny: Oh, come on! Stop being such a goody two-
shoes, Timmy.
Tall tale:
Remember that kid in your class who always seemed
to exaggerate when he told stories? A person who ex-
aggerates details in a story to flatter himself tells “tall
tales.” For example:ENGLISH EXPLAINED
Be a teacher’s pet!
Unser Kolumnist stellt Redewendungen vor, die vermutlich die
wenigsten Nicht-Muttersprachler kennen. Wer sie doch versteht,
bekommt eindeutig Bonuspunkte!MEDIUM USbat [bÄt]
, Schläger
diving board
[(daIvIN bO:rd]
, Sprungbrett
exaggerate
[Ig(zÄdZEreIt]
, übertreiben
flatter [(flÄt&r]
, schmeicheln
grade school
[(greId sku:l] N. Am.
, Grundschule
like [laIk] ifml.
, hier: irgendwie
trout [traUt]
, Forelle“My dad and I went fishing last weekend and we
caught a fish that was, like, so big, and my dad and I
had to fight it off with a bat. But the fish kept fighting
back and had the strength of a lion, it seemed.” (The
fish that was caught was actually just a little trout.)
Here goes nothing:
Have you ever stood on the edge, so to speak, of tak-
ing a risk? Maybe you stood at the end of a ten-meter-
high diving board and had never jumped from such
a height before. Well, something you could say right
before jumping might be, “Here goes nothing.” We
sometimes say the phrase moments before we are
about to do something that feels risky or when we
know we might fail in something but we still want
to do it.
Teacher’s pet:
Remember that student in class who always used to
raise his hand and answer every question? In Ger-
man, you might call such a student a Streber, which
is best translated into English as “over achiever.”
But what would you call someone who was an over-
achiever and was favored by the teacher? Well, that
person would be known as a “teacher’s pet.”Fotos: privat; malerapaso, Viorika/iStock.com
THE LANGUAGE PAGES
Welcome to the language pages
Over the next dozen or more pages, we give you the opportunity to practise
grammar and vocabulary in an up-to-date context. We start off here with
a column that takes a light-hearted look at English in popular culture.CHAD SMITH
Originally from New York City, Chad Smith is a
freelance journalist and English teacher who now
lives in Hamburg.