Collocations are words that go together. For example:
"In this class everyone must do their homework".
Do and homework go together. In the following sentences can you decide what the correct collocation is? You have four choices:
Do
Make
Take
Have
Collocations are words that usually appear next to each other in sentences.
For example, make + a noise are a collocation because we often use them together, "This is a library so please do not make a noise."
We say 'make a noise' not 'do a noise' or 'have a noise'.
Have you come across these idioms before, which are all related to plants and flowers?
See if you can decide which idiom fits in which sentence and then post below what you think the idioms mean.
Do you know any other idioms that are related to flowers and plants?
Barking up the wrong tree - to be wrong about the reason for something.
This cartoon is based on the idiom, rub it in.
rub it in - if someone rubs it in, they keep talking about something or doing something that makes you upset or embarrassed.
"We all know she made a mistake, but you don't have to rub it in."
Murphy’s law?
This so-called ‘law’ says that ‘Anything that can go wrong will go wrong’.
The ‘Murphy’ in the expression is commonly believed to be a certain Captain Edward A. Murphy, who was an American aerospace engineer back in 1949.
salt of the earth
Being described by someone as ‘the salt of the earth’ is quite a compliment...it means that you are a person of great worth and reliability. The expression is Biblical in origin (Matthew 5:13), and it is believed that the use of ‘salt’ in the expression is a reference to the value of salt, which was supposedly quite a valued commodity back then!
Put the following sentences into the correct order to tell the story.
Lesson by Amanda Pooley, EC Cape Town English school
If you are in a pickle, you are in a difficult position, or have a problem to which no easy answer can be found.
The word ‘pickle’ comes from the Dutch word ‘pekel’, meaning ‘something piquant’, and originally referred to a spiced, salted vinegar that was used as a preservative.
In the seventeenth century, vegetables like cucumbers or gherkins that were preserved took the name.
The ‘in difficulty’ meaning of the expression alludes to the idea of being as mixed up and disoriented as the pickled vegetables in the jar!
The phrasal verb give up can mean 'to surrender' i.e. to stop trying and admit defeat.
It can be used when we can't answer a quiz/test question someone asks us.
