Don't Bite the Hand that Feeds You
Luigi, you shouldn’t be so disrespectful to your father. Don’t bite the hand that feeds you!
For further examples, look at the following news headlines that contain this English idiom:
Apple to Chinese court: Don’t bite the hand that feeds you
- thetechblock.com, 22 February 2012, Jon Dick
Don’t bite the hands that feed you, warns UN food agency
- timesofmalta.com, 30 November 2011, Dario Thuburn
The following video from dailymotion.com shows scenes from the Occupy Wall Street Movement accompanied by Steppenwolf’s song Power Play, which contains the English proverb don’t bite the hand that feeds you. Do you think that this song was the right choice for the film? Why?
power play - don't bite the hand that feeds you von tonowando
Put Someone / Something to the Test
Manuel is going to put his running skills to the test in next week’s marathon.
The consumer report put five smartphones to the test.
Do you really think that you are better than me? I am going to put you to the test right now!
As a dog owner, I found the following video very interesting. In it, WHNT News puts six dogs to the test. Would these dogs defend their homes when a burglar breaks in? Watch the video and find out.
Would you like to put your English grammar skills to the test? Try the following ESL test.
Out to Lunch
The English expression to be out to lunch literally means ❛to be eating lunch away from one’s place of work❜. However, as an idiom, it also means...
a) not being in touch with reality
b) not paying attention to what you are doing
c) to be crazy
d) all of the above
Click here to go to the correct definition of to be out to lunch.
Abuzz
When a large group of people all talk at the same time, they can create a ❛buzzing❜ sound that is very similar to the sound that bees make. Hence, the English expression to be abuzz. If something, for example a room or city, is abuzz, it is ❛filled with people who are all actively talking about something at the same time❜. For example:
The internet is abuzz with rumors that Brad Pitt is getting married.
When the school principal announced the news, the school was abuzz.
Here are some news headlines or blog posts which use the English idiom abuzz:
Twitter abuzz with Michael Jackson death reports
- metro.co.uk
Illinois town abuzz over lottery jackpot winner
- suntimes.com, 2 April 2012, Associated Press
Disney’s search for marketing president has Hollywood abuzz
- latimesblogs.latimes.com, 12 January 2012, Ben Fritz
In the headlines above, people on Twitter, in an Illinois town and in Hollywood were abuzz. They were all talking about something - the death of Michael Jackson, a lottery win and a job opening at Disney - at the same time. What are our newspapers abuzz with today?