You're "on the right track" ...
...NOT in a good path.
Friday, December 16, 2011
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Ready to Get This Over With!
I am currently waiting for a lovely girl from Orbitz Customer Service to call me at home. After hours of trying to book flights for my parents through the website, they continue to reject my purchase. We called the credit card company. No problem there.
No one likes calling customer service, but fortunately this non-native English speaker has been quite pleasant. Her English is excellent, but there are always little hints that remind you you're not speaking with a native.
I couldn't help but smile when she attempted to repeat an expression I used:
Her: "Ma'am, is there a number I can call you back at because this is going to take a few minutes."
Me: "Yes, my number at home is..."
Her: "Are you going to be home this afternoon?"
Me: "Yes, I'll be home until we get this over with." (i.e. until we solve this problem/finish this)
Her: "Ok, I'll try to call you as soon as possible so you can get over with this."
I always tell my ESL learners to try to use appropriate words and phrases they read or hear from native speakers. This is exactly what she was doing, albeit she meant to say "get this over with."
I hope she calls me back...
Monday, December 5, 2011
Jump the Gun
I love questions about idioms. Today I got one about "jump the gun" from this sentence:
"I don't know if you have finished testing the lab, so I might be jumping the gun, but I started retesting it and have run into a few issues."
So, in this case, jump the gun means doing something before it should be done.
This person might be jumping the gun because he might have started retesting too early.
You might find this idiom easier to remember if you think about its origin. The idiom was originally used in sports contests that began with the firing of a gun. If a runner, for example, started before the gun was fired, they would say he/she jumped the gun.
More examples:
Investments are often acts of patience, which means you have to know when to act, and not jump the gun.
I’m not usually one to jump the gun on holidays. I like to enjoy them each as they come. That's why I never put up my Christmas tree before Thanksgiving.
They didn't want to jump the gun and launch them before they were ready, that's understandable. (http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2123988/Google-Brand-Pages-Lacking-But-Youll-Make-One-Anyway)
"I don't know if you have finished testing the lab, so I might be jumping the gun, but I started retesting it and have run into a few issues."
So, in this case, jump the gun means doing something before it should be done.
This person might be jumping the gun because he might have started retesting too early.
You might find this idiom easier to remember if you think about its origin. The idiom was originally used in sports contests that began with the firing of a gun. If a runner, for example, started before the gun was fired, they would say he/she jumped the gun.
More examples:Investments are often acts of patience, which means you have to know when to act, and not jump the gun.
I’m not usually one to jump the gun on holidays. I like to enjoy them each as they come. That's why I never put up my Christmas tree before Thanksgiving.
They didn't want to jump the gun and launch them before they were ready, that's understandable. (http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2123988/Google-Brand-Pages-Lacking-But-Youll-Make-One-Anyway)
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