Idioms?

The future depends on what we do in the present. - Mahatma Gandhi

A few days ago, I had the pleasure of attending a meeting. The meeting was, well, what most meetings are like, but the part that caught my attention was when someone used an idiom.

If you think the idiom was what caught my attention, you are wrong. It was the expression on the faces around the room that caught my attention. It was the “Huh?” look. Since most of them had that look, the speaker voluntarily explained the meaning of the idiom that she mentioned earlier.

The next incident happened over the course of a few days after the first incident. I met my cousin who speaks pretty well in English. She was telling me about the decisions she has to make in her life, and in particular, she had to wait for some of her results to get in before she makes that particular decision. So I told her, trying to sound wise and all that “Well, you know how a watched pot never boils”. And then came the look, the same one I experienced in the meeting a few days ago, but this time, I was pretty shocked.

So I went on asking her to tell me if she uses idioms at all, and if they teach some in school. From her explanation, it dawned to me that idioms were only used when it came to writing essays, because using idioms were considered creative, and therefore, earned them more points.

Since this is the scenario that most Malaysians are faced with, I have decided to include an idiom in my every entry starting today. Hope this will help.

Idiom of the day: A watched pot never boils
Meaning: Some things work out in their own time, so being impatient and constantly checking will just make things seem longer.

Source: www.usingenglish.com