A phrase a day, keeps your English in shape.
January
By a twist of fate
By chance and changing everything.
“By a twist of fate, the main character ended up becoming a spy.”
22/01/2021
Half the battle
It is like saying you have made great progress towards your objective. You are a lot closer to achieving it.
“They had raised enough funds to rebuild the school. That was half the battle.”
21/01/2021
Count your blessings
Appreciate the good things in your life.
“I get it. Life can be tough but now, stop for a moment and count your blessings. It will make you see things from a different angle.”
20/01/2021
Lose face
To lose people’s respect.
“After the incident, the hospital feared losing face. They found a scape goat that they could blame and fire. Luckily, it all was uncovered eventually.”
19/01/2021
Turn the tables
Reverse the situation from being in a weaker position to being in a more advantageous position.
“During the final, the tables were turned when the local team proved to be stronger than their rivals had expected.”
18/01/2021
Not/never in a million years
It will never happen.
“When asked if he would get married again, he replied with no hesitation: Not in a million years!”
15/01/2021
I don’t buy it.
If someone is telling you something that you don’t believe, you can say that you don’t buy it.
“Another excuse for not having done the homework? I don’t buy it!.”
14/01/2021
Can’t get your head around something
Hard to understand and/or accept.
“This Chromecast system works randomly. I can’t really get my head around it.”
13/01/2021
Test the water/waters
To make a preliminary approach to see how things go before taking further action.
“He was advised to test the waters before moving his business to another region.”
12/01/2021
To be a thing
If something “is a thing” (informal), it exists and people know about it.
“I didn’t know that UV toothbrush sanitisers were a thing.”
11/01/2021