Waiting for the other shoe to drop
Back in late 1800s/early 1900s, (I am guessing) in NY, there were quite a few multi-storeyed homes and each home had, as you can expect, a family. In those old days, the men used to work and the women stayed at home. How surprising!
Back in late 1800s/early 1900s, (I am guessing) in NY, there were quite a few multi-storeyed homes and each home had, as you can expect, a family. In those old days, the men used to work and the women stayed at home. How surprising!
After each work day, when the men came back from work, they sat down on their chair and took their shoes off, the first shoe and then the second one. After taking the first one off, they used to drop it on the floor as one can expect and this drop created a 'thud' sound.
This sound, thanks for the not-too-sound-proof floors could be heard loud and clear in the home immediately below. After the first thud, the folks living in the apartment below could reasonably expect the second thud … or the other shoe to drop.
The expression comes from vintage NY, meaning that because A happened, B is bound to happen.
This sound, thanks for the not-too-sound-proof floors could be heard loud and clear in the home immediately below. After the first thud, the folks living in the apartment below could reasonably expect the second thud … or the other shoe to drop.
The expression comes from vintage NY, meaning that because A happened, B is bound to happen.
Back to square one
Remember the board game – Chutes and Ladders? For some of us from India, it is called Snakes and Ladders. That game had this horrible square that had a chute/snake that, when we were unfortunate to land on it, took us all the way back to the first square or … back to square one.
The expression comes from that board game. It means, as you know, to start all over as all the efforts since the path we had taken earlier resulted in nada.
Remember the board game – Chutes and Ladders? For some of us from India, it is called Snakes and Ladders. That game had this horrible square that had a chute/snake that, when we were unfortunate to land on it, took us all the way back to the first square or … back to square one.
The expression comes from that board game. It means, as you know, to start all over as all the efforts since the path we had taken earlier resulted in nada.
Bites the dust
In all those Westerns, yep the ones with that gunfight between those two cowboy gunslingers, guess what happens? Well, the good guy shoots the bad guy, the bad guy falls down to the ground, the ground is a dusty road in the middle of the town. When the bad guy falls down, when his face falls on the ground, in his last breaths he … bites (some) dust.
This expression comes from those (or similar) situations and means the end, in not such a happy way.
In all those Westerns, yep the ones with that gunfight between those two cowboy gunslingers, guess what happens? Well, the good guy shoots the bad guy, the bad guy falls down to the ground, the ground is a dusty road in the middle of the town. When the bad guy falls down, when his face falls on the ground, in his last breaths he … bites (some) dust.
This expression comes from those (or similar) situations and means the end, in not such a happy way.
Blockbuster
The year was 1975. The time was summer. The scene was the beach. The picturesque setting is not always as happy as it presents itself, is it? That was the time when the movie Jaws was released. The movie had tremendous pre-release hype (well, justified).
During the first few days of the movie's release, there were looooooong lines outside the theatres that were showing the movie. The lines were so long that they went past an entire block, making Jaws the first official … blockbuster.
And everyone lived happily ever after, or did they?
The year was 1975. The time was summer. The scene was the beach. The picturesque setting is not always as happy as it presents itself, is it? That was the time when the movie Jaws was released. The movie had tremendous pre-release hype (well, justified).
During the first few days of the movie's release, there were looooooong lines outside the theatres that were showing the movie. The lines were so long that they went past an entire block, making Jaws the first official … blockbuster.
And everyone lived happily ever after, or did they?
Doing a 180
This is pretty much self explanatory. It means to move around a point, 180 degrees, as in half circle and the resulting in facing the other direction. An about turn, or … doing a 180.
Dang Mathematics.
This is pretty much self explanatory. It means to move around a point, 180 degrees, as in half circle and the resulting in facing the other direction. An about turn, or … doing a 180.
Dang Mathematics.