Idioms and Proverbs

Proverbs and idioms are often used in speech, and many of them are linked with historical events and places. See whether you can use and understand some of these:

1. All is well that ends well.

2. Any port in a storm.

3. Meet your Waterloo (Napoleon was finally defeated at Waterloo)

4. Big Apple (nickname of New York)

5. Rome wasn’t built in a day (If you’re asked to do a very difficult work very quickly, but you need some time for doing it)

Many famous expressions came into English and Russian speech because of famous personalities. For example, famous American philosopher and politician Benjamin Franklin used in his speeches and books many of sentences that became widely known and used in public communications.

1. Time is Money;

2. Fools set banquets, cleverest eat at them;

3. Laziness makes any matter difficult;

4. If you love the life, don’t waste it because the life consists of time;

5. If you want to have spare time, don’t waste time;

6. It’s impossible to help to that who doesn’t listen to advices;

7. Glass, china and reputation is easy to break, but hard to glue;

8. Spend pence less than you earn;

9. What started with anger ends with shame;

On the other side of the world, the other famous Russian poet Ivan Krilov composed many famous verses which became the world-known and widely used:

1. Oh, Moska! She must be strong, barking at the elephant;

2. To be strong is good; to be clever is twice better;

3. Cuckoo praises a rooster for him praising the cuckoo;

Exercise № 57. Use known proverbs and idioms in the following situations.

1. Your sister lost her job due to a closure of the factory she used to work. Now she has no job and money to raise her children.

2. Your wife’s mother lost all her money in gambling at a local casino. Now she lives in your house.

3. First he made a list of references, and studied each book in detail. Then he finally understood the subject of his dissertation.

4. Your boss wants you to attend a computer course in New York. You have decided to use this lucky chance.

Exercise № 58. Word game.

For each word below give another which has a different spelling and meaning but exactly the same pronunciation.

Example: road – rode, patience – patients

Mist break weak see flower bear saw pain

Role Play:

In groups of three, write a role play and then perform it in the class. Choose one of these topics:

1. Tactics of the scorched earth for the Russian peasants in their struggle against the French;
2. Instructions to the Russian partisans.