Safari English Academy · Vocabulary · B2 Upper intermediate
Idioms: decisions and problems
ፈሊጣዊ አነጋገሮች፦ ውሳኔዎችና ችግሮች
Name: ________________________Date: ______________
How it works
An idiom is a group of words whose meaning is different from the meaning of each word. If someone "sits on the fence", they are not really sitting anywhere: they refuse to choose between two sides.
ፈሊጣዊ አነጋገር (idiom) ትርጉሙ ከእያንዳንዱ ቃል ትርጉም የተለየ የሆነ የቃላት ስብስብ ነው። አንድ ሰው "sits on the fence" ከተባለ በእውነት አጥር ላይ አልተቀመጠም፤ ከሁለት ወገኖች አንዱን ለመምረጥ አልፈለገም ማለት ነው።
Several of these idioms are often used with a modal verb: "we'll have to bite the bullet", "let's play it by ear", "we'll cross that bridge when we come to it". Learn them in these common forms.
ከእነዚህ ፈሊጦች ብዙዎቹ ብዙ ጊዜ ከረዳት ግሶች ጋር ይመጣሉ፦ "we'll have to bite the bullet"፣ "let's play it by ear"፣ "we'll cross that bridge when we come to it"። በእነዚህ የተለመዱ ቅርጾች ይማሯቸው።
Idioms are informal. They are great in conversation and in IELTS Speaking, but avoid them in formal letters and academic essays.
ፈሊጣዊ አነጋገሮች መደበኛ አይደሉም። በንግግርና በIELTS Speaking ጥሩ ናቸው፤ በመደበኛ ደብዳቤና በአካዳሚያዊ ድርሰት ግን አይጠቀሙባቸው።
Words
| sit on the fenceYou can't sit on the fence any longer. Do you support the plan or not? | ከሁለት ወገን አንዱን አለመምረጥ፣ ውሳኔ ከመስጠት መቆጠብ |
| a blessing in disguiseLosing that job was a blessing in disguise. It gave me the push to start my own business. | መጀመሪያ መጥፎ መስሎ በኋላ ጥሩ ሆኖ የተገኘ ነገር |
| beat around the bushStop beating around the bush and tell me what really happened. | ዙሪያ ጥምጥም መሄድ፣ ቀጥታ አለመናገር |
| cross that bridge when you come to it"What if the visa doesn't come in time?" "Let's cross that bridge when we come to it." | ችግሩ ሲመጣ ያኔ መፍትሔ መፈለግ፣ አስቀድሞ አለመጨነቅ |
| get out of handThe argument got out of hand, and the teacher had to stop it. | ከቁጥጥር ውጭ መሆን |
| the elephant in the roomWe talked about everything except the elephant in the room: the company has no money. | ሁሉም የሚያውቀው ግን ማንም ሊያነሳው የማይፈልገው ትልቅ ችግር |
| play it by earI don't know if it will rain on Sunday, so let's play it by ear. | አስቀድሞ ሳያቅዱ እንደ ሁኔታው መወሰን |
| miss the boatApplications closed yesterday. I'm afraid you've missed the boat this year. | ዕድሉ ማለፍ፣ ዘግይቶ ዕድልን ማጣት |
| bite the bulletI hate going to the dentist, but I'll have to bite the bullet. My tooth really hurts. | አስቸጋሪ ወይም የማይወደድ ነገርን በድፍረት መቀበልና ማድረግ |
| jump on the bandwagonWhen the new app became popular, all the shops jumped on the bandwagon. | ሌሎች ስለሚያደርጉት ብቻ አንድን ነገር መከተል |
Exercises
Failing the first exam was a blessing in disguise for Hana. What does this mean?
የመጀመሪያውን ፈተና መውደቋ ለሃና "a blessing in disguise" ነበር። ይህ ምን ማለት ነው?
- ☐ a) It was a secret that she hid from everyone.
- ☐ b) It was bad at first, but it led to something good.
- ☐ c) It made her give up studying.
"Stop beating around the bush!" What does the speaker want?
"Stop beating around the bush!" ተናጋሪው ምን ይፈልጋል?
- ☐ a) more time to think
- ☐ b) a direct answer
- ☐ c) to go into the garden
Which idiom means "to decide later, depending on what happens"?
"እንደ ሁኔታው በኋላ መወሰን" ማለት የትኛው ፈሊጥ ነው?
- ☐ a) get out of hand
- ☐ b) play it by ear
- ☐ c) miss the boat
In a meeting, everyone knows sales are falling, but nobody says it. Sales are …
በስብሰባ ላይ ሽያጭ እየቀነሰ መሆኑን ሁሉም ያውቃል፤ ግን ማንም አይናገርም። ሽያጩ …
- ☐ a) on the fence
- ☐ b) the elephant in the room
- ☐ c) a blessing in disguise
The party got out of _______________ when too many people arrived.
በጣም ብዙ ሰዎች ሲመጡ ግብዣው ከቁጥጥር ውጭ ሆነ።
The surgery will be painful, but I'll have to bite the _______________.
ቀዶ ሕክምናው ያማል፤ ቢሆንም ቆርጬ መቀበል አለብኝ።
fence.alwaysonsitstheHe
እሱ ሁልጊዜ ወገን አይመርጥም።
- 1. miss the boat → ___
- 2. jump on the bandwagon → ___
- 3. get out of hand → ___
- 4. cross that bridge when you come to it → ___
- a) ሌሎችን ተከትሎ ማድረግ
- b) ችግሩ ሲመጣ ያኔ ማሰብ
- c) ከቁጥጥር ውጭ መሆን
- d) ዕድሉ ማለፍ
Answer key
- b) It was bad at first, but it led to something good.
- b) a direct answer
- b) play it by ear
- b) the elephant in the room
- hand
- bullet
- He always sits on the fence.
- 1-d, 2-a, 3-c, 4-b
safarienglish.com/learn/idioms-decisions-and-problems-b2 · Free lessons with audio and Amharic help