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Safari English Academy · Vocabulary · C1 Advanced

Idioms: situations and opinions

ፈሊጣዊ አነጋገሮች፦ ሁኔታዎችና አስተያየቶች

Name: ________________________Date: ______________

How it works

These idioms help you comment on what is happening around you, in conversation or in an opinion piece. If you "take a story with a pinch of salt", you don't add salt to anything: you just don't believe all of it.

እነዚህ ፈሊጣዊ አነጋገሮች በውይይትም ሆነ በአስተያየት ጽሑፍ በዙሪያዎ ስለሚሆነው ነገር አስተያየት ለመስጠት ይረዳሉ። አንድን ወሬ "with a pinch of salt" ሲቀበሉ ጨው አይጨምሩም፤ ሁሉንም አያምኑትም ማለት ነው።

Some of these fit formal writing well ("leave no stone unturned", "a far cry from", "the writing is on the wall"). Others are more conversational ("by the skin of your teeth", "have the last laugh").

ከእነዚህ አንዳንዶቹ ለመደበኛ ጽሑፍም ይስማማሉ ("leave no stone unturned"፣ "a far cry from"፣ "the writing is on the wall")። ሌሎቹ ደግሞ ለዕለት ተዕለት ንግግር ይቀርባሉ ("by the skin of your teeth"፣ "have the last laugh")።

Words

a storm in a teacupThe row over the new parking rules was a storm in a teacup; by Friday everyone had forgotten it.በትንሽ ነገር የተፈጠረ ትልቅ ጩኸት ወይም ቁጣ
add insult to injuryOur flight was cancelled, and to add insult to injury, they lost our luggage.መጥፎ በሆነ ሁኔታ ላይ ሌላ የባሰ ነገር መጨመር
take something with a pinch of saltTake anything you read on social media with a pinch of salt.አንድን ነገር ሙሉ በሙሉ ሳያምኑ በጥርጣሬ መቀበል
the writing is on the wallWhen the shop stopped ordering new stock, the writing was on the wall.አንድ መጥፎ ነገር (ውድቀት፣ ፍጻሜ) መምጣቱን የሚያሳዩ ግልጽ ምልክቶች መኖር
a far cry fromLife in the capital is a far cry from the quiet village where I grew up.ከአንድ ነገር በጣም የተለየ (ብዙ ጊዜ የባሰ ወይም የተሻለ)
by the skin of your teethI passed the entrance exam by the skin of my teeth: just one mark above the pass mark.ለጥቂት፣ በጭንቅ
hit the ground runningWe need someone with experience who can hit the ground running.አዲስ ሥራ ወይም ኃላፊነት ሲጀምሩ ጊዜ ሳያጠፉ ወዲያውኑ በብርታት መሥራት
a catch-22It's a catch-22: you can't get a job without experience, and you can't get experience without a job.ሁለቱም መንገዶች እርስ በርስ ስለሚዘጋጉ መውጫ የሌለው አጣብቂኝ
leave no stone unturnedThe police promised to leave no stone unturned in their search for the missing child.አንድን ነገር ለማግኘት ወይም ለማሳካት የሚቻለውን ሁሉ መሞከር
have the last laughEveryone laughed at her plan to sell coffee online, but she had the last laugh.ሌሎች ቢጠራጠሩም ወይም ቢያፌዙም በመጨረሻ ማሸነፍ ወይም ትክክል መሆን

Exercises

  1. "The argument about the office fridge was just a storm in a teacup." What does this mean?

    "The argument about the office fridge was just a storm in a teacup." ምን ማለት ነው?

    • ☐ a) The fridge was broken by bad weather.
    • ☐ b) The argument lasted for many years.
    • ☐ c) People got very upset about something small.

  2. Which idiom means "a situation with no way out, because each choice depends on the other"?

    "እያንዳንዱ ምርጫ በሌላው ላይ ስለሚመሠረት መውጫ የሌለው ሁኔታ" የትኛው ፈሊጥ ነው?

    • ☐ a) a catch-22
    • ☐ b) a storm in a teacup
    • ☐ c) a far cry from

  3. "He caught the last bus by the skin of his teeth." How did he catch it?

    "He caught the last bus by the skin of his teeth." አውቶቡሱን እንዴት ያዘው?

    • ☐ a) after a fight with the driver
    • ☐ b) easily, with time to spare
    • ☐ c) only just, almost too late

  4. "The new manager hit the ground running." What did the manager do?

    "The new manager hit the ground running." አዲሱ ሥራ አስኪያጅ ምን አደረገ?

    • ☐ a) fell over on the first day
    • ☐ b) started working hard immediately
    • ☐ c) went jogging every morning

  5. The bus broke down, and to add insult to _______________, it started to rain.

    አውቶቡሱ ተበላሸ፤ በዚያ ላይ ደግሞ ዝናብ መዝነብ ጀመረ።

  6. His stories are always exaggerated, so take them with a pinch of _______________.

    ወሬዎቹ ሁልጊዜ የተጋነኑ ናቸው፤ ስለዚህ ሙሉ በሙሉ አትመናቸው።

  7. onTheisthewritingwall.

    መጥፎው ነገር መምጣቱን የሚያሳዩ ግልጽ ምልክቶች አሉ።

    1. 1. leave no stone unturned → ___
    2. 2. have the last laugh → ___
    3. 3. a far cry from → ___
    4. 4. by the skin of your teeth → ___
    • a) የሚቻለውን ሁሉ መሞከር
    • b) በመጨረሻ ማሸነፍ
    • c) ለጥቂት
    • d) በጣም የተለየ

Answer key

  1. c) People got very upset about something small.
  2. a) a catch-22
  3. c) only just, almost too late
  4. b) started working hard immediately
  5. injury
  6. salt
  7. The writing is on the wall.
  8. 1-a, 2-b, 3-d, 4-c

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