Blogger Widgets Blogger Widgets ¡Mira que luna......! Look at that moon....! Resources for learning English: IDIOMS. off the cuff. 25-05-2011.

!Mira que luna! Look at that moon! Resources for learning English

!Mira que luna! Look at that moon! Resources for learning English
Fernando Olivera: El rapto.- TEXT FROM THE NOVEL The goldfinch by Donna Tartt (...) One night we were in San Antonio, and I was having a bit of a melt-down, wanting my own room, you know, my dog, my own bed, and Daddy lifted me up on the fairgrounds and told me to look at the moon. When "you feel homesick", he said, just look up. Because the moon is the same wherever you go". So after he died, and I had to go to Aunt Bess -I mean, even now, in the city, when I see a full moon, it's like he's telling me not to look back or feel sad about things, that home is wherever I am. She kissed me on the nose. Or where you are, puppy. The center of my earth is you". The goldfinch Donna Tartt 4441 English edition

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

IDIOMS. off the cuff. 25-05-2011.


off the cuff

Meaning: If you speak off the cuff, you speak without planning what you will say beforehand.
For example:
·                           She wasn't expecting to win, so she hadn't prepared a speech, but she still managed to say a few words off the cuff after being given the award.
·                           The prime minister keeps making off-the-cuff remarks that get him into trouble.
Note: When used to modify a noun or a noun phrase, this idiom should be written with hyphens, as in "an off-the-cuff comment".

Origin: Possibly related to the fact that people sometimes write last-minute notes on the cuff of their shirt's sleeve before making a speech or saying a few words. 
Quick Quiz:
Professor Sacks had to give the lecture off the cuff because
a.  the microphone was broken
b. he couldn't speak English
c.   he was filling in for someone who was ill
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