¡Mira que luna......! Look at that moon....! Resources for learning English: TO BITE OFF MORE THAN YOU CAN CHEW

!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

Saturday, May 3, 2014

TO BITE OFF MORE THAN YOU CAN CHEW

A crocodile eats meat in a pond in San Manuel.

Today's Phrase

If you bite off more than you can chew, you try to do more than you are able to do.

For example:

I have bitten off more than I can chew by taking on this extra work – I don't think I'll get it finished on time.

David and Sarah planned to completely renovate their house by themselves. In the end, they bit off more than they could chew and had to pay builders to finish it.

Thanks for offering to babysit and cook dinner for us, but don't bite off more than you can chew.

Don't confuse it with

If you cry crocodile tears, you show fake sadness.

Louise is crying in the corner because she says the boss upset her – don't pay any attention to her, though – they're just crocodile tears.

Interesting fact

Each crocodile has 24 teeth in its powerful jaws, which are constantly replaced throughout its life. However, these teeth are designed to grab and crush prey, rather than chew it. The reptiles swallow stones, which grind up food in their stomachs.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/2012/10/121019_todays_phrase_bite_off_more_than_you_can_chew.shtml

deep-seated discuss
Definition:	(adjective) (Used especially of ideas or principles) deeply rooted; firmly fixed or held.
Synonyms:	deep-rooted, implanted, ingrained,planted
Usage:	He divined the fanatical love of freedom in her, the deep-seated antipathy for restraint of any sort.

misconstrue
Definition:	Interpret in the wrong way.
Synonyms:	be amiss, misapprehend, misconceive, misunderstand, misinterpret

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