A. Note how some idioms in the text below set the scene (1-3), some make the events more intense or exciting (4-8), and some comment on the events and draw conclusions (9-16).

One day, I was sitting at my desk in the office, minding my own business¹ and just twiddling my thumbs², when my colleague Tom Jessop came walking towards me. I could feel it in my bones³ that something was going to happen. Suddenly, out of the blue⁴, and without so much as a by-your-leave⁵, he pulled the power cable out of the back of my computer, switching it off instantly. Before I knew where I was⁶, he was switching it on again, and in next to no time⁷, it was working normally. He explained that he had noticed out of the corner of his eye that I was just about to open an e-mail which he knew contained a dangerous virus, and he reacted quickly to stop me doing it. He explained that he had just opened the infected e-mail himself and that now his computer had completely crashed. To cap/crown it all⁸, he had lost a long, important report he had almost finished. But, would you believe it⁹, I had not saved my work for about an hour, and, to cut a long story short¹⁰, by pulling out my power cable he caused me to lose a report I was writing too, even though he saved me from the virus! However, as luck would have it¹¹, Iremembered later that I had a copy on my laptop, so everything turned out all right in the end¹², and all's well that ends well¹³, at least for me. I lived to tell the tale¹⁴, but poor old Tom lost everything on his computer. I know it was just one of those things¹⁵, but still, it just goes to show¹⁶ how you can never trust technology.

¹         doing nothing special

²         feeling bored, with nothing to do

³         I could sense

⁴         completely unexpectedly

⁵         without asking permission or warning anyone

⁶      before I had time to be aware of what was happening

⁷      very quickly

⁸      as the worst event in a series of bad ones

⁹      said when one is about to tell a coincidence

¹⁰    to tell something briefly

¹¹    purely by luck

¹²    finished well

¹³     said as a comment on a good ending to a series of bad events

¹⁴    I survived the events

¹⁵     it was an event that one just has to accept

¹⁶        used to state the moral or logical conclusion of the events

B. Other expressions that occur in narratives

A: It turned out she went to the same school as my sister. B: Well! It's a small world, isn't it? [ said when a coincidence happens between people ] "So I said, I'm not afraid of animals, let me carry it. Famous last words! It was a six-foot snake!" [ said when one later regrets something one has said ] A: I don't think I'll ever trust her again. B: Well, you live and learn, don't you? [ comment on events from which someone has learnt a lesson ]

“So you’re from Earth too? Small world isn’t it!”

 

Task 2. Complete the idioms in these sentences.

1. I was just standing there, and then, out of ____________________, a man on a horse rode up to me.

2. I was in the office, minding ____________________, when I heard a bell ringing in the street.

3. I could feel ____________________ that it wasn't going to be an ordinary day.

4. We were just twiddling ____________________, waiting for something to happen.

5. Then, without so much ____________________, he took my bike and rode off.

Task 3. Which idiom means...

1. to get quickly to the end of the story?

2. you usually learn something from a bad experience?

3. coincidences happen in this world of ours?

4. I survived all the bad things?

5. the events prove/demonstrate that...?

6. the events were something you just have to accept?

 

Task 4. Match the beginnings and endings of the idioms below.

1. as luck    2. famous 3. in next    4. all's well 5. to crown 6. would you

a) that ends well b) believe it c) would have it d) it all e) last words f) to no time

Task 5. Match the underlined idioms with their definitions. Use a good general dictionary or a dictionary of idioms if necessary.

Idioms

1. I had a feeling of deja vu.

2. So far so good, I thought.

3. One thing led to another.

4. If you can't beat them, join them.

5. You can't win them all.

6. I had nothing to lose, so I did it.

Definitions

a) A series of events all happened, over which the speaker had little control.

b) The speaker felt he or she had already experienced what was about to happen.

c) One always has to accept that bad things will happen as well as good.

d) Things were already bad, and the proposed action could not make them worse.

e) Things were going fine up to that point.

f) One is resigned to accept something that one has been struggling against.

 

Appendix 10.