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I have a very short and simple entry for you today. It’s the idiom, to “go Dutch”. It is used when we are at a restaurant or bar with someone and want to talk about each person paying for their own food and drinks. For example:

When I go out with my friends, we usually go Dutch.

A: Shall we go Dutch tonight?

B: No, not this time. Tonight it’s on me.

I can’t let you pay for the whole bill, so let’s go Dutch.

I like the idea of going Dutch because it’s a very fair system.

In the second example, I used “it’s on me”. When someone says this, it means that they will pay for the entire bill.

Apparently, this expression come from the custom in the Netherlands where people usually pay separately even when dating.

The idiom for this week is “you name it”, and it is used when we are listing many things. Instead of continuing to add more things to the list, we simply say “you name it”. So it has the meaning of: anything you can think of could be added to this list. For example:

I can do everything with my iPhone: surf the Internet, send emails, play games, take pictures, you name it.

There are many kinds of restaurants in the downtown area: Korean, Thai, Mexican, Japanese, you name it.

They sell everything at this store: clothes, food, furniture, stationery, you name it.

My friend has traveled all over the world. He’s been to France, Brazil, Australia, China, you name it.

So, as you can see, we always put this expression at the end of the sentence in which we are listing examples of something.

This week’s idiom is to “turn one’s nose up at something”. It is used when we want to talk about a person who refuses something because they think it’s not good enough for them. For example:

This is a good job even though the salary is not so high. You shouldn’t turn your nose up at it.

Jenny is so superficial. She turns her nose up at any guy who’s not handsome and rich.

When I was young I used to turn my nose up at any foreign food, but I don’t do that anymore.

My apartment isn’t so nice, but it was the only place I could find to live. I couldn’t afford to turn my nose up at it.

So this expression is always used in a negative way to talk about people who are being snobby or picky about something.

It’s Sunday here in Tokyo, and that means it’s time for another idiom. This week’s idiom is to have something “in spades”. Now first of all, I should explain what a spade is: It is either a garden tool used for digging or it’s one of the suits used in playing cards. There’s a picture of the king of spades above.

When we use “in spades” as an idiom, it means that someone has a very large amount of something. For example:

That girl has singing talent in spades. I think she’ll be a big star one day.

I’ve got money problems in spades right now. I don’t know what I’m going to do. I might have to declare bankruptcy.

We don’t have to go to the DVD store. We have DVDs in spades here.

Bill has got confidence in spades. I wish I could be as confident as he is.

So, as you can see, we can use this idiom with both countable and uncountable nouns. Apparently, the origin of this expression comes from the card game of Bridge. In that game, the spades are considered the highest suit. So, I suppose, if you have a lot of spades, then you’ll be more likely to win the game.

If you’ve ever felt that someone in your life has been keeping a secret from you, you can use today’s idiom, to “keep someone in the dark”. It is used when we want to talk about a person who doesn’t tell another person about something; in other words they are keeping information from the other person. For example:

I think there’s a problem with my wife’s health, but she hasn’t said anything about it. I hate it when she keeps me in the dark like that!

There are rumors of my company merging with another one, but my boss is keeping us in the dark about it.

I know there’s something wrong! Please tell me what it is! Don’t keep me in the dark like this!

We’ve kept the children in the dark for too long about our plan to get a divorce. I think it’s time we told them.

This expression can be used in personal or business situations because it is neither formal nor casual in tone.

Today is Sunday, and that means it’s time for another idiom. Today the expression I want to teach you is to “pull someone’s leg”. This is used to talk about one person telling a lie to another person as a joke. For example:

My girlfriend told me she was pregnant, but she was just pulling my leg.

A: Guess what! I’m moving to China next month!

B: Is that really true or are you pulling my leg?

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A: Bill told me he used to date Julia Roberts.

B: You believed him? I’m pretty sure he was just pulling your leg.

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A: Do you really work for NASA?

B: No, I was just pulling your leg. I’m really an accountant at ABC Company.

So, with this expression, it’s important that you only say “leg” without an S. If you say, “pulling my legs”, it will sound very strange. Also, it’s very common to put the word “just” in front of this expression.

The idea of lying to someone as a joke may be strange to people from certain cultures, but it is quite a normal part of humor among many English speakers.

Today is Sunday, so that means it’s time for another idiom. The one I’ve chosen for today is it’s “up in the air”. Often, with this expression, we use the word “still” before the word “up”. We use it when we want to say that something is still not decided and that we are still waiting to receive someone’s decision about a situation or that we’re waiting for more information that will allow us to make a decision about something. For example:

I don’t know how much my salary will be at my new job. It’s up in the air right now because we’re still negotiating my contract.

A: When will the office Christmas party be held this year?

B: It’s still up in the air. The boss is still trying to decide on a date.

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A: How many people will be attending the conference?

B: I haven’t heard back from everyone yet, so it’s still up in the air.

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A: Which university will you be going to in the fall?

B: It’s still up in the air. I haven’t heard back from all of the schools yet.

We don’t use this expression when we have the power to make the decision ourselves. Therefore, for example, if it’s up to us to choose a school to attend in the fall and we haven’t chosen one yet, we would NOT say “it’s still up in the air.” Instead, we would say “I haven’t decided yet.” or “I haven’t made up my mind yet.” By using “It’s still up in the air” we are saying that we have to wait for more information or for another person’s decision.

It’s time for another idiom. This week I’ve decided to write about the expression: to be in someone’s “good books”. We use it when we want to say that a person is in someone else’s favor at the moment because they did something good. The other person is usually someone of higher status. For example:

I’m in my manager’s good books right now because I agreed to work this weekend.

My sister is in our parents’ good books because she did really well on her final exams. They’re really proud of her.

I was a little late for my meeting with my boss. I hope I’m still in his good books.

We can also use this expression in the negative. For example:

I’m not in my teacher’s good books right now because I didn’t do my homework.

My brother is never in our parents’ good books. He’s always getting into trouble.

It’s also possible to use this expression with the word “bad”. For example:

I’m in my manager’s bad books right now because I made a big mistake at the office, and our client is really angry.

My father is in my mother’s bad books now because he forgot her birthday!

When we use “bad books”, it sounds much stronger than “not in someone’s good books”. So being in someone’s “bad books” indicates the higher level person is angry.

The other day I heard someone use this idiom, and I think it’s a very interesting expression. It’s “can’t…to save (one’s) life”. It is used when we want to say that a certain person has no ability to do something; in other words they are really bad at it. For example:

A: Would you like to dance?

B: I’m sorry, but I can’t dance to save my life. I think you should ask someone else.

My brother can’t draw to save his life, but my sister is very good at it.

My aunt tried hard to prepare dinner for us, but she can’t cook to save her life. The meal was awful!

My classmates in my Spanish class can’t put a sentence together in Spanish to save their lives. I want to go into a different class.

I suppose the meaning behind this expression is that if a person had to do this thing (dance, draw, cook, speak Spanish, etc) in order to save their life, they would not be able to do it and so they would die.

Please remember that you shouldn’t say this directly to someone as in “You can’t sing to save your life!” Obviously that would be extremely rude and hurtful to the other person.

This week’s idiom is another interesting one. It is for someone’s “days to be numbered”. It means that the person’s life in a certain situation will not last forever and will probably end soon. For example:

My co-worker is extremely incompetent, so I think his days are numbered at our company.

There are many rumors of layoffs at my company. I was hired only a year ago, so I think my days are numbered there.

I think the fax machine’s days are numbered. Pretty soon everyone will just send information by computer.

Mr. Henrick’s days as our Prime Minister are numbered. He’s so unpopular; there is no way he’ll win the next election.

I’m afraid my days are numbered. I just found out that I’m dying.

So we often use it when talking about how long someone will stay at a certain company, as in the first two examples. In the first sentence, it means that the co-worker will probably soon be fired; in the second sentence, it means that I will probably be laid off soon.

In the third example, the expression means that the fax machine will no longer be used because it’s becoming outdated.

In the fourth example, it means that the unpopular prime minister will soon be out of office because there will be an election soon.

Finally, in the fifth example, it means that the person will die soon. This is obviously a more serious situation in which to use this expression. Therefore, we could use it about ourselves, as in “My days are numbered.”, but it would be very insensitive to use it about other people. However, you might hear something like that in a movie. For example, if a gangster plans to kill someone, he might say, “Your days are numbered!”