1. Idioms

2. The City of Ember
The City of Ember is a novel about a group of people who have been moved to an underground city to protect them from the disaster that may kill all of mankind. The people in Ember do not know they are in a special protected place. Knowledge of the outside world has been kept from them. Doon, one of the main characters, goes to the library to learn about fire. The library books contain only bits of information. Read this excerpt from The City of Ember about Doon’s library experience.

3. Although he’d often found something interesting in these searches, he’d never found anything important. Today was no different. He did come across a collection called Mysterious Words from the Past, which he read for a while. It was about words and phrases so old that their meanings had been forgotten. He read a few pages.

4. Heavens above Hogwash Batting a thousand All in the same boat
Indicates surprise. What “heavens” means is unclear. It might be another words for “floodlight.”
Hogwash
Means “nonsense,” though no one knows what a “hog” is or why one would wash it.
Batting a thousand
Indicates great success. This might possible refer to killing bugs.
All in the same boat
Means “all in the same predicament.” The meaning of “boat “ is unknown.

5. The phrases Doon read are what is known as idioms.
An idiom is an expression with a meaning that cannot be guessed from the meanings of the individual words.
Idioms are common and they occur frequently in all languages.
An estimated 25,000 idiomatic expressions may be found in the English language.

6. Many idioms are expressions used in sports.

7. Football Idioms carry the ball game plan run interference
to be in charge of something, to be responsible for something
game plan
to have a strategy
run interference
to intervene on behalf of someone in order to protect him or her from something
tackle a problem
to attack a problem with much effort

8. Baseball Idioms bat a thousand come out of left field
a guess that is in a certain area or range, an approximate guess
come out of left field
to be completely unexpected, to be a surprise
cover all one’s bases
to thoroughly prepare for or deal with a situation

9. Pool Idioms behind the eight ball call the shots at a disadvantage
to control something, to make the rules

10. Sailing Idioms smooth sailing take the wind out of one’s sails
something is going well and is having no problems
take the wind out of one’s sails
to become discouraged and lose one's enthusiasm

11. Boxing Idioms blow by blow account saved by the bell
a description or account that provides much detail
saved by the bell
rescued from a bad situation at the last minute
hit below the belt
to not follow the rules, to do something that is not fair
in someone’s corner
on someone's side, supporting someone

12. Golf Idioms make the cut on par with someone par for the course
to meet or reach a required standard
on par with someone
equal in importance or quality to something or someone
par for the course
what is normal or expected in a given situation

13. Idioms may come from many sources including:
Proverbs
Myths
Folklore
Bible
Shakespeare
American Phrases

14. I had to race against time.
Examples
I had to race against time.
to rush to beat a deadline

15. He’s in a rat race.
–a fierce struggle for success, especially in one's career or business

16. I can't keep my head above water.
- to manage a situation

17. Can you name some of these?
hit a bull’s eye
to achieve the goal perfectly

18. folklore
a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow
to reach the goal you wish to obtain

19. jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire
to go from one bad situation to worse situation

20. chained to the computer
to spend a lot of time working

21. rolling out the red carpet
doing everything possible to make someone welcome

22. Activity 1 – Idiom Cards
Match idiom pictures to their literal and figurative meanings.

23. Activity 2 Complete the handout by Writing an idiom
Write the idiom’s figurative meaning
Draw a picture to illustrate the idiom.