Making Waves, Go With The Flow, Down to Earth

Making Waves
To "make waves" is the opposite of "going with the flow." To make waves is to stand out, to demonstrate your individuality and uniqueness, and to make a name for yourself by becoming better known. Hopefully, when we make waves, it is in a good way, so that we are known for our successes, and not for our failures.
Example: "Martha made waves when she campaigned for extra sick leave for all employees. Not everyone agreed with her, but everyone respected that she genuniely believes in her idea."


Go With The Flow
Figuratively speaking, "the flow" is the course of events; it is the direction society is taking, and the momentum behind the movement in that direction. To go with the flow is to do as others do and to take the path of least resistance, like water coursing through a river.
Example: "You're new on the job. You should go with the flow for a little while until you get the feel of things. You can make a name for yourself later." The new worker is being advised to take his time and not focus on standing out as an individual until he understands the "flow" of the workplace.



Down to Earth
Someone who is "down to earth" is someone in touch with the lives and realities of ordinary people. No matter how high a person's social status, if we say that person is "down to earth," that person does not behave in a way that is separate from the average person.
Example: "Louse makes a lot of money, but she's very down to earth. She treats everyone like they're important and doesn't act arrogant or spoiled whatsoever." This phrasing is meant as a compliment.

➤ Read more idioms and phrases, English grammar and vocabulary at Basic English Grammar And Vocabulary

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A Stick-In-The-Mud, A Sight For Sore Eyes, Raining On Someone's Parade

A Stick-In-The-Mud
Figuratively, a stick-in-the-mud (usually written with hyphens and pronounced as if it is one long word) is a person whose behavior resembles, well, a stick (of wood) impaled in mud: someone who is resistant to being pulled into a productive activity. Such a person is a loner who does not like group activities or may be actively hostile to them. In vocabulary, a "grouch" is similar.

Example: "Carol was inviting co-workers to a party. However, she did not even bother trying to invite Paul to the party. Carol knew Paul was a stick-in-the-mud who hated parties; even if Paul could be convinced to go, he would ruin the party with his negative attitude. As a result, Carol did not invite him at all."

A Sight For Sore Eyes
"A sight for sore eyes" is something, or someone, that is a relief to see after a long absence.

A person who makes a journey to another country for an extended period of time will say this to express joy at returning home.

Example:
Howard is an American who has been working overseas, in Europe, for a period of ten months. Only now is he returning to the United States by airplane. As his plane flies to an international airport in New Jersey, he sees land through his window. He sees America.

In his mind, he thinks to himself, "That sure is a sight for sore eyes." Howard is happy to be back in America after so long.

Raining On Someone's Parade
To "rain on someone's parade" is to criticize someone when they are doing something that makes them happy, as if ruining a fun parade with a rainstorm. Example: "Bill rained on Janet's parade by badmouthing the graphics she did for the new ad campaign. She's quite upset about it; I mean, she woked so hard on those graphics."


➤ Read more idioms and phrases, English grammar and vocabulary at Basic English Grammar And Vocabulary .

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Under the Weather, Having Your Head In The Clouds

Under the Weather
Someone said to be "under the weather" is someone who appears to be at less than full health, like a sky that is cloudy instead of clear. The person can either be ill, or intoxicated; the important thing is that the person is not feeling well. Ex.: "Arnold looks under the weather. Maybe he's having a bad reaction to the mussels he ate last night?" Mussels are a type of sea food; people not used to eating them will sometimes get seriously ill due to sensitivity to particular bacteria. A milder reaction may merely make someone feel under the weather.


Having Your Head In The Clouds
To have your head in the clouds means that your thoughts are not on the task at hand. Your thoughts are elsewhere, as if they are floating in the clouds, not firmly planted into the soil.
Ex.: "Keep your head out of the clouds and concentrate on finishing this essay! You can't keep your grades high if you don't finish your homework on time!" This is admonishing a student to focus on the task before him (an essay) rather than think about other subjects, perhaps more enjoyable ones.


➤ Read more idioms and phrases, English grammar and vocabulary at Basic English Grammar And Vocabulary .

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Literal vs. Figurative

For the idiom just posted below, some English natives might write, "Melissa is literally a ray of sunshine for everyone at the office."

This would be completely incorrect. Literally, Melissa is a human being, not a ray of light. Figuratively, she might be a ray of sunshine, but certainly not literally.

Using "She's a real ray of sunshine" is using a much lighter touch.

In both cases, the culprit is the common use of exaggeration in English. Those who say "a real ray of sunshine" try to use the word "real" as a strengthener; that is, a word to add emphasis to the sentence, like the bold I am using for this text (if you are seeing the text here on the blog, anyway). Rather than, for example, shouting the idiom out, people use certain words for emphasis.

Long ago, someone could say "a virtual ray of sunshine" and that would be strong enough. In popular American culture, people have become so accustomed to exaggeration that they will literally say, "She's literally a ray of sunshine." Nonetheless, this is wrong.

It is never correct to use a word as strong as literally for something that is not correct and true in reality, rather than in a figurative expression. More importantly, you cannot possibly sound well educated and articulate if you abuse the word "literally" for things that are not literal.

If only all native speakers followed this advice.

➤ Read more idioms and phrases, English grammar and vocabulary at Basic English Grammar And Vocabulary .

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Weathering the Storm

To weather a storm is to endure a difficult, but temporary situation. Because the difficult situation is temporary, it resembles a passing storm. Eventually, the storm ends. Ex.: "The Senator was under a cloud of suspicion, but no hard evidence was found. As a result, he was cleared of all wrongdoing. He had successfully weathered the storm." In the West, the presumption of innocence means that an inability to prove someone guilty results in complete innocence before the law. Whether or not the public is convinced is another matter.

➤ Read more idioms and phrases, English grammar and vocabulary at Basic English Grammar And Vocabulary .

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Stealing Someone's Thunder, Hitting the Sack, Hitting the Hay, Digging Deep, Cheesy

Stealing Someone's Thunder
To "steal someone's thunder" is an expression for taking the credit and praise for something someone else did. That is, someone else does the work, but you take the credit.
Ex.: "Brian worked for a whole week on that project, but Dave acted like it was all his doing. You shouldn't go stealing someone else's thunder like that." Dave took credit for Brian's hard work.

In the movie "Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief," a character steals the thunderbolt of the ancient Greek god, Zeus. While fiction, this would be stealing someone's thunder figuratively and literally.

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