Lesson 2 Make Your Conversation Colorful
It’s All Greek to Me
____ you heard the expression, “It’s Greek to me”?
It ____ “I can’t understand what you are saying because it sounds like a foreign language to me.”
You may wonder why it is not French or Italian but ____.
The reason is that the Ancient Greeks had an enormous influence on Western ____.
Greece was the birthplace of Classical Western ____, and therefore, also left us with some pretty great idioms.
Idioms pose a special challenge in language learning because their ____ are different from the words that make them up.
Learning their origins will make it easier to understand what they mean and to figure out how to use ____.
Here are ____ English idioms with Greek origins.
Achilles’ Heel
____ to Homer, the Ancient Greek poet, the Greeks and Trojans had a war that lasted ten years.
This war eventually became ____ as the Trojan War, where Achilles became the most famous hero.
When Achilles was ____, his mother, a goddess of water, attempted to make him immortal.
She ____ him in the magical River Styx.
Wherever the water ____, the part touched would become indestructible.
However, because she held him ____ down by one of his heels, Achilles’ heel remained dry.
This became his only ____ spot.
____ grew up to be a great warrior and survived many great battles.
However, during the Trojan War, Paris, a prince of Troy, shot a poisoned arrow that struck ____’ heel, which led to his death.
This is why the idiom “Achilles’ heel” refers to a fatal ____, especially in a situation where all other parts are strong.
Trojan Horse
Even after the death of Achilles, the Trojan War reached a point ____ no one could win.
One day, the Greeks came up with an ____.
They built a big wooden horse and left it ____ the city of Troy.
They pretended to leave the horse behind as a gift for the ____.
The Trojans thought they had won, so they pulled the ____ inside their city gates.
However, the Greeks ____ hidden their soldiers inside the horse.
That night, the soldiers came out of the horse and opened the gates to let in the Greek army ____ outside.
This ____ the Greeks to win the war.
Nowadays, people use the idiom “Trojan horse” to describe a trick or scheme that is ____ to hide someone’s true purpose or intention.
Cut the Gordian Knot
____ legend tells of the Gordian Knot, which was tied by a king named Gordius.
The knot was so complex that no one was ____ to untie it.
A prophet said ____ could untie the knot would become the ruler of Asia.
For hundreds of years, people ____ tried to untie the knot.
Then, Alexander the Great came ____.
He tried to untie it, and it just got ____.
After thinking for a while, he drew his sword and cut the knot in ____!
____ was shocked because that was not what they had expected.
He explained, “It doesn’t matter ____ the knot was untied. The important thing is that it’s undone.”
From that day on, the idiom “cutting the Gordian knot” has been commonly used to describe a simple solution to a complex ____.
Spill the Beans
In ancient ____, people often discussed important matters and made decisions through voting.
They cast ____ by dropping a white or black bean into a clay jar.
White beans were used for ____ votes, and black beans for negative votes.
These votes were cast in ____, so if someone knocked over the jar, whether by accident or on purpose, they spilled the beans and revealed the results of the vote prematurely.
____ of this origin, the phrase “spill the beans” came to mean “reveal information that was meant to be kept secret.”
Idioms are an important part of everyday English, and they make the ____ rich and colorful.
When you run into idioms that are “Greek to you,” take the ____ to study their origins.
It is a fun way to increase your understanding of English, and it can also help you to remember ____ and use them in the appropriate situations going forward.