Unravelling Figures of Speech

Sitting duckDoes a sitting duck actually remain in one place, even during the hunting season, when it should really be prepared to duck and dive?  Unless it's a lame duck.  

Where Did You Get That Hat?

WHERE DID YOU GET THAT HAT?Hats were commonplace before 3000 BC.  One of the earliest known hats was worn by a Bronze Age man called Otzi - was his name written inside his hat? 

Singing (and Dancing) in the Rain

SINGING (AND DANCING) IN THE RAINThanks to Hollywood and John Grisham, most of us now know what a 'rainmaker' is, which is to say a person who brings prestige or business to an organisation through their contacts and past associations.

Xenophoby, or lack of control?

XENOPHOBY, OR LACK OF CONTROL?There has been plenty of news and political issues about immigration. There have been thousands of temporary African workers in our farms, some living in poor conditions, but working to enable their families to get an own home and means to start their own business.

We Like to Make Short Work of It

WE LIKE TO MAKE SHORT WORK OF IT     Judges hope juries will keep their deliberations short, and guilty people hope judges will hand down short sentences.  We all live in such a hectic 24-hours-a-day world that most of us paradoxically wish there were more hours in the day.

Is religion relevant today?

IS RELIGION RELEVANT TODAY?Our modern society likes to proclaim itself to be multicultural and secular, and the direction seems to be a future without old-fashioned religious ballast where science is the tool for constant progress and prosperity, happiness for everything and everyone.

Detectives Aren't Perfect

Frank CannonThere was rather a portly TV detective called Frank Cannon, played by the late William Conrad, who used to pursue criminals on foot at such a slow pace that it sometimes appeared he was running backwards.  To the bakery or pie shop, perhaps. 

Try Not To Complicate Matters

TRY NOT TO COMPLICATE MATTERSKeep things simple, I always say.  The famous equation E = mc2 could be much more simply stated as "Energy equals 2 squares of milk chocolate."  Job done.