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The traffic is dead slow. I peer at my watch anxiously. Today is the one day when I want to be dead on time. As it is my boss is dead against me, I don’t want to make things by walking in late for the meeting. Just yesterday when I wished him in the morning, he cut me dead. My friend at office tells me that I should be more diplomatic with him but I have always been a dead loss at diplomacy. I am trying, of course, but I can’t help thinking that I am flogging a dead horse. Moreover, I wouldn’t be caught dead sucking up to him. Oh no, now we have come to a dead halt. The car dead ahead seems to have stalled altogether. My boss’s face, fuming with anger, flashes before my eyes — boy, I am a dead duck today! With all this talk about corporate downsizing and lay-offs, I am scared I am going to be considered dead wood very soon. With the economy taking a turn for the worse, holding on to this job is very important, even though it feels like a dead end job at times. The good old days when I got four to five job offers a month, each better than the last, seem to be dead and buried. Finally, the traffic picks up pace. I get a chance to glance at the driver who is the root cause of all this traffic hold up; he seems to be dead drunk. I pass a billboard that reads "Drinking and driving is an invitation to death" – dead right, I say to myself, but I wonder if all driving and safety rules have become a dead letter in the eyes of the public at large. Good sense among drivers seems to be as dead as a dodo. Key to idioms used Dead slow: hardly moving, almost stopped Dead on time: exactly on time, punctual Be dead against something or someone: be completely opposed to something or someone Cut someone dead: to ignore someone when you se them or when they speak to you because you are angry with them or do not like them Be a dead loss: to be very bad at a particular activity or subject Flog a dead horse: to waste time doing something that will not succeed Wouldn’t be caught/seen dead: if someone wouldn’t be seen dead in a particular place or doing a particular thing, they would never do it, usually because it would be too embarrassing Come to a dead halt: come to a complete stop Dead ahead/in front: in a position exactly ahead Dead duck: someone who is going to be punished very severely for something that they have done Dead wood: people in a group or organisation who are not useful any more and who need to be removed Dead end job: a point or stage where no further progress can be made Dead a buried/forgotten: long forgotten, of the past Dead drunk: extremely drunk Dead right: exactly right A dead letter: an agreement or a law which still exists but which people do not obey or which is not effective any more Be as dead as a dodo: if something is as dead as a dodo, it is not important or popular any more (Reference: Cambridge
International Dictionary of Idioms) |
