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Bernard De Voto

(1897—1956), Mark Twain: The Ink of History

Pessimism is only the name that men of weak nerves give to wisdom.

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Bernard De Voto

(1897-1956) U.S. historiancritic Whiskey and vermouth cannot meet as friends, and the Manhattan is an offense against piety. www.english-slang.com

Mark Twain

(1835-1910) The very ink with which all history is written is merely fluid prejudice. www.english-slang.com

get on one's nerves

[get on one's nerves] {v. phr.} To make you nervous. * /John's noisy eating habits get on your nerves./ * /Children get on their parents' nerves by asking so many […] A Dictionary of American Idioms

Mark Twain

(1835-1910), Following the Equator, 1897 In the first place, God made idiots. This was for practice. Then he made school boards. www.english-slang.com

Slang is

"very informal usage in vocabulary and idiom that is characteristically more metaphorical, playful, elliptical, vivid and ephemeral than ordinary language" (Random House Unabridged Dictionary) - learn ~600 slang expressions

An idiom is

an expression "whose meaning is not predictable from the usual meanings of its constituent elements… or from the general grammatical rules of a language"

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boil down

[boil down] {v.} 1. To boil away some of the water from; make less by boiling. * /She boiled down the maple sap to a thick […]

child's play

[child's play] {adj.} Easy; requiring no effort. * /Mary's work as a volunteer social worker is so agreeable to her that she […]

Mark Twain

(1835-1910) Martyrdom covers a multitude of sins.

Terry Pratchett (1948--), Mort

"It would seem that you have no useful skill or talent whatsoever," he said. "Have you thought of going into teaching?"

crying shame

[crying shame] {n. phr.} A glaring disgrace, scandal, injustice.

American Slang

A starting point to explore free video lessons on American slang.

pick one's way

[pick one's way] {v. phr.} To go ahead carefully in difficult or unfamiliar places; advance with care. * /After nightfall we […]

thanks to

[thanks to] {prep.} 1. With the help of. * /Thanks to a good teacher, John passed the examination./ * /I finally finished […]