“Is it okay to say, the principal received a great deal of complaints from the parents?”
“No, it is not. It is ‘many complaints’. An expression like ‘a great deal of’ is followed by an uncountable noun like ‘time’, ‘money’ and ‘trouble’. For example, my uncle has a great deal of money.”
“The children spend a great deal of time playing video games.”
“It’s also possible to say, ‘a good deal of’. Our team wouldn’t have won the tournament without a good deal of luck.”
“Everyone has been raving about the new restaurant. Do you want to go tomorrow?”
“Out of the question. I need to finish writing a report by the day after. The only way I’ll be able to do that is by keeping my nose to the grindstone.”
“Keeping your nose to the grindstone? Does it mean to work extremely hard?”
Slog it out
“Not just work hard, but also put in long hours. When you keep or put your nose to the grindstone, you work hard continuously, and that too for a long time. You persevere. Hamsa put her nose to the grindstone all through high school in order to get into IIT.”
“It was Hamsa’s father who made sure she kept her nose to the grindstone.”
“That’s true. In my case, it is the new boss who is keeping my nose to the grindstone.”
“He seems to be doing a good job. You have really kept your nose to the grindstone for over two weeks now. Don’t you think you need a break?”
“I’ll take a break once I finish the report. We will go to the new restaurant, then.”
“That sounds like a plan. Tell me about this report you are writing. Is it interesting?”
“Not really. Like most reports that I get to write, it is pretty cut and dried.”
“Cut and dried? I’ve never heard that expression before. What does it mean?”
“The expression has several meanings. One of them is ‘uninteresting’ or ‘routine’. For example, the students don’t like Indu. They say her lectures are cut and dried.”
“How about this example? The presentations that Manjit makes are cut and dried.”
“Sounds good. My cut-and-dried humour didn’t go down well with the audience.”
“That’s not surprising considering you have no sense of humour. Didn’t you say that ‘cut and dried’ had different meanings?”
“That’s right! When you say your plans are cut and dried, what you are suggesting is that they have been finaliaed. The plans cannot be changed now.”
“In other words, everything has already been decided; it is too late to change anything.”
“Exactly! The decisions taken are cut and dried. There’s no need for further discussions.”
“They might not be as cut and dried as you think. Why don’t you talk to your boss and offer him some of your new suggestions?”
“That is a good example. We cannot be at your son’s wedding, I’m afraid. We will be away all of next week. Our plans are cut and dried.”
“Tell me, what is the origin of the expression? Does it come from...”
“There are several theories regarding the origin. According to one, the cut and dried material referred to in the expression is wood or timber. Wood that has been dried and chopped into small pieces is ready to be used to light a fire. This is just one theory.”
“That makes sense, I guess.”
* * * * *
Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did. Newt Gingrich
The author teaches at the English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad. upendrankye@gmail.com
