“Come on in! Did you manage to meet your friend who had the surgery?”
“Yes, but he was surrounded by his family members. We couldn’t really talk.”
“Well, if the family members were present, it must have been difficult to carry on a conversation. The two of you must have been walking on eggshells with all...”
“Walking on eggshells? Why would I walk on eggshells?”
“Walking on eggshells is an idiom mostly used in informal contexts. When you walk on eggshells, you are being extra careful about what you say and how you behave. You do this because…”
“You probably do this because you don’t want to upset the person you’re talking to. The individual probably has a bad temper.”
“Or it could be the person is very sensitive, and therefore gets upset easily. As a result, you try to be as diplomatic as possible. Here’s an example. I always feel that I’m walking on eggshells when I’m around my new boss.”
“My uncle is very short tempered. So, whenever he visits us, all of us at home are walking on eggshells.”
“It is also possible to say ‘tread on eggshells’. You are my friend. You don’t have to tread on eggshells when you are with me. Speak your mind.”
“I will remember that.”
“Good! Did you win the match you played yesterday?”
“No, we lost. I dropped a very simple catch in the last over. So, everyone was angry on me.”
“You never say ‘angry on’. If you are upset with someone, you are ‘angry with’ the person.”
“You can also be ‘angry at’ something, right?”
“That’s right! You can be ‘angry with someone’ or ‘angry at something’. But you cannot be ‘angry on’ someone or something — although the expression is frequently heard in India. Here’s an example. The students were angry with the teacher for giving them a surprise test.”
“Teja has been angry with me ever since I denied him the promotion.”
“We were angry with the security guard for not letting us into the stadium.”
“The only good thing that happened yesterday was that I finally managed to eat a slice of Sujatha’s famous cake.”
“Her cakes are truly awesome. It’s not surprising that many people are mad for them.”
“Mad for? You mean ‘mad at’, don’t you?”
“No, I don’t! There’s a big difference in meaning between ‘mad at’ and ‘mad for’. When you’re ‘mad at’ someone, you’re angry with the person. The players were mad at me for dropping the catch.”
“I’m sure they were. The children were mad at the parents for not buying a new TV.”
“When you say that you’re ‘mad for’ something, it means you want that thing very much.”
“Could it be a person?”
“Yes, it could! The expression could also mean that you are terribly fond of the person or thing. Even after nearly 20 years of marriage, Sadhana is mad for her husband.”
“Really? Very unusual, I must say. How about this example? There was a time when most kids in my family were mad for masala dosa.”
“That’s a wonderful example. When he was a child, Arun was mad for cartoons.”
“So was I! Most kids are, I guess.”
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