I have no idea what made me think of this topic today, maybe it was a conversation I had with friends or maybe I am just looking forward to seeing some leaves on the trees again... Have you heard someone say that they are taking a leaf out of someone’s book? Well, if you haven’t, you will learn about it now.
To take a leaf out of someone’s book means that you would like to copy what someone else is doing well, e. g., I would like to take a leaf out of Ryno’s book and arrive on time for my appointments. This means that you are usually not on time, that you would like to adjust your behaviour in a positive manner.
There is an older (possible) meaning to this expression too, unfortunately it is not quite as positive! It could be that you literally «took a leaf out of someone’s book» and copied exactly what they did. Let me explain a bit better... In this example — also in the previous expression — leaf refers to the page in a book and copying from someone else’s work is called plagiarism (плагиат). This, as we all know, is not a good thing at all!
Some people love the new year and all the celebrations, I think we all do! What also comes with new year and thinking about change, is the «New Year’s resolutions». You must have a friend or two who will say that they are going to do this or that in the new year, most of the time they do not materialise. So, the next time someone starts talking about this, you can tell them that they are turning over a new leaf. Almost like starting to write on a new page in a book...
When I was young I was terrified of speaking in front of my classmates. I used to shake like a leaf when I had to speak in public. This means that I used to tremble (when your muscles cannot stop moving around and the paper you are holding in your hand shakes so much you cannot read what you wrote on it) and stutter my way through every speech I had to do at school, oi...
Now, I don’t want you to shake like a leaf when you speak English to your friends this week, I want you to be confident and smiling!
Have a happy week, till next time!
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