Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[BMO]

Would you please kindly edit the following and make them more idiomatic?

5. In one ear and out the other
Meaning: Heard but without influence.
Example: Whatever I told him to do, it was in one ear and out the other; he did not follow.

6. Make one�s blood boil
Meaning: Make someone very, very angry.
Example: When he criticized me yesterday in front of so many people, it made my blood boil.

7. Much ado about nothing
Meaning: People worry or argue over nothing.
Example: The Kaohsuing UFO Club members are worrying about aliens will be coming down to the earth soon and destroying all of us; I think they are making much ado about nothing!

8. In the country of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.
Meaning: A man of limited ability is at an advantage among those who are worse off.
Example: Can you believe Julie ranked No. 1 when she repeated the eighth grade? All of us who were flunked out were sent to the "Dummy Class," and she became the best student in the class. Well, in the country of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.

Thanks a lot.

BMO

[bud]

5. Very good, BMO! The meaning is right on. The main thing is you do not need "he did not follow" because the rest of the sentence already makes that clear. Also, it is more usual to use "to go:" it went in one ear... It works well enough as is (with "was"), though.

6.Very good!

7. The meanig is good! There's one important grammatical problem: "... worrying about aliens will be coming..." Here are some possible corrections:
worrying that aliens will be coming
worrying about aliens coming
worring about aliens who/that will be coming (this is a little different than the first two in that it suggests that the aliens and their plans are known)

Also, a minor problem: What is the reason for using a semi-colon? You really need a new sentence there.

8. The meaning is good! In the second sentence, you do not need both "were" and "flunked out." The second "were" is needed:
All of us who flunked out were sent...
All of us who were flunked were...

A person flunks out, but a teacher flunks you. A teacher does not flunk you out.

Very good job!

[BMO]

Hey, thanks a lot for the critique. Much better with your corrections.

bmo

[bud]

My pleasure, but they were quite good to start with.