Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[missdaredevil]

We have conflicts all the time. Even when the regular schedules don't conflict, the special events--concerts for example--throw a *wrench* into the works

Does that mean a *surge of emotion*?


Thanks

[Philo Kevetch]

A wrench is a tool used to tighten/loosen nuts and bolts...(Br.E = spanner)

So..imagine you are working on an engine/motor while it is running and you drop a wrench into the moving parts...

....you can guess that the engine/motor will not run smoothly/normally.

Sometimes the term "monkey wrench" is used with the same meaning.

[CP]

And as Philo K. said, spanner is the British term, so they say "a spanner in the works." John Lennon's second book, full of word play and silly poems, is called "A Spaniard in the Works." It had to be explained to the Americans, many of whom hadn't heard of spanners, only monkey wrenches.
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You live a new life for every new language you speak. -Czech proverb

[kerstin]

Can that mean "to make things worse"?

If many people were working on an art piece, then a kid came in to accidentally knock over their almost-finished project.
Can i say "the kid put a monkey wrench in their almost-finished project?

Thanks

[bud]

In my opinion, that's close, but not quite it. To me, "to put a monkey wrench in [something]" indicates that a plan was messed up in some unforseen way. So your sentence sounds better to me if modified a bit. Something like:

The kid put a monkey wrench in their hope to finish the project on time.