Skip to content
A word or 2 Logo 2021
Professional Writing Services
  • Home
  • About us
  • Services
    • Editing
    • Blogging
    • Copywriting
    • Research articles
    • Content strategy
    • Email marketing
    • Conference reporting
  • Blog
  • Clients
  • Portfolio
  • Testimonials
  • Rates
  • Home
  • About us
  • Services
    • Editing
    • Blogging
    • Copywriting
    • Research articles
    • Content strategy
    • Email marketing
    • Conference reporting
  • Blog
  • Clients
  • Portfolio
  • Testimonials
  • Rates

Idioms

Idioms
Photo: Iza Grek

Hard to call someone a horse’s ass: idiom usage

  • Post author:Iza Grek
  • Post published:April 15, 2021

Having said good-bye to the last of the Easter holiday makers in Durban, a coastal town in South Africa, we started to make our way home on Monday. On the…

Read MoreHard to call someone a horse’s ass: idiom usage
Idioms from other languages
Are these your monkeys?

Not my circus, not my monkeys. Idiom usage

  • Post author:Iza Grek
  • Post published:November 17, 2020

Not my circus. Not my monkeys. I did a double take. I was having coffee with my Irish friend Paul and he was throwing this phrase around throughout our conversation.…

Read MoreNot my circus, not my monkeys. Idiom usage
Read more about the article Black swan, a label for COVID-19
Black swan as a metaphor for unprecedented events

Black swan, a label for COVID-19

  • Post author:Iza Grek
  • Post published:October 20, 2020

In much of my research for clients in the past couple of months I have often seen the term black swan. As I know swans to be white in most…

Read MoreBlack swan, a label for COVID-19
Read more about the article How thinking ‘outside of the bottle’ can save us from coronavirus

How thinking ‘outside of the bottle’ can save us from coronavirus

  • Post author:Iza Grek
  • Post published:March 19, 2020

The world has gone mad with the outbreak of Coronavirus. And we have had some interesting reactions. One of the church ministers said in response to gatherings of no more…

Read MoreHow thinking ‘outside of the bottle’ can save us from coronavirus
Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic enjoys the limelight

Limelight or spotlight? Use the right phrase.

  • Post author:Iza Grek
  • Post published:February 4, 2020

The English language is full of tricks and words of similar meaning that are confusing to second language speakers. One of these is limelight and spotlight. While some believe that…

Read MoreLimelight or spotlight? Use the right phrase.
Read more about the article Black Friday and bargain idioms
Madness

Black Friday and bargain idioms

  • Post author:Iza Grek
  • Post published:November 29, 2019

When Game of Thrones captured the imagination of millions of fans to an obsessive degree, I used to say, “You get two kinds of people – those who watch Game…

Read MoreBlack Friday and bargain idioms
Read more about the article Take the log out of your eye and other idioms

Take the log out of your eye and other idioms

  • Post author:Iza Grek
  • Post published:October 23, 2019

Last night while watching Come Dine With Me, I latched on to satirist David Lamb’s shortening of an idiom. He simply used the two words of comparison and said, pot/…

Read MoreTake the log out of your eye and other idioms
Read more about the article Keep the ball rolling with these idioms
pic by Joel Muniz

Keep the ball rolling with these idioms

  • Post author:Iza Grek
  • Post published:August 22, 2019

This week I received a rather disturbing SMS from my bank. In fact, this was the second time the bank was sending this alarming message. The first time, I checked…

Read MoreKeep the ball rolling with these idioms
Read more about the article No leg to stand on: How idioms originate

No leg to stand on: How idioms originate

  • Post author:Iza Grek
  • Post published:January 16, 2018

Having suffered a leg injury in December I could not walk and could not drive. I was practically immobile. In my static state I had plenty of time to think.…

Read MoreNo leg to stand on: How idioms originate
A work of sedulous magnificence
Saint Nicholas Cathedral, Monaco, a fine sedulous work

Deliciously sedulous : increase your word power

  • Post author:Iza Grek
  • Post published:July 12, 2017

I am catching up with the past, voraciously reading through the pages of William Styron’s Sophie’s Choice with a copyright date of 1979. A literary marvel, the author provides delightful…

Read MoreDeliciously sedulous : increase your word power
  • 1
  • 2
  • Go to the next page

Iza Grek

Iza is an award-winning journalist. She has worked in advertising and communications for more than 20 years. A word or 2 has been in operation since October 2014 and continues to thrive, offering customers writing and editing services across the board from blogs to speeches and e-books.

Blog Categories

Latest Posts

  • Grammar: Prevent or avoid
    Grammar: Prevent or avoid
    July 21, 2022/
    0 Comments
  • Papering over the potholes: idioms
    Papering over the potholes: idioms
    June 9, 2022/
    0 Comments
  • Why I find both bothersome
    Why I find both bothersome
    June 7, 2022/
    1 Comment
  • Let the trend be your friend
    Let the trend be your friend
    May 5, 2022/
    0 Comments
  • Lazy with language: preposition usage
    Lazy with language: preposition usage
    April 26, 2022/
    0 Comments

Blog Archives

Join our mailing list

A Word or 2 offers professional writing and editing services

Writing Services

  • Editing
  • Blogging
  • Copywriting
  • Research articles
  • Content strategy
  • Email marketing
  • Conference reporting

Get in touch

Email: iza@awordor2.co.za

Phone: +27 728 736 061

  • Opens in a new tab

Join our mailing list

© Copyright 2022. All content is copyright of A word or 2. Website Greenhouse Creative