Went to extremes
I would think that “went to the extreme” would be more natural. Why plural?
4 comments • Posted in Expression
Five of Ten
If you say “five of ten” in the context of time, you mean 5 minutes to 10 o’clock. But, why is this? “of” is a possessive preposition, so one would think that “five of ten” would be 5 minutes that belong to 10 o’clock. That is: 5 after 10.
4 comments • Posted in Expression
Potboiler
How did this word come to mean “a usually inferior work of art or literature produced chiefly for monetary return”?
3 comments • Posted in Expression
“got the best of him”
I hear this expression every now and then, and I understand it as “screwed”, but it seems odd to say “the best”. Why not “all of him”? What does “the best” imply?
3 comments • Posted in Expression
