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Anonymous Posted 20 years ago
Grammar

ask for help

0Could someone please be kind enough to tell me the meanings of the three following phrases?02br
02br
00waiting for the next shoe to drop?02br
00do-gooding founder?02br
00sticking a finger in a dike?02br
02br
00Thanks in advance.0-
  

Top answer

02br 00 We are waiting for the other shoe to drop. 02br 02br 00 This expression is used whenever we know something one more thing is about to happen, but it hasn't happened yet. Perhaps something bad happens, and we think, "Well, there could be one more bad thing - maybe even something worse - that will result from the first bad thing".

— CalifJim

  • 02br 00 We are waiting for the other shoe to drop.
  • 02br 02br 00 This expression is used whenever we know something one more thing is about to happen, but it hasn't happened yet.
  • Perhaps something bad happens, and we think, "Well, there could be one more bad thing - maybe even something worse - that will result from the first bad thing".
  • So we say that we're waiting for the other shoe to drop.
  • 02br 02br 00 That said, I've heard that the expression means "to say the next obvious thing", but I'm not sure that's always the way people use it.
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3 Answers
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0 "waiting for the 01b00other02b00 shoe to drop"02br
02br
00 When someone takes off his shoes, he takes off one at a time.02br
00 He takes off the first shoe and (let's say) drops it.02br
00 Now let's stop there.02br
00 What is the feeling we have here?02br
00 We know that shoes come in pairs, so we a
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0 "to put a finger in the dike" is to resort to some temporary measure to solve a problem. The idea is that the problem is too big to be solved by this temporary measure, and someone had better hurry and find a better and more permanent solution or there will be a disaster even worse than the original problem. If you Google the phrase you'll find references to the original story of the bo
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0And01i00 a do-gooding founder 02i00is a little odd. I have never heard the adjective before, just the noun-- a 01b01i00do-gooder02i02b00. It means 01i00someone devoted to the promotion of human welfare and to social reforms02i00, but it is often used when the speaker thinks the do-gooder is 01u00too
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