Blankets, Parades, Trumpets, and Thunder

Hi Kids,

Hope you had a great week. You’re probably up to your eyeballs in schoolwork. Right?

Today I would like to introduce you to a few idioms:

-a wet blanket

-to rain on someone’s parade

-to blow your own trumpet

-to steal someone’s thunder

Wow! How many of them are you familiar with?

How many have you heard of?

How many can you explain?

Usage first, explanations later:

“Don’t invite him to the party. He’s such a wet blanket.”

“Don’t be such a wet blanket. Let’s have a good time!”

Well, what do you think?

A wet blanket is:

-a poor sport

-someone who ruins the fun

-someone who always sees the negative side of situations

“I did really well on my test today. Don’t rain on my parade. It doesn’t matter that I got 2 questions wrong.”

“He loves raining on everyone’s parade. I was so excited about starting up this project, and now I don’t feel like it.”

Any ideas?

To rain on someone’s parade means:

-to discourage someone

-to be negative in a situation

-to criticize plans, ideas, etc.

“My book just hit the number 1 bestseller spot! Yes, I’m proud! Yes, I’m blowing my own trumpet! If not me, then who?”

“George is good at blowing his own trumpet. Whenever he aces a test, he makes sure everyone knows about it.”

Well? Do you think blowing your trumpet is a good thing or a bad thing?

To blow your own trumpet means:

-announce what you’ve done

-show off

“He stole my thunder! I was going to tell that story…”

“Don’t steal my thunder, all right? I saw it first, and I’m going to tell the class about it.”

Any guesses?

To steal someone’s thunder is:

-taking attention away from someone else who was getting positive attention

-do something to get attention from someone who has done something to be proud of

-to get the praise that someone else was going to get

There you go – 4 (possibly) new expressions.

This week’s challenge: Try to use all 4 in writing or orally. Let me know how it went in the comments.