05 May

Ropes and fish

Who taught : Raul, Brian and Richard

Supposed that you are in a sailboat! There would be bunch of ropes which are really important to be controlled by crew members to stay safe in the sea. Now, what if you are a newbie in the boat! You would not know what to do with the ropes. So, the first thing you need to learn is how to deal with ropes. There it is! “Learn the ropes.” Here is the definition of the expression.

to understand or learn how to do a particular job

For example, you have a new engineer in your team. You would expect that he/she would not know how to do his/her job for a few weeks or maybe a few months. Then, you can say, “He/She needs some time to learn the ropes.” Now, a few months later, he/she becomes better at his/her work and knows what he/she is doing. Then, guess what you can say? “Finally, he/she knows the ropes!”

Speaking of a sailboat, there are bunch of expressions with “fish” in it. One thing I hear a lot in my work, especially in conference calls with customer, is “I’ve got other fish to fry.” It means I have some other works to do. So, when there is a time that you need to say some excuse for working on any item because of your busy schedule, try to use this expression instead of using plain English, such as “I have other works to do.”

Another simple word related with fish is “fishy.” Have you ever been to a market where there are so many kind of fish? It is so smelly. So, when you say something is fishy, it means you suspect something.You can say, “it is fishy” or “she is fishy.”

Oh, fish name is something I still cannot figure out in English. Can you guys teach me some fish names?

6 thoughts on “Ropes and fish

  1. “It means I have some other works to do”
    “I have other works to do.”

    Even if you have multiple other projects, “work” should be singular in this instance – “I have other work to do”. Similarly you could say “I have other stuff to do” (not stuffs) but you could say “I have other projects to do”.

    Hmm my favorite fish is salmon because it is usually pretty mild, meaning it’s not too fishy tasting! I’m not very adventurous when it comes to seafood.

    • Hey, Patty, Thank you so much for your help! Please feel free to correct any broken English in the blog! I can learn and my friends can learn from my mistakes. Ultimately, that is the goal of this blog. Thanks again!

      • Hi Terry! I really respect how open you are to learning English and I am happy to help. When I was typing that comment, I realized how complicated English can be! I enjoy reading your blog very much, especially today’s story about Carol – haha it made me laugh out loud.

        • Hi Patty! I am glad you enjoy the blog. I also enjoy writing and am happy when I get very helpful and constructive comments just like yours. Thank you again for your help!

  2. Delicious fish:

    Salmon – served with bourbon sauce, it’s amazing
    Cod – frequently breaded or fried
    Haddock – prepared all kinds of ways
    Tilapia – very light fish with lots of preparation possibilities, frequently baked with crushed pine nuts or breadcrumbs
    Grouper – expensive, but delicious
    Mahi Mahi – common at mid-scale places
    Orange Roughy – rare in restaurants. doesn’t really taste “fishy”, best prepared by itself with perhaps a little bit of lemon juice for taste
    Swordfish – tasty
    Catfish – rare, but tasty. have to be careful not to get stung.
    Red Snapper – fantastic and affordable, probably my third favorite next to Tilapia and Orange Roughy
    Yellow Snapper – similar to Red Snapper

    Not so tasty fish:

    Walleye
    Bluegill
    Trout
    Rainbow Trout
    Bass
    Musky (Muskellunge)
    Perch
    Blowfish – exotic and eaten in sushi, but I believe illegal in the US because of the high probability of death if improperly prepared

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