Tham khảo tài liệu 'colloquial english idioms phần 5', ngoại ngữ, ngữ pháp tiếng anh phục vụ nhu cầu học tập, nghiên cứu và làm việc hiệu quả | For more material and information please visit Tai Lieu Du Hoc at He s queered his pitch with that unfortunate interview. W. B. to put a spoke in a person s wheel to spoil his plans In your own best interests perhaps I should put a spoke in your wheel. C. S. He ought perhaps to have put a spoke in the wheel of their marriage they were too young. . J. G. I could have easily finished the experiments if they had not put a spoke in my wheel. K. H. Waste is variously expressed by these colloquial phrases Wasting effort a wild-goose chase a practically hopeless pursuit or search a foolish and useless enterprise Wolfe knew that the Colonel was remembering that he had sent Michaelmas on a wild-goose chase but it was a small consideration now. S. A. The Colonel shook his head. He is the best man I ve got. I don t like sending him on a wild-goose chase. S. A. I hope you won t insist on my starting off on a wildgoose chase. St. I hope you won t insist on my starting off on a wildgoose chase after the fellow now. B. Sh. I wish now they d found him in the river. They may still this is a bit of a wild-goose chase. J. G. to flog beat a dead horse to waste energy We discussed some incidents that had happened long ago it was really flogging a dead horse. K. H I m flogging a dead horse i. e. wasting my energies W. B. to carry coals to Newcastle to do something which is unnecessary to use one s effort uneconomically To write another book on the same topic means to carry coals to Newcastle. K. H. 64 For more material and information please visit Tai Lieu Du Hoc at Sending a can of olives to Greece would be like carrying coals to Newcastle. W. B. Wasting one s breath words i. e. talking uselessly is described in this way I might as well talk to a brick wall. I might as well save my breath. What I say has no effect. My words fall on deaf ears. Nobody listens to me. What I say goes in at one ear and out of the other. You don t listen to me. So .
