I guess many of your have heard of this one like my colleague,
All work and no play (makes Jack a dull boy)
I know the first part, not the second. Well, that doesn't really matter, now I know, but the thing that I find interesting is how widespread this "All ...... and no ......" pattern is and how it has evolved.
For those of you who attended my recent Level 3, I'm sure you still remember the US slang,
All show (and) no go
which is used to describe someone or something that looks good but does not perform as promised.
Eg: That shiny car is actually all show and no go. It runs at a maximum speed of 40 mph.
Eg: Good-looking Jim is all show and no go. At the age of 30, he has never had a girlfriend.
And like I have asked in the class, what is the meaning of
No show (and) all go?
I guess you can tell me right away.
But there's more, because of this pattern, people has expanded it into many other variations such as,
- All hat (and) no cattle
- All pain (and) no gain
- All killer (and) no filler
- All paper (and) no news
- All atmospherics (and) no climate
So it is obvious to me that there is no restriction as to how you want to create your own version with this pattern. Why not we all try to use some creativity and make some of our own ones? Maybe some day in the future, people will use what you have created as their slang?
"All acceptance and no question makes one a limited learner" -- Locky
To me, even though it is "All acceptance and no question" still make me know sth. or learn sth. It's better than none. You should experience that most HK students are passive, after all, English is not our mother-tongue.
ReplyDeleteI have to submit a review file (a report) to boss this week, I just feel "All work and No help" The process is "All pain but little gain" as I know how to run a review file. After submitting the report, I hope "All acceptance and No return"
That is very very nice! Phy! Nicely done!
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