Wordwise : Clothes and Dressing

By S.H. LOKE

IT is not surprising that expressions related to clothes and dressing cover every facet of life. They can be used to describe events, people and jobs. You can use some of these well-worn expressions to add a splash of colour to your language.

1. Cap

To put on your thinking cap means to think hard.

We have to put on our thinking cap to solve the mystery of the missing suitcase.

2. Coat

To cut your coat according to your cloth means to spend within your means.

During bad times, we should learn to cut our coat according to our cloth.

3. Coat-tails

If you do something on the coat-tails of someone else, you are able to do it because of the other person’s success and not due to your own efforts.

He won the post because he was riding on the coat-tails of his father.

4. Belt

To hit below the belt means to resort to foul means.

In any game you cannot hit below the belt.

To tighten your belt means to spend less money and manage without luxuries as you have less money.

We have to tighten our belt since we have just bought a house.

5. Hat

Someone who wears several hats has several roles or jobs to perform.

Joan is a talented lady who wears several hats.

6. Skirt

Something that skirts an area is situated around the edge of it.

There are cows grazing in the field that skirts the lake.

If you skirt a problem, you avoid dealing with it.

He skirted the issue of raising funds for the school.

7. Tie

Ties are connections that you have with people or a place.

Malaysia has close ties with Indonesia.

If two people tie in a contest or game, they have the same number of points or same degree of success.

There is a tie between the Red house and the Green house.

8. Gloves

Something that fits like a glove fits perfectly.

To work hand in glove means to work closely.

He and his brother work hand in glove in running their timber business.

9. Cloak

To cloak something means to cover it or hide it.

Mt Kinabalu was cloaked in mist.

Her wedding plans were made under a cloak of secrecy.

10. Frills

Something which has no frills has no extra features but only the basics.

I stayed at a hotel which provided good accommodation with no frills.

11. Lace

To lace food or drinks with a substance such as a drug means to put a small amount of it into the food or drinks.

Some years ago, some chocolates in Japan were laced with poison.

12. Collar

If you collar someone who has done something wrong, who is escaping, you catch them or hold them so that they cannot escape.

The thief tried to flee but was collared at the junction.

Blue collar jobs require physical work such as making things in factories.

White collar workers work in offices, and are better paid.

Many high-ranking officials are the brains behind white collar crimes.

13. Sleeve

If you have something up your sleeve, you have an idea or plan which you have not told anyone about.

He was smiling at the meeting, so I suspect he has a trick up his sleeve.

If you wear your heart on your sleeve, you openly show your feelings.

14. Pants

If someone bores, charms or scares the pants off you, they bore, charm or scare you a lot.

His sweet talk scares the pants off me.

If one person in a relationship, especially the woman, wears the pants, they are the one who makes all the decisions.

Mei Li is the one who wears the pants in her home.