Heads or tails? －表か裏か－

In my last blog post, I noted that English has a lot of words with a similar meaning.  I used the words throw, fling, hurl and toss as an example, and suggested we might make things easier for English students if we threw some of these words away.

But we would also lose a number of useful idioms and expressions.  Let’s take a look at four of these... 

1 – to throw a spanner in the works

Imagine a delicate piece of machinery.  It has many small, moving parts which connect together to make it operate correctly.  Now imagine an angry worker coming along and throwing a spanner (a heavy metal tool used to unscrew bolts) into the machine.  What would happen?

If something or someone throws a spanner in the works, then they cause a sudden and major problem to an operation, plan, process etc.  For example, “Our company was planning to release our new product this year, but the tax rise has thrown a spanner in the works.  It might be too expensive to release it as planned.”

 

2 – a fling

A fling, used as a noun, is a brief love affair.  For example, “I’m just looking for a fling.  I don’t want a serious relationship.”  Probably, the reason we use the word “fling” is that your lover is quickly flung away when the affair comes to an end. 

 

3 – to hurl abuse at someone

To hurl something means to throw it with great force.  In the Olympics, you might hurl a javelin, for example.

So, if you shout angry or negative remarks at someone, “throwing” your comments with great force, then we say you are hurling abuse.

For example, “When the scandal-hit politician emerged to talk to the media, his speech was interrupted by protesters, who hurled abuse at him.” 

 

4 – to toss a coin

If someone has to randomly decide between two options, or fairly choose who will start a game etc., then a quick and easy way to do this is to toss a coin.  In Britain, the Queen’s head will be on one side of the coin.  That side is called “heads”.  The other side is called “tails.  One person calls heads or tails and the other person tosses the coin, to see which lands facing upwards.

Some people might just like throwing the Queen’s head around...