The living is easy

Footloose and fancy free describes a single person without attachments.

No ties means having no responsibilities to tie a person to a place.  Nothing to do with neck-ties!

Feel free is an invitation to help oneself to food or to join in.  It is also a joke about not wearing a bra!

No strings attached describes an offer, which does not demand anything in return.

The one that got away is a phrase Mum uses if she is asked whether she was a teacher.

They all lived happily ever after is a fairytale ending.

Take it easy!  Advice to slow down or rest.

To live a life of leisure may be the ambition of many.  It could be a primrose path.  I don’t believe it leads to happiness.

Each to their own.  This is a popular phrase used when people have different interests and ambitions.

Left holding the baby may be used literally, but more often is synonymous with lumbered.  A lumberjack works in forests in North America harvesting timber.  Lumber is heavy.

Left in the lurch means abandoned at the altar.  There is a comic song

There was I standing at the church…

Beg, borrow or steal is a phrase meaning procure by any possible means.

The thing is… often introduces an excuse or objection.

Make a new start with a New Year’s resolution, a change of address, of job, of relationship, or of religion.

Many people think that Christianity is about obeying rules and not doing all sorts of enjoyable things.  In fact it is about new life.  Acts 5:18-20 has a message for Peter from an angel.

 

Whereabouts

Fresh fields and pastures new are idiomatic places to make a new start.

London Bridge is the subject of a nursery rhyme and a few interesting stories.

London Bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down,
London Bridge is falling down, my fair lady.

There are several verses.

Here are two stories about London Bridge.  The old London Bridge had shops and houses built on it.  This was all destroyed during the Great Fire of London, which started in Pudding Lane and is commemorated by the Monument.  London Bridge is on the left of the picture.

The Great Fire of London Photo credit Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Great_Fire_London.jpg

The bridge which was built to replace it was later sold and transported to America.  A third bridge now stands in its place.

A bridge too far is the title of a film.

Water under the bridge is a saying about past events.  Like water which has flowed under a bridge they cannot be brought back and altered.  No use worrying about them.

They were a bit thin on the ground.  This expression describes a poor turnout for an event.

It’s an uphill struggle – a cliché describing a difficult task.  Personally, I find going down trickier.  I don’t mind climbing a hill in the countryside; the path is straight ahead.  Different muscles are used to prevent an uncontrolled descent.  If I look at the view, I might miss an uneven part of the path and if there is a steep drop nearby there is the danger of vertigo!

A pied-à-terre is a second home – literally a foot on the ground.

To know one’s place is not to be over-ambitious.  In the days of a more class-conscious society people in the lower classes knew their place.

A blot on the landscape is an ugly development or building.

The scenic route is usually less direct, but the views are better.  A driver who does not wish the passengers to know that a wrong turn has been taken may resort to this expression!

That put you in your place!
Someone has just been told where to get off!

Rooted to the spot/ground is immobile, like a rabbit caught in the headlights of a vehicle.

I’ll brook no…
…although a brook is a stream or beck the meaning hear is tolerate.  It is a literary expression.

The brain drain was a popular expression at a time when many British graduates were leaving for North America.  Their education had been paid for in the UK (usually from taxes) in the time before student loans.  The loss of their skills was a drain on the national economy.

Down the drain refers to waste. 

To pull the plug on something is to abandon a project, for instance, before it has been completed.

Down the plughole is similar to down the drain.  Sometimes small objects accidentally go down the plughole.  

In the pipeline means in preparation.  Some oil pipelines are very long and it takes time for the oil to arrive at its destination.

In the Bible the Promised Land was an important place.  Did you know that Moses only saw it from the distance?  Deuteronomy 34