PE 10/5 An Alarming Noise

* infernal: irritating; tiresome

ex> Every year they seem to find a more inconvenient time to do that infernal road work.

ex> How many of these infernal forms do we have to fill out?

* false alarm: a report of a nonexistent emergency

ex> My fireman friend told me that two-thirds of the calls they receive are false alarms.

* put a sock in it: stop talking; shut up; stop making noise

ex> Ed went downstairs at midnight to tell our neighbors to put a sock in it.

Note> This phrase is occasionally directed at people who are being annoyingly loud. The imagery for this idiom is that someone is being so noisy, a sock is stuffed into their mouths in order to quiet them down.

* not going to fly: will not be successful or acceptable

ex> The boss just told me that my idea for an underwater mall is not going to fly.

* take something on the chin: to endure an unfortunate situation without complaining

ex> Bonny got tired of taking it on the chin at work and handed in her resignation.

Note> This idiom comes from boxing. It alludes to taking a physical blow on the chin which is probably very painful.

* off-the-wall: unconventional; eccentric

ex> Ronnie can always be counted on for some off-the-wall marketing ideas.

* go off: 켜지다, 발사되다, 터지다

Devices, (alarms, sprinklers, weapons, fireworks, etc.) can “go off,” but so can people. When some starts to explain, complain, or convince in a lengthy, emphatic way, they are said to be “going off.”

ex> I needed to tell him that I didn’t appreciate the sprinkler going off when I was trying to tee off.