Vocabulary Tips On the One Hand, On the Other Hand

Vocabulary Tips On the One Hand, On the Other Hand Vocabulary Tips: On the One Hand, On the Other Hand The phrase â€Å"on the one hand†¦ on the other hand† is common in English. But what exactly does it mean? And whose hands are we talking about? Well, if you take our (metaphorical) hand, we’ll be happy to walk you through how to use this phrase correctly in your writing. What Does â€Å"On the One Hand, On the Other Hand† Mean? We use â€Å"on the one hand† and â€Å"on the other hand† to present opposed ideas or points of view: On the one hand, I would like to go to the party. On the other hand, I should get an early night. Here, for example, we can see how â€Å"on the one hand† introduces one possibility (i.e., going to a party), while â€Å"on the other hand† introduces a contrasting possibility (i.e., an early night). The phrase therefore works as a conjunctive adverb, which is an adverb that connects two ideas. And as for whose hands we’re talking about here, the phrase draws on the simple idea of offering someone one choice in your left hand and a different choice in your right hand. Can You Use â€Å"On the Other Hand† by Itself? One point of controversy is whether we should always use â€Å"on the one hand† and â€Å"on the other hand† as a pair. In practice, many people use â€Å"on the other hand† by itself to introduce a contrasting idea. For example, we could rephrase the example above as follows: I would like to go to the party. On the other hand, I should get an early night. â€Å"On the other hand† here has exactly the same meaning as it does above. The only difference is that the first â€Å"hand† is implicit rather than explicit. And most English speakers will understand this without any problems. As such, it is fine to use â€Å"on the other hand† by itself in many contexts. However, some consider using â€Å"on the other hand† by itself informal. As such, you may want to avoid this in formal writing, such as academic papers or business documents. In addition, if you do use â€Å"on the one hand† and â€Å"on the other hand† as a pair, try to keep them close together. This is so the reader can see the connection between the two. It could be within a single sentence, or it could be in successive paragraphs. But if there are several paragraphs or pages between the â€Å"one hand† and the â€Å"other hand,† the connection may be hard to spot.

Skin And Bones

Skin And Bones Skin And Bones Skin And Bones By Sharon There are a lot of idiomatic expressions in English relating to skin and bones. Here are a few examples. Bone idle – lazy. (Example: He never does anything; hes just bone idle.) Bone up – study. (Example: I need to bone up on history before the final exam.) By the skin of your teeth – barely. (Example: I caught the cab by the skin of my teeth. It was about to pull away.) Close to the bone – offensive, painful or personal. (Example: I get a bit uncomfortable with Bob, because his comments are always close to the bone.) Get under your skin – irritate or annoy. (Example: He is one of the most irritating people I know. He really gets under my skin.) Have a bone to pick – have a complaint. (Example: I have a bone to pick with you. You gave me the wrong directions to the concert and I missed the start. ) Jump out of your skin – to be shocked or surprised. (Example: When the serial killer appeared in the movie, I jumped out of my skin.) Make no bones – speak frankly. (Example: I make no bones about saying that the movie was terrible. ) No skin off my nose – it doesnt matter to me. (Example: Its no skin off my nose if youd rather be alone.) Save your skin – get away from a dangerous or unpleasant situation. (Example: The soldiers started to fire but I managed to save my skin by hiding in the bushes.) Skin and bones – very thin. (Example: She never gains weight. Shes just skin and bones.) The bare bones – the outline. (Example: The professor gave the students the bare bones of the topic and told them to read up on the rest. ) Work your fingers to the bone – work hard . (Example: While you went to the party, I worked my fingers to the bone tidying up the house.) Can you think of any to add? Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Expressions category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:100 Exquisite Adjectives3 Cases of Complicated HyphenationTypes of Ignorance