Dear Epit,

You asked for �Earth Idioms� in English. Here are some.

�What �on earth� are you doing?� = When we add �on earth� to a question, it makes the question EMPHATIC, and usually indicates our surprise, irritation, or amusement.

�How on earth did you climb up there?� asks the Mam, to the child sitting on top of the wardrobe.

�Down-to-earth� = practical, sensible, no-nonsense, dealing with FACTS, not theories.

�She�s a down-to-earth woman. She doesn�t believe in horoscopes, and things like that�.

�To come down to earth� = To abandon �dreams in the sky�, and FACE REALITY.

�When Peter left University, he came down to earth with a bump, because he had to start earning some money�.

�To bring someone down to earth� = To FORCE someone to abandon �dreams in the sky�, and FACE REALITY.

�Peter had some expensive ideas on how to improve the factory, but his new Boss soon brought him down to earth�.

�Like nothing on earth.� (A colloquial expression) = HORRIBLE, awful, terrible. (It is used with verbs such as �to look; to feel; to smell; to taste; to sound).

�Tom, you look like nothing on earth in those red trousers, that green jacket, that Panama hat, and those stupid spotted boots�.

�The salt of the earth� = The BEST people on earth.

�She will do anything, go anywhere, give anything to someone who needs help. She is the salt of the earth.

�To disappear off the face of the earth� = to DISAPPEAR COMPLETELY.

�After University, I didn�t hear anything from my best friend Bill. He just disappeared off the face of the earth�.

�To move heaven and earth� = To do EVERYTHING possible to achieve something.

�I want to be a Pop-star! I�ll do ANYTHING! I�ll move heaven and earth to sing on TV�.

�Heaven on earth� = Something EXTREMELY GOOD.

�My Mother�s food is fantastic! Her fruit cake is heaven on earth!�

�To go to earth/ground� = When someone is being followed, pursued, or stalked, and he/she HIDES in a safe refuge.

�The actor escaped from the journalists by going to earth/ground in a house in the forest.

�To run someone to earth/ground� = After a search, to DISCOVER where the escaped person is hiding.

�The journalists eventually ran the actor to earth/ground in a house in the forest�.

When something costs �the earth� = It was very, very, very EXPENSIVE!

�Oh, darling, this diamond ring is beautiful. You must have paid the earth for it!�

�The four corners of the earth� = EVERY PART of the world.

�The Olympic athletes came to London from the four corners of the earth.�

�Hell on earth� = Something which is VERY UNPLEASANT.

�At school many bullies punched, kicked, and taunted me every day. My life was hell on earth.�

�Not to have an earthly� or �Not to have an earthly chance� = To have NO POSSIBILITY of success.

�He intends to race against Olympic Champions, but he hasn�t trained for it. He won�t have an earthly!� (�He won�t have an earthly chance!�)

�No earthly reason� = NO REASON at all, (usually said in irritation).

�There�s no earthly reason why you should give your boy-friend money. He has an EXCELLENT salary, and YOU are still at College!�

�The scum of the earth� = The VERY WORST type of people.

�The farmer starved and beat his faithful old dog. People like him are the scum of the earth�.

�Follow to the ends of the earth� = To travel as far as it is POSSIBLE to go.

�The wife loved her sailor husband very much. She was willing to follow him to the ends of the earth�.

I hope that these are of use to someone.

Les Douglas