On the Edge of Our Seats

Tomorrow is The Calgary Woman's Show. In itself, the show is not overly exciting for me. However, this year my sister's company You Get Well Soon is "manning" a booth and I will be there. We are truly "on the edge of our seats" about the outcome. As we haven't been to any other shows, we have "no idea" what to expect. Will she have people "falling over themselves" about the product or only "looky loos"? We are "clueless" as to what will happen. "Fingers crossed" all goes well.

1) "manning" or "to man" something - This is a strange example of how English takes nouns, like "man", and changes them into verbs. "To man" something means to physically be present. A person must be attending whatever situation is in need. So, if you are walking past a flower stand that no one seems to be working at, you could say that the stand wasn't being manned.

I know this term sounds sexist but we do use it for both men and women. If your boss asks you to volunteer to represent the company at a trade show next month, you will be "manning" the trade show booth for your company.

2) to be "on the edge of one's seat" - This phrase is very common. It means to be extremely excited about something. You "can't wait" for the event to happen. The image this phrase suggests might be a person sitting in an audience, waiting for their favourite performer to walk onto the stage. The excitement this person feels could physically move them to the edge of their seat. They would perch, like a bird on a branch, on their seat with anticipation. This phrase can be used anywhere and sometimes is used sarcastically. If, for example, you don't like cats but your friend has invited you to a cat show, you could say you are "on the edge of your seat" about which animal will be chosen the winning cat. If, on the other hand, you really enjoy having the newest technology, you could say you are "on the edge of your seat" about the upcoming release of the new iPad.

3) to have "no idea" = to be "clueless" - These expressions mean you do not have any notions, ideas, or knowledge about a subject. If you have just returned from vacation and your boss asks you what your opinion is of the new computer system your company put in last week, you could say that you "have no idea" about the new computer system because you haven't seen it yet.

In general, it's not good to be "clueless" at work. "Clueless" has the slight suggestion that your brain isn't working to capacity. You might say that the new accountant in your office is "clueless" because they cannot print out a receipt. This suggests a lack of knowledge that should be had.

4) to be "falling over oneself" - This phrase can be used a number of ways. sometimes it suggests a group of people are moving towards the same object and they are literally "falling over each other" to get to the object. Figuratively, the same group of people could be "falling over each other" if everyone in the group was trying to make a purchase of the same object.

5) a "looky loo" or "lookie loo" - This is strictly slang. a "looky loo" is a person who goes into a shop to browse but not to purchase. Because this person is only interested in looking, not buying, we call them a "looky loo". At your big sales presentation at work, you could say to your client that this new advertising campaign will turn all their "looky loos" into buyers. This will definitely make your client happy.

6) to have your "fingers crossed" - This expression comes from the physical motion of crossing one's middle finger over one's index (or pointer) finger. This is done to bring good luck to the person doing the finger crossing or to bring good luck to whomever the person crossing their fingers wants. Sometimes this same motion is used to ward off (keep away) bad luck. If your colleague at the office is going in to see the boss for their annual review, you could either make the motion of crossing your fingers or just say "fingers crossed" indicating you wish the person good luck.

Fingers crossed you all have a good week.

This blog has not been regular since the World Cup. Sorry. It will soon be again. Some football will be mentioned but I'll add a story or two about other world events - even if it's just my world.