For the Moment, For the Time Being | Idioms, Meaning, and Examples

for the moment and for the time being means for the present; for now; temporarily.
Examples:
1. This quick fix will have to do for the moment. 
2. This is all right for the time being . It'll have to be improved next week, however. 
3. This good feel ing will last only for the time being.
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English Idiom: (Able to/can) fog a mirror (Meaning and Examples)

(Able to/can) fog a mirror.
Idiom Meaning: Inf. alive, even if just barely. (Usually jocular. Refers to the use of a small mirror placed under the nose to tell if a person is breathing or not. Able to is often can.)

Idiom Example:
Look, I don’t need an athlete to do this job! Anybody able to fog a mirror will do fine!

Another example from the news:

Getting stuck with poor performers
                       
I think that it’s safe to say that the most often neglected rule of management is “hire slow and fire fast.”

Albeit grammatically incorrect, the point is clear and it’s a lesson difficult to refute.

But we break this rule all the time. Frankly, we are much more likely to hire quickly and fire slowly.
           
In the ’90s, if a human could fog a mirror he or she was qualified to work in a drycleaning plant. With jobs as plentiful as they were back then, it’s a miracle that we got anybody to work for us.

It’s much easier these days to get someone to apply for a position, and there are many of us who perform our due diligence during the application and hiring processes. I have seen personality tests, trial periods and conditional hirings. Certain things like “Let’s see you press shirts for an hour. If your quality is good, you will get the job.”

There have been instances where it’s difficult to make a decision, so we do multiple interviews with several people; the supervisor, the general manager... Read the full article at: http://www.natclo.com/1311/desrosiers.htm
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English Idiom: Zero in (on someone or something)

zero in (on so/sth)

Idiom Meaning: Fig. to aim directly at someone or something.

Idiom Example:

The television camera zeroed in on the little boy scratching his head.  Mary is very good about zeroing in on the most important and helpful ideas.

Another example from the news:


BREAKING NEWS: Senate Leaders Zero In on Deal to End Federal Shutdown and Raise the Debt Ceiling

Late Monday night, the Senate appeared to be closer to resolving the current political crisis--yet uncertainty remained on multiple fronts

Late Monday night Oct. 14, the U.S. Capitol in Washington was abuzz with activity, as Senate leaders appeared to be closing in on a legislative deal that might end the double crisis of the current federal government shutdown and the looming federal government debt default. Late-evening reports in both the Washington Post and The New York Times, and broadcast reports on Fox News and MSNBC, revealed details of a Senate plan that appeared to be coming together barely two days before the U.S. Treasury department faced the prospect of no longer being able to pay the government's bills. Even so, speculation continued as to whether House Republicans, whose legislative actions initially triggered the shutdown, would go along with Senate Republicans on the emerging deal.

According to a report in the Post by Lori Montgomery and Rosalind S. Helderman, "Senate leaders said late Monday that they were closing in on a deal to raise the federal debt limit and end the two-week-old government shutdown, just days before the Treasury Department exhausts its ability to borrow. The emerging agreement," they wrote, "would extend the Treasury Departments borrowing authority until Feb. 7, reopen the government and fund federal agencies through mid-January, according to aides and lawmakers familiar with the negotiations. In the meantime," their report added, "policymakers would launch a new round of talks over broder budget issues in hopes of developing a plan to.... Read the full news at: http://www.healthcare-informatics.com/article/breaking-news-senate-leaders-zero-deal-end-federal-shutdown-and-raise-debt-ceiling
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English Idiom: Ye gods (and little fish!) (meaning and examples)

Ye gods (and little fishes)!

Idiom Meaning: Inf. What a surprising thing!

Idiom Example:
Ye gods and little fishes! Someone covered my car with broken eggs!

Another example from the news:
Paying for deportation, torture

Family deported to Libya can return - if it pays $6,800, Oct. 25

What kind of inhuman beings inhabit Canada immigration? More and more often, refugees are being treated unfairly.

In this unbelievable case, refugee status was wrongfully denied to a family. They were sent to Libya where the father was imprisoned and tortured. Then, after the family had lived in a shipping container (a shipping container!) in a refugee camp for a year (a year!), Ottawa kindly and compassionately agreed to let them back into Canada on humanitarian grounds.

This magnanimous gesture on the part of our family-friendly Harper government has a slight catch. The Benhmudas must pay back to the government the $6,000 it cost to send them to Libya to experience prison and torture. Ye gods! Additional costs bring the total to $6,800. After they have paid this, the generous government will let them apply for a federal loan for the transportation costs of their return. What thoughtfulness. Read the full the news at: http://www.thestar.com/opinion/letters_to_the_editors/2013/10/30/paying_for_deportation_torture.html
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English Idiom: Wade through something (meaning & examples)

wade through sth.
Idiom meaning: Fig. to struggle through something with difficulty. (Fig. on the image of slogging through something such as water or mud.)

Idiom example:
I have to wade through 40 term papers in the next two days.

Another example from the news:

Sharjah residents have to wade through sewage water in Muweilah
Dubai: Residents in Sharjah’s Muweilah area at the National Paints Roundabout say it is frustrating to have to wade through pools of sewerage water in their vicinity for months and putting up with the unbearable stench.

“The basement parking lots in most of the buildings in this area remain flooded on Fridays and public holidays, giving off a rotten smell on other days and this has been going for almost three months now,” said an angry Mohsin V. a tenant in the Saeed Al Hillal building. He says the building that houses close to 200 families is one of the worst affected buildings in the area.

“Such is the situation that we have stopped inviting guests on weekends because we fear our dignity and self-respect are at stake. Instead we escape to our friends and families for the day,” adds the man from… Read the full news at: http://gulfnews.com/news/region/general/sharjah-residents-have-to-wade-through-sewage-water-in-muweilah-1.1249426
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English Idiom: vale of tears (meaning and examples)

Vale of Tears.

Idiom Meaning: Fig. the earth; mortal life on earth. (Vale is a literary
word for valley.)

Idiom Example:
When it comes time for me to leave this vale of tears, I hope I can leave some worthwhile memories behind.

Another Example from the News:

Rent Seeking and Other Blood Sports
The history of federal health care management for active military and veterans is a vale of tears that includes mismanagement, sub-standard care, and outright abuse. And institutionally, no one thinks of a Veterans Administration (VA) hospital as an American national standard for medical staff or patient care. The VA and the military health care system do not host the cream of the crop from any management or medical school either.

Dare we mention Major (doctor) Nidal Hasan, US Army, better at taking life than caring for it? Do we need to review the bidding at Walter Reed Army Medical Center where rehab included rats and roaches? Or recall that the US Army couldn't even keep track of cadavers or ashes at Arlington National Cemetery. Arlington is in the Pentagon's back yard. Who believes that apathetic apparatchiks who can't manage the honored dead should be trusted to manage nationalized care for the living? Read the full news at: http://www.americanthinker.com/2013/11/rent_seeking_and_other_blood_sports.html
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English Idiom: Under a cloud (of suspicion) (Meaning & Examples)

Under a Cloud (of Suspicion).

Idiom Meaning: Fig. suspected of something.

Idiom Example:
Someone stole some money at work, and now everyone is under a cloud of suspicion.

Another Example from the News:

Seat of justice under a cloud
MANGALORE: Legal luminaries describe Dharmasthala as an alternative seat of justice for the simple reason that litigants who come with their complaints abide by the divine verdict dispensed here and treat it on a par with normal court orders. Yet, for the first time in recent memory, this seat and those associated with it are under a cloud following the rape and murder of a PUC student.

While teenager Nirmala (name changed) was found dead in mysterious circumstances at Ujire, it triggered murmurs and muted protests. All this changed when a Kannada newschannelwent public with allegations last week that she was allegedly raped and murdered by persons related and close to the Dharmadhikari of Sri Kshetra Dharmasthala D Veerendra Heggade. Read the full news at: http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-10-17/bangalore/43143082_1_cid-dharmadhikari-heggade
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