Lesson 23

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as to = about; related to

I was given no explanation as to why my hair is turning brown.

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by and large = overall; on the whole

By and large, the food is very good at that restaurant.

It was a good performance by and large.

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due to = because of

Due to the amount of alcohol he drank, he couldn't drive home.

A: Why aren't you at the picnic?

B: It was cancelled due to high winds.

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fall behind = be late; be behind

They fell behind schedule and could not meet the deadline.

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lose track of = not be aware of; not pay attention to

It's easy to lose track of time when you're reading a good book.

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make believe = pretend to be true

A: Why is your son wearing a pot on his head?

B: He's making believe that he's a robot.

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on no account = never; in no instance

A: I can't believe there was a worm in your hamburger!

B: On no account am I going to eat at that place again!

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originate from = come from; start from

A: My grandparents were from Germany.

B: My ancestors originated from Norway.

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pull one's leg = trick or fool one

A: Stop pulling my leg!

B: I'm serious! There is a snake in my house!

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throw up = vomit

The baby threw up on her grandfather's suit.

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I hate to fly, but I recently had to take a plane to a conference. One reason I hate to fly is that I get airsick. Before this flight, I took some medicine so I wouldn't throw up on the plane.

Another reason I hate to fly is that I don't like to talk to strangers. On this flight, I made believe I was asleep so the person next to me wouldn't bother me.

By and large, the flight itself wasn't too bad when we were in the air. But there were always problems on the ground. For example, we had to stop in St.Louis and change planes. But the flight I had to change to was delayed. The flight I needed to catch originated from Washington, D.C., but it fell behind schedule due to bad weather. I had to wait in the airport for two hours!

Then, when we finally got to Los Angeles, the pilot had trouble finding the gate. We landed but the plane kept driving around. I knew that on no account should you get out of your seat while the plane is moving, so I started looking through one of the magazines on the plane. I came across an interesting article, so I lost track of time. But we must have been driving around for ten minutes at least. I asked a flight attendant for an explanation as to the delay. She said, "I think we're lost."

I wasn't sure if he was serious, so I said, "You're pulling my leg." At that moment the pilot came on the intercom and asked, "Does anyone know where Gate 12 is?"

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