The saying silence is golden is a philosophical comment that simply means “silence is very valuable.” (Gold being an enduring symbol of high value.) This phrase can be understood in several different ways. It can be used to talk about literal silence—no noise, no talking. In this case, we feel that “silence is golden” because it […]

The phrase in a nutshell means “in brief” or “to summarize;” this phrase normally comes before an explanation or a definition: In a nutshell, physics is the study of matter and energy. Tell me about your idea, in a nutshell. In a nutshell, evolution is about adaptation. Nutshells are small but contain everything a nut needs […]

The phrase, the end all be all, means “the only goal, reason, or valuable part of something” and is used as a noun: Winning is not the end all be all of playing sports; fun is more important. As you can see, we usually say that something is NOT the end all be all. This makes sense, […]

The adverb phrase, slowly but surely, describes a slow process that will reach a certain end: Just keep dieting and, slowly but surely, you will lose weight. Slowly but surely, climate change will make life more difficult. If you keep working, slowly but surely, success will come. As you can see in these sentences, we […]

The phrase whatever floats your boat, means “whatever you like, or whatever makes you happy is okay or permissible”: Person 1: What shall we eat for dinner? Person 2: How about Chinese food? Person 1: Whatever floats your boat! There are many versions of this phrase, which became common in America during the 1980s. This […]