The popular phrase, burning the candle at both ends, now means “to live in an unsustainable way, being too busy, using too much energy and resources—especially in a foolish way, such as by staying active all night long”: If this society keeps burning the candle at both ends, we will run out of natural resources. […]

This phrase, butt of the joke, refers to a certain kind of joke—a joke at someone else’s expense. That is to say, a joke that makes us laugh at a person, or laugh at a person’s misfortune—the butt of the joke is the person who is being laughed at. We can also use this phrase when […]

Harbor and Port have almost the same meaning; however, the differences are important—and interesting. Both words refer to places on a coast (on an ocean, sea, lake, or river, for example), where many boats stop or are stored. Harbor emphasizes its role as a safe place for boats to stop and stay. Physically, the word harbor refers to […]

In short, the correct phrase is “hard as hell,” as the Ngram viewer at the bottom of this article clearly shows, though “hard as hail” seems to convey a closely related meaning. Hard as hell means very difficult or painful, emotionally: The examination was hard as hell. Losing a friend is hard as hell. Hard is a […]

The phrase, slow and steady wins the race, means “the best results come from consistent gradual progress, not from brief, intense effort.” For example, if you want to lose weight, you need to change your eating habits gradually for a long time, not starve yourself for a week. In order to make a successful business, […]