How Do You Talk About Everything?

How Do You Talk About Everything?

From VOA Learning English, this is Words and Their Stories.

Today let’s talk about … everything.

American English has many ways to talk about everything under the sun.

Cradle¹ to grave means an entire life cycle. A cradle is a bed for very young babies. And a grave is a burial place. So from cradle to grave means from birth to death.

It could be used to describe something that happens over the course of a person’s life. For example, “I know a man who lived in the same country village his entire life -- from cradle to grave.” That is a literal² use of the expression.

This expression is often used in business, meaning the entire life cycle of a product or process.

Here is an example:

"Marcia is responsible for the life of this product from beginning to end."

"In other words, she’s in charge from cradle to grave."

"Correct. Check with her before changing anything."

Another less common way to say cradle to grave is womb to tomb. But that one rhymes.

If you like food expressions, you can use soup to nuts, or from beginning to end. A dinner may start with soup and end with nuts.

For example, you could say, “He explained the process to us from soup to nuts ... from beginning to end.”

Everything from A to Z uses the alphabet to give a range of everything. It describes content more than process. It means that nothing important was left out.

For example, “The rescue training covered everything from A to Z. The instructors³ taught everything you need to know for a successful rescue.”

Everything but the kitchen sink is an expression that means a person included a lot of stuff – maybe too much stuff.

Let’s say my friend is going camping for the weekend. And he packs too many things -- things he won’t possibly need, like an iron, a toaster and a television. I could say, “He prepared for a weekend of camping and packed everything but the kitchen sink!”

We have many expressions that simply use the word “whole” to make fun phrases that mean “everything." For example, we have the whole ball of wax. When you say the whole ball of wax, you mean everything!

This expression may have come from a practice in the 1600s, where land was distributed in a sort of lottery⁵. The amount of each portion of land was concealed⁶ in a ball of wax and then drawn⁷ from a hat. But no one knows for sure if this is the origin.

The origin of the whole nine yards is even more mysterious. It could come from the military, sports or even Scottish dress for men.  

If you like to use expressions with known origins, use the whole enchilada. An enchilada is a Mexican dish. Vegetables or meat fill a tortilla, and is topped with a sauce. The whole enchilada means the entirety of something, especially something impressive or outstanding.

For example, “He has a job with money, respect, and personal satisfaction -- the whole enchilada!”

The word ”shebang” is also used this way. In fact, people used the whole shebang without knowing what a shebang actually is. Word historians⁸ do not agree on where “shebang” comes from either. One of the first recorded use of the whole shebang, meaning everything, is in the late 1800s.

If you like expressions that are fun to say, use the whole kit⁴ and caboodle.

And that brings us to the end of this Words and Their Stories.

Let us know what you think of the show -- the whole show -- the whole kit and caboodle in the Comments Section. Or try using the expressions you have learned in this program.

1 cradle   

n.摇篮，策源地，支船架；vt.把...放在摇篮里

参考例句：

• The baby was rocked to sleep in a cradle.婴儿在摇篮里被摇得睡着了。
• Tokyo was the cradle of Japanese culture.东京是日本文化的发源地。

2 literal   

adj.照字面的，原义的，逐字的

参考例句：

• This word should not be taken in its literal sense.这个词不能按本义去理解。
• He made a literal interpretation.他逐字解释。

3 instructors   

指导者，教师( instructor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The instructors were slacking on the job. 教员们对工作松松垮垮。
• He was invited to sit on the rostrum as a representative of extramural instructors. 他以校外辅导员身份，被邀请到主席台上。

4 kit   

n.用具包，成套工具；随身携带物

参考例句：

• The kit consisted of about twenty cosmetic items.整套工具包括大约20种化妆用品。
• The captain wants to inspect your kit.船长想检查你的行装。

5 lottery   

n.抽彩；碰运气的事，难于算计的事

参考例句：

• He won no less than ￡5000 in the lottery.他居然中了5000英镑的奖券。
• They thought themselves lucky in the lottery of life.他们认为自己是变幻莫测的人生中的幸运者。

6 concealed   

a.隐藏的，隐蔽的

参考例句：

• The paintings were concealed beneath a thick layer of plaster. 那些画被隐藏在厚厚的灰泥层下面。
• I think he had a gun concealed about his person. 我认为他当时身上藏有一支枪。

7 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

8 historians   

n.历史学家，史学工作者( historian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Historians seem to have confused the chronology of these events. 历史学家好像把这些事件发生的年代顺序搞混了。
• Historians have concurred with each other in this view. 历史学家在这个观点上已取得一致意见。