English idioms about decisions | Study English advanced level

Hi there, this is teacher Harry and welcome back  to my English lessons where I try to help you  

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What are we going to talk to you about today?  Well, we want to look at idioms about decisions.  

So as always, I'll give you these... the list of  them one by one, then I'll go through them, give  

you an explanation, some examples. And hopefully,  you'll get a better understanding of how to use  

these idioms and what they mean exactly. Let's  not waste any more time, let's get on with them.

So here they are: to sit on the fence,  split hairs, vote with your feet,  

stick to your guns, to take a back  seat, things are up in the air,  

up for grabs, one step at a time,  low hanging fruit. And finally, weigh  

the pros and cons. To weigh the pros and  cons. Okay, let's take them one at a time.

So the first one to sit on the fence. Well,  that can be quite painful sitting on the  

fence. It depends on how the fence is made.  And if it's got a lot of spikes in the top,  

you're not going to be so comfortable. And that's  exactly what sitting on the fence means. It means  

you cannot make a decision. Okay. So if you make  a decision to go this way, something will happen.  

If you make a decision to go that way, something  different will happen. But if you sit on the  

fence, guess what, nothing will happen. But  people usually decide to sit on the fence  

because they're unsure about making a decision.  They're not sure what the reaction or... or  

consequences are of moving left and moving right.  So they decide to do nothing. And often in life,  

it's very difficult to sit on the fence because  really you're not... you are making no decision  

at all. So an example of it will be where your  friends are having an argument about where to go,  

let's say on a weekend. And one friend wants  to go to the sea because he wants to swim  

and spend some time on the beach. And the other  friend wants to go on a little bit of hillwalking  

attraction because she wants to get a bit of  exercise. And they ask you for your opinion,  

What do you think? Yeah, and you say, I'm not so  sure. Sitting on the beach. Sounds good. And so  

for tracking that sounds really good as well. You  guys make the decision? I'm not sure. So that's  

classic sitting on the fence. When really, if you  favour sitting on the beach and having to swim,  

then you should say that. Or if you  prefer to go trekking and hillwalking,  

well, then you should come down heavily  in favour of that friend. But if you don't  

want to upset friend A, friend B, well, what do  you sit on the fence and you make no decision?

The next idiom is about splitting hair. So  what does that mean? Well, when we split hairs,  

literally, you could take your hair, and if you  could slice it down the middle, it's very, very  

difficult. Okay, and not so necessary. So when we  say somebody is splitting hairs, we mean that they  

are making unnecessary comments, some... some very  minute, or tiny details that are not really so...  

so relevant. So, you know, we often say, Oh, let's  not split hairs over there. So if you're trying to  

argue about something and you're... you're making  big decisions, but somebody wants to focus on some  

small details, then that could be described as  splitting hairs. So they're making unnecessary  

distinctions between things, when really the  differences between the two are... are very,  

very small. Okay, so when, what, for example,  we go back to the earlier example of deciding  

where you're going to go for the weekend,  so shall we sit on the beach? Or shall we  

sit in the park and have a picnic? Yeah. Okay. So  they're not really so different? Yes. So notice,  

if somebody says, Oh, well, this is going to be  better because, you know, they're not going to  

be any flies and mosquitoes in the park. But there  might be some flies and mosquitoes on the beach,  

who knows. So, you know, while it might be a  little bit hotter in the park than it will be  

on the beach. So these are sort of small details.  And somebody said you're really splitting hairs  

in relation to that. Let's just make a decision  where we want to go, okay, so splitting hairs.

Next, we have to vote with your feet. But when we  say somebody votes with their feet, it's all to do  

with walking, okay. We use our feet to walk. So  when we don't like something, we often avoid it  

and therefore we vote with our feet. So if you  don't like the local restaurant because they have  

changed the management or in fact, they may have  changed the menu and you're no longer like it,  

so you vote with your feet by avoiding that  particular restaurant, and you go somewhere  

else. Okay, so that's you've made the decision,  you voted with your feet. So anytime that we  

dislike something that has happened, or we've had  an argument with somebody, or the shop or retail  

operation doesn't provide what the customer really  wants, well, then the customer votes with his or  

her feet. They vote with their feet, and they go  somewhere else. So customers will always vote with  

their feet. So if they can't get what they want in  your shop, they'll go to a shop where they can get  

it. If they can't get the food that they want in  your restaurant, then they will vote with their  

feet and they will go to a restaurant that will  provide them with what they want. So when people  

are planning a marketing strategy for selling a  product, or, you know, whatever they want to do,  

they have to make sure that what they are offering  is what the customer wants, because guess what,  

if they don't, then the customer will vote with  their feet, and they will go somewhere else. Okay,  

so it's exactly what it means to get  up and walk away, vote with your feet.

Stick to your guns. So when we stick to our  guns, it means we stick to our point of view,  

our argument no matter what people say, okay?  So if you're having an argument with somebody  

in the office, if you're having an argument  or discussion with somebody in the family,  

and they're trying to persuade you that they  are right, and you are wrong. And no matter what  

they say to you say, No, no, I'm going to stick to  my guns. That's my decision. That's what I think.  

I'm not going to be persuaded by you. I'm going to  stick to my guns. So it means whatever you believe  

is correct for you. Well, that's what you're  going to do. So once you've made a decision,  

you're going to stick to your guns,  okay. And somebody said, No, look,  

I think you should do this, or I think you should  do that. Is it? No, no, no, I'm going to stick,  

I've made my mind up. That's my decision. Okay.  So it could be very something very simple,  

perhaps has to do with the course you've decided  to do in university, yeah. You've decided to do  

a philosophy course and somebody's trying to  explain to you, Well, are you really sure you  

want to do that because it's going to involve a  lot of reading, and you're not the sort of person  

that I've seen that reads a lot. And perhaps this  might not be the course for you? And you say no,  

no, no, I really like it. I like the whole idea  of philosophy, I am going to spend a lot of time  

reading, I know how to do it. So I really would  prefer to do this because there's nothing else  

on the... the shedule that I think would...  would suit me. So if you don't mind,  

I'll stick to my guns. This is the course I've  decided on. And this is what I'm going to do. So  

stick to your guns stick to your principles,  stick to your decision, your view, no matter  

what other people and what other arguments other  people put in front of you. Stick to your guns.

To take a back seat, okay. When we take a back  seat, literally we are driving a car, behind  

us usually are two or three seats, okay? So if  you're driving, you're in control. And when you're  

in the back, you're not in control, you're leaving  the driving to somebody in the driving seat here,  

okay. So when you decide to take a back seat in  something, you're sort of stepping back and let  

somebody else control it, that somebody else be  in control. And you sit back and relax. Okay. So  

again, if we have two friends who are arguing over  some point of view and they're looking for you  

to... to side with one or the other, you say, No,  I'm going to take a back seat on that, I let you  

guys work it out. It's nothing to do with me, it's  not going to affect me one way or the other. So if  

you don't mind, I'll take a back seat. I let you  guys work it out and come back to me when you've  

made a decision. Okay, so to take a back seat  means to step back, step away from something,  

sit down, relax, and just leave it to  somebody else to control. Take a back seat.

When things are up in the air, well, I can take  things that I have on the table. The papers,  

and I can throw them up in the air, and eventually  paper will land, but it might take a few seconds.  

So when things are up in the air, it means  they're not quite decided, things are a little  

bit uncertain. So from an office point of view,  the manager retires or the manager gets sacked,  

get sacked, or suddenly leaves for another job.  And everybody is wondering what's going to happen,  

who's going to replace them? What are we going to  do with this project? How are we going to finish  

it? Is there somebody in the team that's going  to get the position, so nobody knows. So we can  

describe that as a situation where things are up  in the air. So you come home and you're talking  

to your partner, husband or wife, Oh, things are  really up in the air in the office at the moment.  

They haven't replaced John who left last week.  Lots of rumours going around that. They're going  

to appoint somebody from another department which  nobody will like, or maybe they'll go outside  

externally and recruit somebody there. But that's  going to take a couple of months. So things are  

really up in the air. And that project,  that he was working on, and who knows now,  

when it's going to finish, okay. So when  things are up in the air, they're undecided,  

they're unsure, it's uncertain, and nobody  knows what is going to happen. Up in the air.

Up for grabs, well, let's go back to that example  four up in the air, and we can explain this quite  

quite easily. So this guy, John has left his  position, there's a vacancy there in the office,  

it's available, and it's up for grabs.  That means somebody is going to get that  

position. So it might as well be you as somebody  else. So why don't you put yourself forward.  

So your colleagues or your partner might say  to you, Well, there's the opportunity, you've  

been waiting for. You wanted all the time to get  into a management position, there's a vacancy,  

knock on the door of the boss or the HR department  and tell them you want that position. You'd like  

to put yourself forward because the job is up for  grabs, that position is up for grabs, okay? It  

means it's vacant, it's available, somebody is  going to get it, you put your name forward, or  

as we say, often in English, put your name in the  hat. Yeah. And who knows, you do a good interview,  

or they think well of you, you've got a good  reputation. You might make that job yours.  

So it's up for grabs, but grab it. So to grab  something means to take hold of it. So if the job  

is there, it's up for grabs. You grab it  before somebody else does. Okay, up for grabs.

One step at a time. Well, when we take one step  at a time, literally, one foot, the next foot, one  

foot, the next foot, so each foot is a step. Yeah.  So one step at a time means we take things slowly,  

we take things very deliberately, and we make sure  that we are doing everything correctly, we're not  

going to make mistakes. Now, it might mean you  do things a little bit more slowly than you had  

intended, okay. But we take things one step at  a time, because if we get ahead of ourselves,  

we might make a mistake. So if you're planning  something, a holiday perhaps or if you're planning  

a move of an apartment, or to buy a house, or to  buy an apartment, you might say to your partner,  

Well, hold on a minute, let's first of  all look at where exactly do we want to  

live before we start looking at houses. Which area  do we want to live in? Okay, let's take it one  

step at a time. We'll... we'll look at that the  localities where would we like to live. Then let's  

look at the type of properties that are available.  And of course, the most important thing, how much  

are they going to cost? And are they within our  budget, because we have to look at either selling  

this apartment or going to the bank to get a  loan or credit to purchase. We need to take it  

one step at a time slowly, slowly. Okay. So once  we do that, and we have something set out in a  

very specific plan, that hopefully we won't make  too many mistakes, doing it one step at a time.

Low hanging fruit. Well, when we get to the end  of the summer, probably early September and you  

go into the orchards for the apples, you'll  see that branches weighed down very heavily  

with all of the apples unless the wind has  blown them down. But they'll be way down and  

the lower branches will be the heaviest and the  easiest to pick. So you can just put your hand up  

or bend over, take an apple, take an orange, it's  very, very easy. So when we're talking about low  

hanging fruit, it's the easiest option that you  have. And once you've cleared the lower branches,  

it becomes a little bit more difficult as you go  up because you might need a ladder or some way  

of getting up to the fruit at the top of the tree.  So that's specifically and exactly what we mean by  

low hanging fruit. So when we  talk about it in an idiomatic way,  

low hanging fruit is the easy option. Okay,  so if you've got a marketing strategy and  

a plan to sell more of your products, then  what you're looking for initially is the low  

hanging fruit. Meaning go for the customers who  already know you. Perhaps who've already bought a  

similar product from you in the past and they're  probably the customers more likely and the most  

likely customers to buy your new product. So you  gear your initial marketing towards them. Okay,  

so you're going after the customers who know  you, the customers who know you by reputation,  

the customers who have bought previous products,  and they're very happy with them but it's time  

for a change. So this is the low hanging  fruit And you get a few sales in that area,  

it sets up everything for the rest of your  campaign. And then you start targeting perhaps  

new customers or customers who know you but didn't  buy from you in the past, and then gradually work  

your way up the chain. Okay, so the low hanging  fruit is the easiest part of the chain, they're  

people who know you, they're people who you'll  find it easiest to sell to. Low hanging fruit.

And then finally, to weigh the pros and cons  weigh. W-E-I-G-H. Okay, so when we get up in  

the morning, and we feel a little bit heavy,  we want to find out have we put on some weight,  

we stand on the weighing scale, so we weigh  ourselves. W-E-I-G-H, okay. And to weigh up  

the pros and cons means to balance, okay. To  weigh up meaning, okay. And on one hand, here  

are the pros the benefits. On the other hand, here  are the cons that the disadvantages. I'm going to  

weigh them up and see what's best for me. And if  this wins, then yeah, positive decision. If the  

disadvantages are heavier, then perhaps, I should  go with that, and I shouldn't make that particular  

decision. So when we weigh up the pros and cons,  we're looking at a problem to make our decision.  

Hopefully, we will make the right decision. So we  make it in our favour. What are the advantages or  

the positives, okay? Or what are the disadvantages  or the negatives? Which is going to win? And when  

you weigh them up, then you can make your  decision. So weigh up the pros and cons,  

look at it from every side. Positive - negative,  negative - positive, weigh up the pros and cons.

Okay, so they're my idioms dealing with decisions.  Let me just give them to you one more time.  

Sit on the fence, split hairs, vote  with your feet, stick to your guns,  

take a back seat, things up in the  air, up for grabs, one step at a time,  

low hanging fruit and finally, to weigh up the  pros and cons. Now if you want to contact me,  

you can do so on www.englishlessonviaskype.com.  Always happy to hear from you. Okay, make sure  

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