Busier than .....

Oh my god.  I have been so busy.  I have been busier than a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs!  Can you imagine that?  One thing that I haven't done recently is update this blog. I want to.  But I just don't have the time.  There is always something more important that I have to get done first.

Recently at the junior high schools, the 8th graders are studying the comparative and superlative forms. That always reminds me of all the interesting English sayings that make use of these forms. Like the one I introduced at the beginning of this post.

I am busier than a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.

To understand this, first you have to know what "busy" means.  This is an easy word.  It means that you have a lot of things to do.  It means that you can't sit still because you have to keep moving.  I am very busy because I have many lesson plans to make and other work to do.  My daughter is very busy because she can't sit still.  Next you need to understand what "a long tailed cat" is.  This should be easy, especially if you use a dictionary to look up any words you don't know.  Surely you can understand what a cat with a long tail is.  That is what "long tailed cat" means.  尻尾の長い猫.  You can say "a cat with a long tail" but you can also modify "cat" with "long tailed".  There is a rocking chair in the picture above.  Now imagine a room that has many rocking chairs.  Now imagine that all those rocking chairs are moving, rocking back and forth.  Do you have that image in your mind?  Now put a cat in there with a long tail and you'll understand how busy it would be.

Other phrases that make use of the comparative (比較級)

• colder than ice
• cooler than a cucumber
• faster than a bullet
• higher than a kite
• lighter than a feather
• slower than molasses
• hotter than hell

Well, does this give you any ideas?  Do you think you could come up with some of your own comparisons to make an interesting phrase or two?

Have fun!