To be light years ahead of

Idiom: To be light years ahead of

Meaning: A long way ahead of someone or something in terms of development or success

Context #1 – Becki and Sookie are talking about phones

Sookie: I really don’t know what to do. I’m so tired!.

Becki: What happened?

Sookie: I’m trying to talk my grandma into buying a new phone. Right now, she has one of those old flip phones from like 10 years ago. She insists that she doesn’t want anything different. I keep trying to tell her that the iphone is light years ahead of the flip phone and that she will see how much easier it is with a smart phone.

Becki: She probably doesn’t even know all the things the iphone can do. She can only make calls on her phone, right?

Sookie: Well, calls and low quality pictures. Despite all that, she says that she doesn’t want some fancy phone with functions that are light years ahead of her flip phone. She likes things just the way they are.

Context #2 – Deborah is asking about Carl’s 6-year-old son

Deborah: So how is your son doing in first grade?

Carl: He is doing great. Actually, that’s the problem.

Deborah: It’s a problem that he is doing great?

Carl: Yes. His teachers told me that he is really smart and learns things really fast in class. She said he is light years ahead of his classmates.

Deborah: That doesn’t sound like a problem to me.

Carl: Well, it is. Academically, he is light years ahead of the other students, but socially he is six years old and needs to have friends his age to play with.

Deborah: Oh, I see.

Carl: Now we have to decide whether to move him up a grade or keep him in the same grade.

Meaning: The idiom “light years ahead of” means to be a long way ahead of someone or something in terms of development or success. In context one, Sookie is trying to convince her grandma to buy a phone that is light years ahead of (or much more developed than) her grandma’s flip phone. In context 2, Carl is worried about his son being more advanced academically than his classmates because socially he wants his son to be surrounded by children his own age.

Cutting Edge

Idiom: Cutting Edge

Meaning: The most modern or advanced point of something, at the forefront, newest, up-to-date, the leading or most important part of a movement , leading edge; commonly used as both a noun and adjective

Context #1 – Belinda and Sal are studying

Sal: This new phone is great for studying. While reading this book on my phone for class, I can look up unknown words instantly with one tap, write notes with a stylus in the margins, and quickly find commentary and explanations on the internet. I don’t even need a computer.

Belinda: Wow, that’s nice! I do a lot of studying on my iPad. I can’t imagine what it was like before all this cutting edge technology.

Sal: I know! Can you imagine reading a book and then looking up the words in a paperback dictionary? That would take forever!

Belinda: Well, my grandma says she will never go back to the way it was before. She is on the cutting edge of technology, despite her age!

Sal: Good for her! I cannot imagine it any other way.

Context #2 – Daphne is asking about Cecil’s new watch

Daphne: Is that a new Apple Watch?

Cecil: Yes, it is. My parents gave it to me for my birthday.

Daphne: That’s so cool! You are on the cutting edge of technology and fashion with such a nice looking watch!

Cecil: Thank you!

Check out this video for more examples of cutting edge technology!

Top 5 Wearable Tech

Meaning: The idiom “cutting edge” means the most modern or advanced of something and can be used as both a noun and adjective.  In context one, they are discussing cutting edge (adjective) technology and Belinda’s grandma who is on the cutting edge (noun) of technology. In context 2, Daphne thinks that Cecil’s watch is on the cutting edge (noun) of fashion as well as technology.