Be On The Fence

Context #1

Jim:  Have you decided who you're going to vote for?

Chris: I still don't know.  I'm kind of on the fence right now.  Both candidates are qualified and seem great for the job.

Context #2

Carol:  Have you and your husband found a new apartment yet?

Shelly:  Well, we're still on the fence about which city to live in.  I want to live closer to the beach, but my husband wants to live closer to his work. 

MEANING: to be on the fence means that you cannot make up your mind between two choices or alternatives.  It means that you are having a hard time deciding on one thing over the other. 

Beating a dead horse

Idiom: “Beating a dead horse”

Example:

Minami:  Hey there Mariela.  I heard you were talking to Joyce about politics yesterday, and you told her to “stop beating a dead horse”.  I mean I don’t know much about politics, but I can’t imagine anyone wanting to do something as cruel as that!  Why would she beat a dead horse?  That’s horrible!

Mariela:  Minami, you silly goose!  “Beating a dead horse” is an English idiom.

Minami:  Really?  That’s pretty strange.  What the heck does it mean?

Mariela:  It means repeating something over and over again, trying to make your point in so many different ways that it becomes totally obvious.

Minami:  Oh, I think I get it.  I just don’t understand why English idioms use so many references to animals.  They are very confusing to me! 

Meaning: "Beating a dead horse" is a common idiom has nothing to do with cruelty to animals, dead or alive, but simply means to make your point over and over again ad nauseam!  (Basically, this means to keep explaining and giving examples about something to the point of making your audience sick to their stomachs!).

For more information, please visit www.languagesystems.edu