In English, we sometimes say that a person who likes sweet food has a ‘sweet tooth‘. In this article from the ABC News website, it seems like the boy’s ‘sweet tooth‘ got him into trouble.
There are some words we have seen before in this article, like plead guilty/not guilty and bail, but there are also some new expressions.
The first is ‘over the top‘. This expression means ‘excessive’ or ‘too much’. In this case the punishment is ‘over the top‘ because it is too severe.
The other interesting expressions are in this quote from Peter Collins:
The fact of the matter is he’s 12 and these are the most trivial charges imaginable. It can hardly be a justification for this kid to be brushed up against the courts to teach him a bit of a lesson
Let’s start with ‘the fact of the matter‘. This means the most important point or the main issue in a situation.
The next interesting piece of vocabulary is ‘brush up‘ meaning ‘to encounter’. We can also use it to talk about touching against something very lightly.
The last interesting expression is ‘to teach someone a lesson‘. This means to punish someone so they don’t do the same thing again.
Here in Bali, we have some great sweet treats such as pisang goreng (fried Bananas) which make great coffee snacks. Do you have a sweet tooth??
Today’s image is by Enrica Bressan.