Idiomatic Conversation

In case you've not figured it out, I'm an absolute cheese ball.  Sappy love songs?  Yes, please.  Happily ever after endings?  I'll take 'em.  Motivational quotes?  My middle name.  (The beauty of not actually having a middle name is that I can claim anything as my middle name without too much dispute.) 

Which brings me to my love for idioms.  One of the best gifts I've ever received was a book of idioms from my friend Jake.  And I must confess, my definition of the word "gift" in this instance is an item that a dear friend let another dear friend borrow, and here it sits three years later on the borrower's book case an ocean away from the lender.  In all fairness, he still has my copy of The Davinci Code. 

Back to idioms. I think my favorite, and most commonly referenced, is, "Hindsight is 20/20."  It really is often appropriate, and on several different levels.  If used correctly, it can also be a sure-fire conversation changer.  Take your friend who is obsessing over an awkward encounter.  After you exhaust your encouraging remarks of, "I'm sure it wasn't that bad," or, "Trust me, he didn't even notice you had asparagus stuck in your teeth," there isn't a whole lot you can contribute.  Smiling and nodding doesn't quite get it, so what do you do?  After aforementioned friend picks apart another detail of what she should have said or how she should have said it, simply say, "Well, you know, hindsight is 20/20."  There is absolutely nothing that can be said back to that.  Friend will stop, agree, and now you're back to discussing the crisis in Egypt, our looming deficit, or deciding whether you support Team Jacob or Team Edward. 

Note:  This post is not to encourage being an unsupportive friend.  It's more of a tid-bit to be kept on file for emergency conversations that may never end without this idiom's help or to stop your friend from dwelling on a topic to his/her own detriment and missing out on any fun that may be wasted by hashing and rehashing an event.