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you’d better be careful with things like the dots over the i’s and the lines crossing the t’s. Today this widely used saying refers to being extremely thorough by paying close attention to details in whatever you do. double Dutch китайская грамота M E A N I N G : incomprehensible or nonsensical speech I couldn’t understand what he was saying – it was double Dutch for me. ORIGIN: The Dutch were singled out as foreigners to be ridiculed because of the traditional seafaring rivalry between the English and the Dutch. down the hatch пей до дна M E A N I N G : to swallow a drink in one gulp Grandma handed me a glass of smelly medicine and said, “Down the hatch.” ORIGIN: People have used this expression for centuries. A ship’s passengers, crew, and cargo pass through an opening in the deck called the hatch. Sometime in the mid 1500s a clever toastmaker, probably a sailor, realized that a drink going into a person’s mouth was like things going into the hatch of a ship. He lifted a glass to his lips and said, “Down the hatch,” and a new toast was born. drive a hard bargain настаивать на своём, не уступать в споре; блюсти свои интересы; не идти на уступки в цене; многого хотеть M E A N I N G : to insist on hard terms in making an agreement that is often to your advantage; to buy or sell at a good price I had to trade him three of my best comic books for just one baseball card. He sure drives a hard bargain. 36