How to Be a Good Egg and the Salt of the Earth

07/28/2013

food 3.

Now, the VOA Learning English program Words and Their Stories.

We present more expressions about food. They are from Elenir Scardueli, a listener in Brazil.

My mother always told us “there is no use crying over spilled milk.” That means you should not get angry when something bad happens and cannot be changed.

​People said my mother was “a good egg.” She would always help anyone in need.

We never had to “walk on eggshells” around her -- we did not have to be careful about what we said or did because she never got angry at us.

She also told us “you have to break some eggs to make an omelet.” This means you have to do what is necessary to move forward.

My mother believed “you are what you eat” -- a good diet is important for good health. She would always give us nutritious food. She liked serving us meat and potatoes for dinner. “Meat and potatoes” can also mean the most important part of something. It describes someone who likes simple things.

Here is another expression about meat: “one man’s meat is another man’s poison.” In other words, one person might like something very much while another person might hate the same thing.

My father was also a good and honest person. People said he was “the salt of the earth.” He would never “pour salt on a wound” -- or make someone feel worse about something that was already a painful experience.