Jan 29th: top half of figure

The top half of (the) figure shows something something.

Good expression for the presentation.

Jan 25th. flying colors, bite off more than you can chew

1. You always pass the tests with "flying colors", but I'm the one whose going to "bomb" it.

flying colors : complete success
bomb : fail or do poorly on


2. She thought she could handle five difficult classes, but she now realizes she probably "bite off more than she could chew".

bite off more than you can chew : take on more work or responsibilities than you can accomplish emotionally or physically

Jan. 23th. Pull an all-nighters

Some students pull an all-nighters so (that) they can cram the night before an exam.

meaning of "pull an all-nighters" : do not sleep for studying.

Jan 19th: icing on the cake

Oh, wow! A tank full of gas in my new car. That's icing on the cake! 

icing on the cake: an extra enhancement

Jan. 14th. take somebody/something for granted

Take somebody/something for granted.

1. Examples from naver dictionary
ex) Her husband was always there and she just took him for granted.

ex) We take having an endless supply of clean water for granted


2. Last time I wanted to talk during sunday dinner.

ex) The professor in states takes submitting papers to good conferences like usenix atc, NSDI, etc. for granted.


3. Definition of "take somebody/something for granted"
- not value somebody/something just because they are/it is always there.

Jan 10th: I'll keep you posted

I got an e-mail from american guy.

"I did something something what you told, and I could not do something something because of something.

I'll keep you posted."

Jan 8th: ponder

To live is to experience things, not sit around pondering the meaning of life.

Jan 3rd: cut to the chase

A: blah blah,, vacation, blah, blah,,
B: Can we cut to the chase?

Cut to the chase is a saying that means to get to the point without wasting time.

After a few introductory comments, we cut to the chase and began negotiating.