N33 : Thirty-third lesson S00-TITLE : Don't over-egg the pudding S01 : So common are food-related idioms in English that an inexperienced writer can give the reader indigestion. S02 : Many journalists think it is as easy as pie to use food-related idioms indiscriminately, S03 : but they end up eating humble pie when their editor gives them a dressing down! S04 : Take the cautionary tale of a government official, humiliated by a corruption scandal, S05 : who finally confessed everything in an autobiography that made him rich and famous. S06 : Health Minister Peter Hay was a bad apple, living on the gravy train and keeping a finger in many pies. S07 : With a huge salary and an expense account, he didn't have to bring home the bacon. S08 : His wife, who was a big cheese in the foreign office, egged him on to salt away more and more money. S09 : Even though she was as nutty as a fruit cake, she was the apple of his eye so he did not dare say no. S10 : They were like chalk and cheese but she had him eating out of her hand. S11 : She looked like butter wouldn't melt in her mouth but she was a tough cookie. S12 : Smelling something fishy, a reporter started sniffing around but could not find anything. S13 : Finally, everything went pear-shaped when a junior clerk spilled the beans to the media. S14 : Hay jumped out of the frying pan into the fire and ended up with egg on his face. S15 : He should have kept as cool as a cucumber but he had a half-baked idea that the storm would blow over. S16 : For a while he hit the sauce but eventually realised that there was no use crying over spilt milk. S17 : The prime minister urged him to keep his mouth shut, but Hay upset the apple cart. S18 : He published a frank and revealing memoir, which sold like hot cakes and made him a fortune. S19 : So in the end, he had his cake and ate it. With icing on! S20 : Our advice to budding writers is not to put all their eggs in one basket - or all their expressions in one article. S21 : In a nutshell, don't over-egg the pudding. T00-TRANSLATE : Exercise: Translate T01 : Even though they're brother and sister, they're as different as chalk and cheese. T02 : He was the apple of her eye. Yes, a bad apple! T03 : Jim's got the new supervisor eating out of the palm of his hand. T04 : When the bank refused to give us a loan, everything went pear-shaped. T05 : Don't panic. I'm sure the storm will eventually blow over.