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(The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald)
Nick Carraway uses the common idiom “I‟ve got my hands full” in this excerpt from F. Scott

Fitzgerald‟s The Great Gatsby. This is a simple way of saying that he‟s too busy. He‟s trying to cut
Gatsby off, who is offering him a shady business deal. Though Carraway needs the extra money, he
bluffs by saying he has no time so that he doesn‟t get mixed up in a bad business deal.

Test Your Knowledge of Idiom

1. Choose the correct idiom definition from the following statements:
A. A stupid phrase that has no meaning.

B. A common expression that has a figurative meaning different from its literal meaning.
C. A saying that is obscure and not used in ordinary speech.

2. Choose the idiom from the following excerpt from William Shakespeare’s Macbeth:

MACBETH: If it were done, when ‟tis done, then ‟twere well
It were done quickly. If th‟ assassination

Could trammel up the consequence, and catch
With his surcease, success: that but this blow

Might be the be-all and the end-all

A. If it were done, when „tis done, then „twere well
B. Trammel up the consequence

C. The be-all and the end-all

3. Consider the following excerpt from William Shakespeare’s Othello:

IAGO: For when my outward action doth demonstrate

The native act and figure of my heart
In compliment extern, ‟tis not long after

But I will wear my heart upon my sleeve
For daws to peck at: I am not what I am.

What does Iago’s idiom “Wear my heart upon my sleeve” mean?
A. To be open and vulnerable, displaying emotions transparently
B. To feel his heartbeat in his arm
C. To conceal his feelings so that no one will understand him