Moon Day - words and idioms about the Moon

The "giant leap" for mankind (from here)


This Tuesday was an important anniversary and a very special day for everybody who is interested in science and space exploration. 40 years ago, on 20 July 1969, American astronauts, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin stepped on the surface of the Moon for the first time in history. Here is a short extract from the BBC's commentary of the event:

"American Neil Armstrong has become the first man to walk on the Moon.

The astronaut stepped onto the Moon's surface, in the Sea of Tranquility, at 0256 GMT, nearly 20 minutes after first opening the hatch on the Eagle landing craft.

Armstrong had earlier reported the lunar module's safe landing at 2017 GMT with the words: "Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed."

As he put his left foot down first Armstrong declared: "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."

He described the surface as being like powdered charcoal and the landing craft left a crater about a foot deep." (you can read on here )

To commemorate the anniversary of the first Moon landing the BBC made a great audio slideshow with the use of archive photos, US and UK number one records of that week and a very clear commentary by the BBC's aerospace correspondent at the time.

The first Moon landing was later followed by five other successful landings between 1969 and 1972. All together, twelve astronauts stepped on the Moon. The missions were then stopped, mainly because of the immense costs.



Now, let's get back to the virtual classroom. There are several words and idioms in English that are connected to the Moon. Here is a short list of some of the most commonly used ones:

Words:

lunar - adj; relating to the moon
The astronauts took some pictures of the footprints they had left on the lunar surface. They had boots on because the lunar atmosphere doesn't allow you to take off your boots.

lunatic - noun; somebody who is mad
Jack likes driving opposite the traffic. He is a very dangerous lunatic. And he thinks that the other drivers are the ones who are crazy.

honeymoon - noun; a holiday or trip taken by a newly married couple
After the wedding they traveled to Rome for a honeymoon in their Fiat500. It wasn't easy to pack all their luggage in it.

moonlight - noun; light reflected from the surface of the moon
The old lady with the nightcap on her head looked very scary in the moonlight. I didn't take a room in her inn and decided to sleep in my car instead.

moonbeam - noun; a ray of moonlight
A moonbeam cut through the clouds and we could see the top of the castle glimmering with a dim silver light.

moon - verb (slang); show the bare buttocks to express protest or disrespect
Jimmy turned around, and mooned the angry teachers after breaking the window of the school.



















Ocean in moonlight (from here)



Idioms:

be over the moon - be very happy, absolutely thrilled
She was over the moon when she saw the birthday present: a huge boa.

ask for the moon - ask for something (nearly) impossible
How could I get up at 7 am on my honeymoon? You're asking for the moon, honey.

once in a blue moon - extremely rarely
How often does Jack shave? Well, once in a blue moon. Usually when he trips on his beard.

promise somebody the moon - promise everything
They promised me the moon just to stay with the company but I already knew them too well.






















This happy cow is over the moon (from here)


Click here if you would like to do some vocabulary exercises about these words and idioms.