Cooking On Gas

Gold cherry

By luigi_pagano

Wed, 14 Aug 2019
  • 9639 reads
22 comments
 
We are cooking on gas,
she said, but I knew
she only had electricity,
so it could not be true.
 
Thinking about it,
I got the impression
it wasn't a statement
but just an expression.
 
I was a foreign student
who could not manage
the subtle meanings
of the English language.
 
Idiomatic phrases
like 'at the end of my tether'
or peculiar ones
such as 'under the weather'
 
were 'all Greek to me'
as much later I learned;
when I passed my exam
and my stripes were earned.
 
At the time I believed
that I wouldn't get far
and it'd be a case
of 'close, but no cigar'.   

Yet I persevered
and studied for my sake
but mastering the lingo
was not 'a piece of cake'

After years of learning
I am inclined to think
my knowledge improved
and I am 'tickled pink'.

 

© Luigi Pagano 2019
Certificate U
Poem
Cherry ripe
Humour
Autobiography

Comments

Submitted by Insertponceyfre... on

i enjoyed this one Luigi - but I have no idea what 'cooking on gas' means (apart from cooking on gas obvs!)

 

Submitted by Ewan on

from a US radio advertising campaign from the 30's I think. It means this is going/has started well - possibly after repeated failed attempts. Popularised by Jack Benny and the like in comedy sketches thereafter.

Author Page at the 'Zon
 

Submitted by luigi_pagano on

Hello Ewan,
even though I knew the meaning I was unaware of the origin of the phrase. Thanks for the information Good to know,  I won't forget it in a hurry.

Best, Luigi

 

Submitted by luigi_pagano on

Hi Claudine, glad you enjoyed it. Thanks fcr reading and for the cherries. smiley 

This is the Free Dictionary's definition:

be cooking on gas

slang To be making rapid progress or performing efficiently.
Example:Now that we've had this breakthrough with our experiment, we're really cooking on gas.

Luigi x

 

Submitted by onemorething on

Very good, Luigi. Made me smile. What are some Italian sayings that wouldn’t make sense unless you spoke / understood Italian? :)

 

Submitted by luigi_pagano on

Having resided in this country for fifty-eight years I don't know any current ones but one that Iremember is:
Non aver peli sulla lingua (To have no hair on your tongue) - Be honest and open about something

Cheers, onemorething.

Best, Luigi

 

 

Submitted by Rhiannonw on

I had never heard of 'close, but no cigar' either, but just looked it up! Rhiannon

 

Submitted by luigi_pagano on

My wife, who is English, never heard of that phrase either and the reason may be that it is of North American origin. It seems to have insinuated itself into the English idiom but rarely used.
I learn something new everyday, sometimes by accident, Rhiannon.

Luigi x

 

Submitted by Penny4athought on

Sadly, I know every one of those sayings, grew up with most ...age showing? Great poem, it made me think about how it would be for someone who had never heard them, made me think about the literal meanings too and it made me laugh. Thank you for sharing this. It was fun to read and easy to catch your meaning- just like a ..."can of corn!"smiley

Penny4athought

Submitted by luigi_pagano on

Hi Penny,
'can of corn'. That's a new one on me but then I have scarcely  'scratched the surface'. There are so many expressions whose meaning I still don't know but it's fun tracing them.
It is not a question of age if you remember them but a matter of usage. Your voice on the piece you have recorded - "Daisy"- does not suggest an old person. Thanks for reading and commenting.
Pleased that this little poem made you smile.

Luigi x

 

Submitted by Di_Hard on

I imagine the final part of your exam, a strict looking professor comes in,opens his briefcase and gets out a feather duster to start tickling students of English, while a white coated doctor checks if they are going pink on a colour chart.

The cooking on gas one often comes to my mind while failing to bake potatoes in a bonfire :0)

Enjoyed this poem very much

 

Submitted by luigi_pagano on

Hi Di,
strangely enough the examiner I got in London on the month of June 1962 was not a strict-looking professor but an unusual peripatetic Don from Cambrige.I was sitting for what at the time was called The Lower Cambridge English Certificate.
Years later I wrote a poem - The Examiner - which described his appearance and demeanour, The following are some of the initial lines to give you a flavour:

Knowing that he hailed
From the hallowed
Grounds by the Cam,
I was expecting
An academic type
Complete with gown
And mortarboard.
What I got instead
Was a guy
-With a pipe-
Wearing a pink shirt
And a bow tie.

If you want to know more I could retrieve the poem from my archive and post it.
I have never tried to bake potatoes on a bonfire but I have successfully toasted crumpets. Delicious with loads of butter.

Luigi x
 

 

 

Submitted by Parson Thru on

Love this, Luigi. It's brilliant. I always admire your craft with lyric poetry. This would be great for English students of mine. I'm sure you know what I mean (it's in the poem).

We used that phrase a lot in my first job. I was a fitter (engineer/mechanic) in a chocolate factory. When we had resolved a breakdown, whether just finding a solution or getting the machine running, you'd often hear one of the fitters say "We're cooking on gas."

Lovely poem.

Parson Thru

Submitted by luigi_pagano on

Hello Kevin,
as a language student I have noticed that the first things a foreigner learns are rude words, euphemisms and idiomatic expressions. Comprehension, grammar and syntax take second place but eventually everything will fall into place.
I am pleased to hear that the poem appealed to you.  Many thanks.

Best, Luigi

 

Submitted by sean mcnulty on

Great stuff, Luigi

 

Submitted by luigi_pagano on

Much appreciated, Sean. Thank you.

Cheers, Luigi.

 

Submitted by forest_for_ever on

I adored this and you are so rigtht.  I was born in the UK and lived there all my life, but moving around the UK has given me the same problems.............

I was a teacher and 'Gay' moved from happy & cheerful to liking the same sex and on to meaning 'rubbish or crap (not good) in my time.

As a railwayman 'piece' in Scotland means having sandwiches, or 'baggin (bag on) in Cheshire (I assume that one came from putting a horse's nosebag on)

'up yon' in the Peterbrough area used to mean 'over there;  'Go one...' in rural Essex meant having a nap in the early afternoon,,.  Think I might do a prose piece on it, ispired by you.

 

Submitted by luigi_pagano on

Having lived in both Essex and Cheshire I too have noticed how words and expreesions differ in the North and the South but I am not mithered.
I am sure that anithing you write on the subject will be informative and amusing.

Luigi.
 

 

Submitted by hudsonmoon on

Made me laugh, Luigi. It's my native tongue, and I trip on it daily. Cheers.

Rich

 

Submitted by luigi_pagano on

Hi Rich, being neither English nor American I am frequently perplexed by many expressions which pepper the English language so I can sympathize with your dilemma. Thanks for your feedback.

Best wishes, Luigi.

. 

 

Submitted by jeand on

Hi Luigi

Great fun, and even I who call English my native language struggled for years after I mover here to get all the little local hidden meaning to phrases.

Jean

Jean Day

Submitted by luigi_pagano on

Hello jeand,
I thought that being a non-English native I was the only one who struggled with those obscure expressions but more and more I hear of people both here and across the pond who are not conversant with one or more of the idioms I have listed.
Good to hear that readers have had as much fun as I had writing the poem.

Best wishes, Luigi