Expressions with the word DOUBLE

Today we're going to be focusing on the word DOUBLE. Yes, you got it right. Double means twice as large, be it in size, amount, number or extent. If you say for example you asked a double portion at the restaurant, it means you just had it double the size of the normal one. You can also use the word double as a verb, as in "the baby doubled its weight in a year". It is pretty simple huh? So let's get to something more challenging now by learning some expressions with that word.

Sometimes you find yourself in a situation that whatever you do, you'll never succeed. That's maybe because you're in a double bind. You know what that means? Suppose that you're a woman struggling with a very difficult decision to make: working or staying at home taking care of the children? To make it worse, you notice that whatever you do, society will always judge you because after all, if you leave your children to go to work, people will say you're neglecting your family. On the other hand, if you decide to stay at home, they'll label you as a non-achiever. Pretty hard, right? So, while talking to a friend of yours, you can say something like this: I don't know what to do. I'm in a double bind. Whatever I do, there will always be bad results.

There's also a very easy expression with the word double that can be very related to drunk people. You know that when people drink too much, their perception of things can become very messed up. One of these symptoms is seeing double. Maybe one of your friends or yourself might have been through a situation where you can't be really sure if people have suddenly gotten a twin or if you really need to stop drinking. Of course, seeing double does not only happen when you're drunk. You can see double if you're too sleepy or if you simply have some eye disease. The thing is, you can also use that expression in a figurative way to try to say you're really confused.

Do you have a topic you find almost impossible to understand? People usually say that trying to understand the laws of Quantum Science is not for everybody. I don't know about that because I'm really not involved in that area. But if by any chance I had tried to read a book on Quantum Science and miserably failed to understand it, I could say that "a book on Quantum Science is written in double Dutch". When you say that something is written or spoken in double Dutch, you're just saying it is really impossible to understand it. It is about a language or speech you're really not used to. Maybe you think your Math teacher speaks in double Dutch, or the lecture you last attended was given in double Dutch.

Well, that's it for today guys. Maybe I'll provide you with some more expressions with the word double in a different post very soon. There are still plenty of them. Stay tunned!