小詞大義
作者：
你每天的生活都很忙碌？還是無所事事？大多數人可能會有這樣一種想法：在忙碌的工作或學習中（run off one’s feet），就會一直期盼著假期的來臨；可是當假期到來時，又不知道如何安排（at a loose end），隻好任難得的假日時光悄悄流逝；那麼，不如約上三五好友，喝喝茶、閑話家常（have a chinwag）吧！
1. Run Offoff Your Feet
Let’s listen to the dialogue.
A： Do you fancy a coffee this morning？
B： I’d love to， but I’m gonnaing to be too busy I’m afraid. I’ve got to take the children to school， go to the supermarket and do some things at the bank. I’m gonnaing to be run off my feet！
A： Oh， poor you， I didn’t realise you were so busy. How about another time then？
B： Definitely！ I’ll be free tomorrow， if you want to get together then？
A： Great， tomorrow it is. See you then.
Christmas and New Year are always busy times for me. There are presents to buy， decorations to put up， special food to prepare. There’s so much to do and so little time！ When you’re really busy like this， with a lotlots of things to do， you can say that you are run off your feet. I don’t know where this phrase comes from， but it always makes me smile because it sounds like you’ve been working so hard that your feet have fallen off！
It’s important to notice that this expression is used like an adjective， not a verb. So make sure you say “‘I’m run off my feet”’ and not “I run off my feet”！
2. At aA Loose End
Let’s listen to the dialogue.
A： Hi！ Do you want to have lunch？
B： Sure， but I thought you had a meeting with John.
A： Oh， he had to cancel， so I’m at a loose end.
B： Great， I’ll just get my coat.
Most of us lead very busy lives these days， but do you ever finish everything you have to do and find that you have a bit of spare time to fill？ In these situations， when we have free time， but we don’t know what to do with it， we say we are at a loose end.