'All Over the Map' Can Be Good and Bad
2022-10-02
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1And now Words and Their Stories, from VOA Learning English.
2The world is filled with many interesting places.
3A map helps us find them.
4Any place you need to find -- a street address, business, famous landmark or park -- is most likely on a map.
5Which brings us to our expression: all over the map!
6We use this expression in several different ways.
7The first way means to be spread out over a great distance.
8For example, years ago I drove across the United States by myself.
9I was all over the map on that trip -- through mountains, deserts, forests, and more.
10Here is another way we use this expression.
11All over the map can also mean having many different kinds of something.
12For example, if a restaurant offers a variety of dishes from many different countries, you can say its menu is all over the map.
13Here is another example.
14Washington, D.C. is a very international city.
15People from all over the map live and work together in D.C.
16Here's another example. If someone asks me what music I like, it's hard to answer.
17I enjoy listening to many kinds of music -- from rock to classical to soul and country.
18You could say my musical interests are all over the map.
19Or, another example: My favorite international store sells a little of everything.
20It has coffee from Brazil, chocolate from Belgium, soap from France, and tea from Japan.
21But you can also buy fresh vegetables! That store is all over the map with its products!
22Finally, we also use the expression all over the map to mean confused or unfocused.
23If thinking, speaking, or planning is unorganized, we can describe it as all over the map.
24This expression can also describe a person.
25If someone is all over the map, they could be having a hard time focusing on one thing.
26Here's an example. My coworker Karen led a very confusing meeting.
27First she talked about plans to move the company overseas.
28Then she switched to sales estimates for the next season and later, budget cuts.
29Her presentation was all over the map! Nobody had a clear understanding of the project.
30Another project I worked on was set up to fail.
31The directions the designer gave to the team were all over the map.
32The builders did not even know where to start digging!
33And that brings us to the end of this Words and Their Stories.
34I hope our expression was clearly explained.
35This is not time to be all over the map!
36Until next time ... I'm Anna Matteo.
1And now Words and Their Stories, from VOA Learning English. 2The world is filled with many interesting places. A map helps us find them. Any place you need to find -- a street address, business, famous landmark or park -- is most likely on a map. 3Which brings us to our expression: all over the map! We use this expression in several different ways. 4The first way means to be spread out over a great distance. 5For example, years ago I drove across the United States by myself. I was all over the map on that trip -- through mountains, deserts, forests, and more. 6Here is another way we use this expression. 7All over the map can also mean having many different kinds of something. For example, if a restaurant offers a variety of dishes from many different countries, you can say its menu is all over the map. 8Here is another example. Washington, D.C. is a very international city. People from all over the map live and work together in D.C. 9Here's another example. If someone asks me what music I like, it's hard to answer. I enjoy listening to many kinds of music -- from rock to classical to soul and country. You could say my musical interests are all over the map. 10Or, another example: My favorite international store sells a little of everything. It has coffee from Brazil, chocolate from Belgium, soap from France, and tea from Japan. But you can also buy fresh vegetables! That store is all over the map with its products! 11Finally, we also use the expression all over the map to mean confused or unfocused. If thinking, speaking, or planning is unorganized, we can describe it as all over the map. 12This expression can also describe a person. If someone is all over the map, they could be having a hard time focusing on one thing. 13Here's an example. My coworker Karen led a very confusing meeting. First she talked about plans to move the company overseas. Then she switched to sales estimates for the next season and later, budget cuts. Her presentation was all over the map! Nobody had a clear understanding of the project. 14Another project I worked on was set up to fail. The directions the designer gave to the team were all over the map. The builders did not even know where to start digging! 15And that brings us to the end of this Words and Their Stories. I hope our expression was clearly explained. This is not time to be all over the map! 16Until next time ... I'm Anna Matteo. 17Anna Matteo wrote this lesson for VOA Learning English. 18________________________________________________________________________ 19Words in This Story 20variety - n. collection of different things 21dish - n. food prepared in a particular way 22menu - n. a list of the dishes that may be ordered (as in a restaurant) or that are to be served (as at a banquet) 23classical - adj. relating to music in a European tradition that includes opera and symphony and that is generally considered more serious than other kinds of music 24confused - adj. being disordered or mixed up 25unfocused - adj. not concentrated on one point or objective 26________________________________________________________________________ 27We want to hear from you. Do you have a similar expressions in your language? In the Comments section, you can also practice using any of the expressions from the story. 28We have a new comment system. Here is how it works: 29Write your comment in the box. 30Under the box, you can see four images for social media accounts. They are for Disqus, Facebook, Twitter, and Google. 31Click on one image and a box appears. Enter the login for your social media account. Or you may create one on the Disqus system. It is the blue circle with "D" on it. It is free. 32Each time you return to comment on the Learning English site, you can use your account and see your comments and replies to them. Our comment policy is here.