The Vocab Man - Fluent Vocabulary #55 - To paper over the cracks (idiom) - One of Alvaro"s favorite idioms.
Feb 26, 2021
Alvaro, guest on the podcast, discusses the idiom 'to paper over the cracks' and its meaning of superficially fixing problems without addressing the underlying issues. Examples from Obama's presidency and cosmetic repairs in a house are explored.
05:22
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Introduction
00:00 • 2min
The meaning of 'to paper over the cracks'
01:37 • 2min
Exploring the Idiom 'Paper Over the Cracks'
03:57 • 2min
Alvaro's Instagram Channel:
https://www.instagram.com/mc_courtain/
www.myfluentpodcast.com
Transcript:
0:00 Alvaro's introduction to the idiom "To paper over the cracks"
...and an Idiom that I like is to paper over the cracks. I like it.
I've never heard that.
0:53 this is good. It's good to paper over the cracks
0:20
Hello guys, this is Daniel. You're listening to the Vocab Man and you are about to listen to Alvaro from Spain, with whom I had an interview on episode 84 on my other show called My Fluent Podcast. And I asked him, which is one of his favorite idioms and that's basically the reason why we will cover the idiom "to paper over the cracks". It's a great idiom. Just a reminder. There is a transcript available.
0:53 What does the idiom "To paper over the cracks" mean?
This is good. It's good to paper over the cracks means like imagine a crack okay. On a wall. Right. And then you're trying to fix it. A crack is a crack. A crack is a problem in your life.
Something big, a big issue in your life. I mean, I mean, you put papers, you try to cover it.
You try to solve it just by putting some papers
But it's still...the crack is still there. Yeah. The crack is a still there. So apparently, apparently the problem is solved a problem and she apparently you overcame the problem but it's not, behind the paper behind the bill, the poster, the crack is still there.
So I don't know. So you could say sometimes, uh, this is just a paper , over the crack or I dunno, there was some combinations, with this, but I liked that one.
1:40
So even though other already gave a great explanation, I want to repeat from my point of view. So to paper over the cracks could mean to repair or to conceal or cover up something on a superficial level without addressing underlying problems.
2:05 Example from Daniel Goodson
So imagine your wall at your home and all of a sudden you discover some sort of a blemish or a crack on the wall. So it's something unpleasant. You don't want it to see for others. And that's why you decide to just cover it because yeah. To cover the unpleasant thing and you will put some paper hour, the crack. but of course it will show again. It's just a matter of time until it gets discovered again.
2:45 another audio clip:
Um, it's like a short term solution, you know? Cause you think, you know, you like paper over it crack, but that crack is still there, that needs to be addressed or it's going to get worse potentially. It's okay to ask someone for help.
3:00 Obama using the idiom:
We can't paper over problems and we're not going to solve this if we're always just trying to be politically correct.
And as you can see in the example of Obama, you can also just use to paper over problems instead of "cracks". So it's absolutely fine that way. And just so you know, well,
3:20 Why do I interview people for my podcast?
Why did I interview our row on my phone podcast? It's just to come out of my comfort zone and I try to. Express myself as clear as possible.
I also asked him for some expressions and idioms, because that way, if he is giving me some explanations, it will stick better in my mind. And at the same time I can cover it here on the Vocab Man , which hopefully will help you as well, which will support you in your English learning journey. So thank you very much for tuning in.
And have a good one.
4:09 last clip
And this is really is a revolusionary impulse, I think to think that things are so rotten in society, the only thing we can do is to burn down the sides and start all over again. But that does seem to me to be maybe not the first thought we should have when we're thinking about a structural problem with a house.
What's very interesting to me though. And this is when you start thinking about a structural problem in a house, what do you do about it? Well, one thing you try, one thing you could do temporarily is paper over the cracks. A crack appears in the house. You can put paper over it, and we use that as a metaphor of course, of papering over the cracks.
What happens if you pay for over the cracks, the crack reappears. So all you've done is made a cosmetic difference. You haven't got to the structural problem. You need to do something much more substantial in order to overcome that difficulty. It might not be burning down the house. Probably not many structures can be improved, but something much more thoroughgoing needs to be done in order to bring about some sort of repair.
Here is the link to the interview with Alvaro:
https://myfluentpodcast.libsyn.com/85-how-to-overcome-stuttering-alvaro-from-spain
https://www.instagram.com/mc_courtain/
www.myfluentpodcast.com
Transcript:
0:00 Alvaro's introduction to the idiom "To paper over the cracks"
...and an Idiom that I like is to paper over the cracks. I like it.
I've never heard that.
0:53 this is good. It's good to paper over the cracks
0:20
Hello guys, this is Daniel. You're listening to the Vocab Man and you are about to listen to Alvaro from Spain, with whom I had an interview on episode 84 on my other show called My Fluent Podcast. And I asked him, which is one of his favorite idioms and that's basically the reason why we will cover the idiom "to paper over the cracks". It's a great idiom. Just a reminder. There is a transcript available.
0:53 What does the idiom "To paper over the cracks" mean?
This is good. It's good to paper over the cracks means like imagine a crack okay. On a wall. Right. And then you're trying to fix it. A crack is a crack. A crack is a problem in your life.
Something big, a big issue in your life. I mean, I mean, you put papers, you try to cover it.
You try to solve it just by putting some papers
But it's still...the crack is still there. Yeah. The crack is a still there. So apparently, apparently the problem is solved a problem and she apparently you overcame the problem but it's not, behind the paper behind the bill, the poster, the crack is still there.
So I don't know. So you could say sometimes, uh, this is just a paper , over the crack or I dunno, there was some combinations, with this, but I liked that one.
1:40
So even though other already gave a great explanation, I want to repeat from my point of view. So to paper over the cracks could mean to repair or to conceal or cover up something on a superficial level without addressing underlying problems.
2:05 Example from Daniel Goodson
So imagine your wall at your home and all of a sudden you discover some sort of a blemish or a crack on the wall. So it's something unpleasant. You don't want it to see for others. And that's why you decide to just cover it because yeah. To cover the unpleasant thing and you will put some paper hour, the crack. but of course it will show again. It's just a matter of time until it gets discovered again.
2:45 another audio clip:
Um, it's like a short term solution, you know? Cause you think, you know, you like paper over it crack, but that crack is still there, that needs to be addressed or it's going to get worse potentially. It's okay to ask someone for help.
3:00 Obama using the idiom:
We can't paper over problems and we're not going to solve this if we're always just trying to be politically correct.
And as you can see in the example of Obama, you can also just use to paper over problems instead of "cracks". So it's absolutely fine that way. And just so you know, well,
3:20 Why do I interview people for my podcast?
Why did I interview our row on my phone podcast? It's just to come out of my comfort zone and I try to. Express myself as clear as possible.
I also asked him for some expressions and idioms, because that way, if he is giving me some explanations, it will stick better in my mind. And at the same time I can cover it here on the Vocab Man , which hopefully will help you as well, which will support you in your English learning journey. So thank you very much for tuning in.
And have a good one.
4:09 last clip
And this is really is a revolusionary impulse, I think to think that things are so rotten in society, the only thing we can do is to burn down the sides and start all over again. But that does seem to me to be maybe not the first thought we should have when we're thinking about a structural problem with a house.
What's very interesting to me though. And this is when you start thinking about a structural problem in a house, what do you do about it? Well, one thing you try, one thing you could do temporarily is paper over the cracks. A crack appears in the house. You can put paper over it, and we use that as a metaphor of course, of papering over the cracks.
What happens if you pay for over the cracks, the crack reappears. So all you've done is made a cosmetic difference. You haven't got to the structural problem. You need to do something much more substantial in order to overcome that difficulty. It might not be burning down the house. Probably not many structures can be improved, but something much more thoroughgoing needs to be done in order to bring about some sort of repair.
Here is the link to the interview with Alvaro:
https://myfluentpodcast.libsyn.com/85-how-to-overcome-stuttering-alvaro-from-spain