"Don't Poke the Bear" ... and Other Idioms

One of the hardest - but most interesting - vocabulary exercises in teaching English to foreigners is teaching idioms - expressions that have a special meaning. If I were still teaching English, I would probably use this anecdote as an example of several idioms...

A friend of mine works in customer service. He is experienced in dealing with complaints. His favorite way of dealing with them is saying: "Let me get my manager..." He likes to avoid conflict. His manager is the expert in "damage control."

One day a co-worker of his tried to help an unhappy customer.
 
I've already called the manager and he's on his way, he told her, but she kept on talking, making matters worse. By the time the manager arrived, the customer was threatening to complain to head office - about the problem and the person serving him.

After the customer had left, the co-worker declared indignantly: I didn't do anything wrong. 

My friend quietly replied: No, you were poking the bear. Your attitude was clearly upsetting him more.

"Poking the bear" - not keeping quiet in a tense situation when you know that saying something - saying anything - is going to lead to conflict. "Adding fuel to the fire".

I've done it many times in arguments with my parents, my husband and kids. Kids are good at "poking the bear" with each other.

The opposite, "Let sleeping dogs lie," requires maturity. It usually comes from experience. If there is no problem, don't create one. Especially if you know what annoys someone.

On another level, "poking the bear" has been known to create political issues and strain international relations - in fictitious movies about real-live tyrants and satirical cartoons mocking values someone holds dear.

I believe in free speech - but I don't believe in demeaning people, whoever they are. It can "blow up in someone's face." The tragedy is that innocent people are sometimes harmed.

If I were still teaching English, I'd say something like this to my class. Hopefully two lessons would be learned. One would be about idioms... 

Did you count them? I counted five.