These common English expressions are "The Tip of the Iceberg"

Everyone has to deal with problems at some point, so it's good to have ways to talk about them. Sometimes when you see a small problem or situation, it is really part of something much bigger that you can't see. In situations like these, you can say that the small problem is "just the tip of the iceberg." This is because only about 10% of an iceberg stays above the water. For example, if you discover a puddle of water on your bathroom floor and mop it up, only to discover that the reason for the puddle is actually a hole in the ceiling, "the puddle is just the tip of the iceberg" If you're worried and don't know what to do next, you can say you're "at your wit's end." Today, if someone is called "witty" it usually means they are funny in a clever way, but "at your wit's end" is an old expression that comes from a time when "wit" only meant "intelligence." If you manage to avoid something that could have been dangerous, you can say you have "dodged a bullet." This expression is used when a big problem nearly happened. So if you were considering buying cryptocurrency with your life savings, but didn't, and the market crashed, you could say, "We really dodged a bullet with that decision!"

Practice sentence building by using the following:

*the tip of the iceberg

*at your wit's end

*witty

*dodge a bullet

Discussion

*Which of the expressions from the article did you find interesting? *Have you ever encountered a problem that turned out to be just the tip of the iceberg? *When was the last time you were at your wit's end? *Who would you say is the wittiest person you know? *Who's the most intelligent person you know?

*Who's the first person you talk to when you have a problem? *Does your job require you to solve problems on a day-to-day basis? *What was the biggest problem you ever faced at work? How did you solve it? *What do you imagine are the most stressful jobs in the world?

*Every problem is a gift. Without them we wouldn’t grow. — Tony Robbins. Do you agree?