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The Potluck Plan: A Play Full of Idioms

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The Potluck Plan: A Play Full of Idioms

Read a short play and figure out what the family really means.

Read the play

Read the play. Each line has a number.

The Potluck Plan

1(Aunt Nadia's kitchen, one hour before the family potluck. Pots bubble on the stove, and bowls cover every inch of the counter. Twenty relatives are on their way, and each family is bringing one dish to share.)

2AUNT NADIA: The rice isn't even started, and the salad isn't made! Layla, could you give me a hand?

3LAYLA: Sure! Omar and I can wash the vegetables and set out the plates.

4OMAR: (holding up a carrot) Washing carrots? That's as easy as pie.

5UNCLE SAMI: (walking in with a huge tray) I made enough stuffed grape leaves to feed an army! I also brought extra chairs from my house, folded all the napkins and swept the front steps.

6GRANDPA YUSUF: (smiling) Sami, you always go the extra mile.

7LAYLA: (turning around) Omar! I caught you red-handed! Those date cookies are for dessert, and you have crumbs all over your shirt.

8OMAR: I was only checking that they taste okay.

9GRANDPA YUSUF: (laughing) The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. When your father was your age, he snuck cookies before every party too.

10AUNT NADIA: (lifting a lid) Oh no, I think I put too much water in the rice. (Uncle Sami, Layla and Omar crowd around the pot. One says to add more rice, one says to turn up the heat, and one says to pour some water out.)

11GRANDPA YUSUF: Too many cooks spoil the broth. Let Nadia fix her own rice. She has made it a hundred times.

12AUNT NADIA: (The doorbell rings.) They're here! Everyone, put your best foot forward. Smile and say hello to every guest.

13OMAR: (rubbing his stomach) I'll smile, but I'm so hungry I could eat a horse!

Idioms in the play

Use the play to answer each question.

1.
Match each idiom from the play to its meaning.
2.
In line 9, Grandpa Yusuf says, "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree." What does he mean?
Question 2 options
3.
In line 11, why does Grandpa Yusuf say, "Too many cooks spoil the broth"?
Question 3 options
4.
In line 12, Aunt Nadia says, "Put your best foot forward." What does she want everyone to do?
Question 4 options
5.
Underline the idiom in this sentence from line 5.

Idioms at home

Show what you know about idioms.

6.
Sort the sentences. Does each one use an idiom, or does it mean exactly what it says?
7.
Write the missing word to finish each idiom from the play. The meaning is given first.

very easy: as easy as
do more than you have to: go the extra
try to make a good first impression: put your best forward

8.
Which situation fits the proverb "Too many cooks spoil the broth"?
Question 8 options
9.
In line 6, Grandpa Yusuf says Uncle Sami always goes "the extra mile." Explain what this means. Use details from line 5 to show why it fits Uncle Sami.