Many Nigerians hope that the acting president, bolstered by his own team, may gee up Africa's most populous country (150m-strong) and its biggest oil and gas producer south of the Sahara.

Could you explain "gee up"?

My comments:

"Gee up" is originally a command given to horses to hurry them up. "Gee up", "Move along", "Faster", and so forth.

Used on a person, "gee up" conveys the same message of encouragement, a rallying call for faster pace or greater efforts.

Here, Nigerians hope the acting president will lead the country to economic prosperity. In other words, they feel encouraged with the new leadership.

Well, that's the least they can do – hope for the best.

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Big mind

Blanket statement

Making knee-jerk changes is not in our DNA

Pick one's brains

A good eye

Thank one's stars for

Real money

Nodding acquaintance

Flip out over nothing

Bury the hatchet& have an ax to grind

Vocal proponent

Growing pains

Fleeting acquaintance

All-weather friend

Lead the pack

Fish or cut bait

Gilt-edged

To do more with less

Right down the middle

Take my word for it

40-sometimes

Last but not the least

Call it a dog

Pull my leg

Ego bath

Tough call

Rain check

Upper reaches

Off the shoulders

Off and running

Gold dust

Frugality fatigue

Red flag

Foregone conclusion

Call balls and strikes

Go to Zhang Xin's column

本文僅代表作者本人觀點(diǎn)，與本網(wǎng)立場無關(guān)。歡迎大家討論學(xué)術(shù)問題，尊重他人，禁止人身攻擊和發(fā)布一切違反國家現(xiàn)行法律法規(guī)的內(nèi)容。

About the author:

Zhang Xin（張欣） has been with China Daily since 1988, when he graduated from Beijing Foreign Studies University. Write him at: zhangxin@chinadaily.com.cn, or raise a question for potential use in a future column.