🗓️ Idiom: Be a Sounding Board (noun)
💬 Meaning
- Be a person who listens and gives feedback on someone’s ideas or problems.
- Offer advice or perspective to help others make better decisions.
🧠 Example Sentences
- I often act as a sounding board for my colleagues when they need to test new ideas.
- She was a great sounding board during the planning phase of the project.
- Every good manager should be a sounding board for their team.
🏛️ Origin
The idiom comes from the term “sounding board,” which was originally a flat surface placed behind or above a speaker to reflect sound. The phrase started to mean someone who “reflects” another person’s thoughts or ideas by listening and giving helpful feedback.
📝 Practice Exercises
1. Fill in the blank:
When I’m unsure about my ideas, I talk to my mentor because she’s a great _______.
Answer
sounding board
2. Multiple choice:
If someone is your “sounding board,” they:
a) Give you clear and honest feedback
b) Avoid your ideas
c) Make all your decisions for you
Answer
a) Give you clear and honest feedback
3. Change the sentence using “be a sounding board”:
“Tom always listens carefully when I talk about my work problems.”
Answer
Tom is a sounding board when I talk about my work problems.
ℹ️ Other Useful Pages
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👉 Idioms for Different Types of Work Styles
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Rob is a CELTA qualified English teacher with 15 years of international experience. He has a BSc and PGDip from Loughborough and St Andrews universities in the UK. He has taught in Thailand and Saudi Arabia and now works with professionals worldwide.
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