Today’s idioms: heads or tails, can't make head or tail of it and it's a toss-up.

Suppose you are stuck in a dead-end and boring job but you have done it for years and you can’t really imagine your life without having a friendly chat with your colleagues and going through your regular work routine. On the one hand, you are yearning for changes, but on the other hand, it is hard to leave behind something that has been part of your life for such a long time. How would you go about deciding whether to stay or to hand in notice? Why not flip a coin: heads or tails? If it comes up heads, you will quit. If it comes up tails, you will stay and put off taking this life-changing decision till next year.

Which side of the coin is heads and which is tails? It doesn't take a rocket scientist to work it out. Most coins have a side that shows the head of some prominent person. For example, all British coins have had a profile of the current monarch’s head since the 17th century and the most outstanding US presidents have been selected by Congress to appear on American coins.

The practice of flipping a coin to make a choice has resulted in the appearance of two more idioms: I can’t make head or tail of it and it’s a toss-up. When you throw a coin in the air, you get a simple solution to the dilemma you are caught in. If the situation is extremely confusing and you don’t understand a thing, you say I can’t make head or tail of it suggesting that it is not as easy as flipping a coin and getting an answer to your question within seconds.

When you are asked whether you would like to go to Paris or to Vienna for Christmas, you say It’s a toss-up… because both cities are so beautiful and enticing that only tossing a coin up can help you decide which of them you will visit.