Question

Fill in the blank with the most suitable option:
My granny was _______; she started her own business when many girls were going to school.
a) behind the times
b) racing against time
c) ahead of her times
d) in the nick of time

Answer 1

Hint: The sentence is trying to tell us that the subject’s granny was progressive and brave. The idioms in the options are very literal. So, the answer will be easy to guess with the given context.

Complete answer:
 An idiom is a group of words established by usage as having a meaning not deducible from those of the individual words. They do not always have literal meanings. For example, the idiom ‘over the moon’ refers to ‘extreme happiness’.

In the given sentence, the subject conveys that her granny started a business while that was not the norm, meaning that the granny was brave and smart at the same time. She is a woman who took risks.

Now, we know what we are looking for. Let’s look at the available options:

a) behind the times - The phrase ‘behind the times’ refers to ‘out of touch, old-fashioned’. This idiom suggests that the granny was actually wrong in starting her own business, as it was backward to do so, which is incorrect. This is not the required idiom. So, this is an incorrect option.
b) racing against time - The phrase ‘racing against time’ refers to ‘a situation in which someone has to do something very quickly because there is not much time'. This idiom suggests that the granny was hurrying as she limited time to do her activity, which is incorrect. This is not the required idiom. So, this is an incorrect option.
c) ahead of her times - The phrase ‘ahead of her times’ refers to ‘have new ideas a long time before other people start to think in the same way'. This idiom suggests that the granny was very progressive and brave to do what she was doing, which is correct. This is the required answer. So, this is the correct option.
d) in the nick of time - The phrase ‘in the nick of time’ refers to ‘only just in time'. This idiom suggests that the granny did what she did just before a deadline or just before it was too late, which is incorrect. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.

Note: Understand the meaning and the context of the given sentence. Go through the given options and understand their meanings. This will help you to choose the idiom that best fits the given sentence.