“Couch Potato” — this can be more dangerous than smoking!

Couch Potato

Many English sayings are hundreds of years old, so they refer to farming, animals and such familiar topics from England’s past.
This saying, however, is very modern–it relates to the sedentary lifestyle of many people nowadays. Many folks today sit for hours at the office, sit in the car on the way home, drive by the drive-thru to pick up a fast-food dinner, and sit on a couch in front of a TV, maybe eating potato chips–till bedtime. Next day? Do it all over again.

couch potato

Sample sentences:

1. Tired of his couch potato lifestyle and huge belly, Billy got up off the sofa, dug his sneakers out of the bottom of his closet, and went out to buy a gym membership.

2 . This article below, from the U.K.** claims that the sedentary lifestyle of a couch potato could be as deadly as smoking. Plus, since Britain has socialized medicine, if enough people get sick, stop working, and die early, it could destroy the so-called “welfare state,” which requires enough healthy workers to keep the rest of the nation afloat.

*sedentary (adj.) marked by a lack of movement; staying still (note: “sed” means “to sit”)
**the U.K. (noun) United Kingdom; Great Britain

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/11182649/Couch-potato-lifestyles-could-kill-the-welfare-state-landmark-report-warns.html

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