Meaning of words

[Deepurple]

Dear teachers,

May I ask what the meanings of the following phrases in blue are, please?

"WHEN Bill Gates helped to found Microsoft 33 years ago there was a company rule that no employees should work for a boss who wrote worse computer code than they did. Just five years later, with Microsoft choking on its own growth, Mr Gates hired a business manager, Steve Ballmer, who had cut his teeth at Procter & Gamble, which sells soap. The founder had chucked his coding rule out of the window."

"To choose such formidable new foes in the middle of your life takes bags of self-belief, but it is also pragmatic—and a little poignant."

(Note: Extracts from the latest edition of Economist on "The meaning of Bill Gates".)

[Anglika]

Dear teachers,

May I ask what the meaning of the following phrases in blue are, please?

"WHEN Bill Gates helped to found Microsoft 33 years ago there was a company rule that no employees should work for a boss who wrote worse computer code than they did. Just five years later, with Microsoft choking on its own growth, Mr Gates hired a business manager, Steve Ballmer, who had cut his teeth at Procter & Gamble, which sells soap. The founder had chucked his coding rule out of the window."

"To choose such formidable new foes in the middle of your life takes bags of self-belief, but it is also pragmatic—and a little poignant."

(Note: Extracts from the latest edition of Economist on "The meaning of Bill Gates".)

"cut his teeth" = learned his business. Comes from a baby who is teething.

"had chucked his coding rule out of the window" = had hired someone who who wrote bad computer code [refers back to sentence 1 in the extract]

"a little poignant" = evokes some sadness.

[Deepurple]

"May I ask what the meanings of the following phrases in blue are, please?"

Can I say,
"May I ask what are the meanings of the following phrases in blue , please?"

Where can I find this kind of grammar lesson online? I don't know what it is called in grammar books? Could you tell me its name as well?
Thanks for advice.

[Anglika]

Yes, you can write the sentence that way.

This link may help on word order: Word Order in English Sentences

[Mister Nutty]

Where can I find this kind of grammar lesson online? I don't know what it is called in grammar books? Could you tell me its name as well?
Thanks for advice.

Embedded Questions.

[Deepurple]

Embedded Questions.

"Jump start" Thanks for "Anglika's tolerance.