Food Idioms

meal ticket
- a thing or person that someone uses to get the money that they need to live
The woman's nursing degree is her meal ticket to a flexible and good life.

meat and potatoes
- basic simple and good food, simple tastes
The man is a meat-and-potatoes person who enjoys the simple pleasures of life.

melt in one's mouth
- to taste very good
The pastry melted in my mouth.

milk of human kindness
- the natural kindness and sympathy that is shown to others
The woman at the community center is full of the milk of human kindness.

milk (someone) for (something)
- to pressure someone into giving information or money
The man was trying to milk the elderly lady for much of her money.

neither fish nor fowl
- not in any recognizable category
The movie was neither fish nor fowl and I did not know what category to put it into.

not for all the tea in China
- not for anything
I will not for all the tea in China lend my friend any more money.

not know beans about (someone or something)
- to know nothing about someone or something
I do not know beans about repairing a car.

not worth a hill of beans
- worthless
The man is a liar and what he says is not worth a hill of beans.

on a diet
- to be trying to lose weight by eating less food
I have been on a diet for two months now.

one man's meat is another man's poison
- something that one person likes may be disliked by someone else
One man's meat is another man's poison and while my friend hates coffee, I love it.

out of the frying pan and into the fire
- to go from something bad to something worse
The woman jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire when she quit her job. Now her problems are much worse.
out to lunch
- to be crazy, to be uninformed
The woman is out to lunch and you should never believe what she tells you.

out to lunch
- to be eating lunch away from one's work
The bank manager was out to lunch when I went to see him at the bank.

packed in like sardines
- to be packed in very tightly
The commuters were packed in like sardines in the subway car.

pie in the sky
- an idea or plan that you think will never happen
My cousin's plans are usually pie in the sky and will never happen.

piece of cake
- a task that is easily accomplished
The small job was a piece of cake. I had everything done before lunch this morning.

polish the apple
- to flatter someone
Nobody likes the girl because she is always trying to polish the apple with her teacher.

put all one's eggs in one basket
- to risk everything at once
I do not want to put all my eggs in one basket and only invest money in real estate.

put on the feed bag
- to eat a meal (like a horse would)
We put on the feed bag immediately after we got home.

put weight on
- to gain weight
The basketball player is putting weight on now.

rotten to the core
- to be completely worthless (like a rotten apple)
The political organization was rotten to the core and everybody knew that they must change.

rub salt in (someone's) wound
- to try to make someone's unhappiness or misfortune worse
I did not mention the car accident to my friend because I did not want to rub salt in his wound.

salt of the earth
- good/basic/honest/ordinary people
Our new neighbors are the salt of the earth. They are good, basic, honest people.

salt (something) away
- to save money or some other item
I am salting away much money from my new job.

save (someone's) bacon
- something helps you from failing or having trouble
My friend at work saved my bacon when he came to help me with the job that I could not do.

sell like hotcakes
- to sell quickly or easily
The new CD has only been released for one week but already it is selling like hotcakes.

sink one's teeth into (something)
- to take a bite of some kind of food, to get really involved in something
I am trying hard to sink my teeth into the project at work.

slice of the cake/pie
- a share of something
The government wants a slice of the cake of the money from the new casinos.

small potatoes
- something that is not very big or important compared with other things or people
The amount of money for the stadium is small potatoes compared to the total cost of the Olympics.

so clean you can eat off the floor
- very clean
My mother's kitchen is so clean you can eat off the floor.

soup up (something)
- to make something faster or more powerful by changing or adding something (this expression is often used for a car)
My neighbor decided to soup up the car that he recently bought.

spill the beans
- to tell a secret to someone who is not supposed to know about it
"Please do not spill the beans about my plans to quit work and return to school next year."

spoon-feed (someone)
- to help or care for someone too much when you are trying to teach him or her something
We had to spoon-feed the new employee when we were teaching him about the new computer system.

square meal
- a good filling meal
I was very busy at work last week and I did not have time for a square meal until Saturday.

stew in one`s own juice
- to suffer from something that you yourself have caused to happen
The man is the one who caused the problem for himself and he is now being forced to stew in his own juice.

stick to one's ribs
- to last a long time and to fill one up (used for food)
The meal that my grandmother made stuck to my ribs.

take (something) with a grain of salt
- to accept or believe something with much doubt, to not give much credit or importance to something that was said
"You should take everything that the supervisor says with a grain of salt because he likes to exaggerate things."

take the cake
- to be the best or worst of something
The behavior of the young girl takes the cake. It is terrible.

teach one's grandmother to suck eggs
- to try to tell someone who has more knowledge than you how to do something
I tried to teach my friend something about computers but he is a computer expert. It was like teaching my grandmother to suck eggs.

teething problems
- difficulties/problems that happen in the early stages of a project/activity
The new project which we were trying to start had many teething problems.

that's the way the cookie crumbles
- that's life, those things happen
That's the way the cookie crumbles, I thought when I learned that I would not get the new job.

there is no such thing as a free lunch
- you cannot get something without working for it or paying for it
There is no such thing as a free lunch and you must work hard if you want to get something in life.

too many cooks spoil the broth/stew
- too many people trying to do something will cause problems
Too many cooks spoil the broth and we decided to have less people work on the project because having too many people was making it difficult to do anything.

top banana
- the person who is the boss or the top person in a group or organization
The famous actor in the movie was the top banana in the story.

toss a salad
- to mix a salad with the dressing
I quickly tossed a salad and we ate dinner.

tub of lard
- a fat person
The young boys always call the chubby boy a tub of lard.

tuck into (something)
- to eat something with energy and enjoyment
We tucked into our dinner as soon as we sat down at the table.

upset the applecart
- to ruin a plan or event by surprise or accident
Everything was going well at the company picnic until our boss arrived and upset the applecart.

variety is the spice of life
- differences and changes make life interesting
Variety is the spice of life and I enjoy doing different things in my free time.

walk on eggs
- to be very cautious
I must walk on eggs when I ask my friend to do something for me.

what's good/sauce for the goose is good/sauce for the gander
- what is good for one person should be good for another person as well
"What's good for the goose is good for the gander and you should not ask your child to take the cough medicine if you will not take it yourself."

whet (someone's) appetite
- to cause someone to be interested in something and want to learn more about it
The introduction to playing a musical instrument helped to whet my appetite to learn more about music.

whole enchilada
- everything, all of something
I decided to buy the whole enchilada when I looked at the set of dishes and kitchen goods.

wine and dine (someone)
- to treat someone to an expensive meal, to entertain someone in a lavish manner
My uncle often has to wine and dine his important business clients.

worth one`s salt
- to be a good worker, to be worth what one is paid
The man has only been working here for a month but quickly he is proving that he is worth his salt.

you can't make an omelette without breaking the eggs
- you cannot do something without causing some problems or having some effects
"You can't make an omelette without breaking the eggs and if you want to change the work schedules, then you are going to cause problems."



apple Idioms


apple of (someone`s) eye
- someone or something that one likes a lot
The little girl is the apple of her grandfather`s eye.

as easy as apple pie
- very easy
The test that I wrote yesterday was as easy as apple pie.

bad/rotten apple
- a bad person
The boy is a bad apple and he is always in some kind of trouble.

compare apples and oranges
- to compare two things that are not similar and should not be compared
It was like comparing apples and oranges when we compared our new boss to our old one.

polish the apple
- to flatter someone
Nobody likes the girl because she is always trying to polish the apple with her teacher.

rotten to the core
- to be completely worthless (like a rotten apple)
The political organization was rotten to the core and everybody knew that they must change.

upset the applecart
- to ruin a plan or event by surprise or accident
Everything was going well at the company picnic until our boss arrived and upset the applecart.

bean Idioms


full of beans
- to feel energetic, to be in high spirits
My aunt is full of beans tonight and she does not want to stop talking.

not know beans about (someone or something)
- to know nothing about someone or something
I do not know beans about repairing a car.

not worth a hill of beans
- worthless
The man is a liar and what he says is not worth a hill of beans.

spill the beans
- to tell a secret to someone who is not supposed to know about it
"Please do not spill the beans about my plans to quit work and return to school next year."

bread Idioms


as warm as toast
- very warm and cozy
Our house was as warm as toast when we went in from the rain.

bread and butter
- one's income/job to buy the basic needs of life like food/shelter/clothing
The voters are worried about bread-and-butter issues like jobs and taxes.

bread and water
- the most basic meal that is possible (just as you would get in prison)
The prisoners were fed bread and water for several days last winter.

greatest thing since sliced bread
- the greatest thing that there has ever been
My mother believes that the microwave oven is the greatest thing since sliced bread.

grist for the mill
- something that can be used to bring advantage or profit
The information that we got on the Internet was grist for the mill of our company's operations.

half a loaf is better than none
- a proverb that says that having part of something is better than having nothing at all
Half a loaf is better than none and I would rather work part-time than have no job at all.

half-baked
- to be not thought about or studied carefully
Our friend has a half-baked idea about starting a new business but most of us think that it will fail.

know which side one's bread is buttered
- to know what is most advantageous for you
My aunt knows which side her bread is buttered when she visits her sister.

cake Idioms


eat one`s cake and have it too
- to use or spend something and still keep it, to have something both ways
The man refuses to give up anything and he always wants to eat his cake and have it too.

have one's cake and eat it too
- to use or spend something and still keep it, to have something both ways
I wanted to have my cake and eat it too when I wanted more holidays and more responsibility at work.

icing on the cake
- something that makes a good situation or activity even better
I was able to find a good job and the fact that I can work where I want is the icing on the cake.

piece of cake
- a task that is easily accomplished
The small job was a piece of cake. I had everything done before lunch this morning.

a slice of the cake
- a share of something
The government wants a slice of the cake of the money from the new casinos.

take the cake
- to be the best or worst of something
The behavior of the young girl takes the cake. It is terrible.

cooking Idioms


as black as a skillet
- very black
The bottom of the little boy's feet were as black as a skillet.

burn (something) to a crisp
- to burn something very badly
I burned the eggs to a crisp when I left the stove on while I was talking on the telephone.

cook (someone's) goose
- to damage or ruin someone
I think that I cooked my goose when I made a mistake at work today.

cook (something) to perfection
- to cook something perfectly
The chef always cooks the food to perfection at the small restaurant.

cook (something) up
- to cook something, to make some kind of plan
I do not know what my girlfriend is cooking up for the weekend but we will probably do something interesting.

done to a T/turn
- to be cooked just right (just as one would cook a steak perfectly)
The steaks were done to a T when my friend cooked them on the barbecue.

(one's) goose is cooked
- one has been found out and is now in trouble
I told a lie to my company and now my goose is cooked and I am in much trouble.

out of the frying pan and into the fire
- to go from something bad to something worse
The woman jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire when she quit her job. Now her problems are much worse.

too many cooks spoil the broth
- too many people trying to do something will cause problems
Too many cooks spoil the broth and we decided to have less people work on the project because having too many people was making it difficult to do anything.

toss a salad
- to mix a salad with the dressing
I quickly tossed a salad and we ate dinner.

drink Idioms


Bottoms up!
- everybody should drink now (this expression is used at the end of a drinking toast)
"Bottoms up," our host said at the beginning of the dinner.

coffee break
- a break from work to rest and drink coffee/tea
We usually have a coffee break every morning at 10 o`clock.

cry over spilled/spilt milk
- to cry or complain about something that has already happened
You should not cry over spilled milk. The past is past and you cannot do anything to change it.

(not one's) cup of tea
- something that one does not enjoy or do well (usually used in the negative)
Going to art galleries is not my cup of tea so I think that I will stay home this evening.

down the hatch
- something is swallowed
My drink was down the hatch before I could order another one.

have a pick-me-up
- to eat or drink something stimulating
I wanted to have a pick-me-up so I stopped at a small shop for a coffee.

Here's mud in your eye!
- Drink up! (a drinking toast)
"Here's mud in your eye," I said as we drank a toast to my new job.

hit the sauce
- to drink alcohol (usually regularly)
I think that the woman began to hit the sauce after her husband lost his job.

milk of human kindness
- the natural kindness and sympathy that is shown to others
The woman at the community center is full of the milk of human kindness.

milk (someone) for (something)
- to pressure someone into giving information or money
The man was trying to milk the elderly lady for much of her money.

not for all the tea in China
- not for anything
I will not for all the tea in China lend my friend any more money.

wine and dine (someone)
- to treat someone to an expensive meal, to entertain someone in a lavish manner
My uncle often has to wine and dine his important business clients.

eating Idioms


acquire a taste for something
- to develop a liking for some kind of food or drink or something
My friend has recently acquired a taste for classical music.

as hungry as a bear
- very hungry
I was as hungry as a bear when I returned home from work yesterday.

at one sitting
- at one time, during one period
We ate most of the cake at one sitting.

binge and purge
- to overeat and then to vomit
The young woman had eating problems and she would often binge and purge her food.

bite off more than one can chew
- to try to do or eat more than you can manage
I bit off more than I could chew when I began to work at the store in the evening.