Блог Алины

[Alina]

Color Idioms

white lie
- a harmless or small lie told to be polite or to avoid hurting someone's feelings
I told my supervisor a white lie yesterday and said that I was sick when actually I was not.

white sale
- the selling of towels or sheets at a reduced price
We went to the white sale at the department store to buy some new sheets.

white-tie event/affair
- an event that requires guests to wear formal dress such as men wearing white bow ties with formal evening dress
I attended a white-tie dinner in honor of the president of our university.

whitewash (something)
- to cover up or gloss over faults/errors/wrongdoing
The government was accused of trying to whitewash the scandal about the illegal money.

with flying colors
- with great or total success
My friend passed the course with flying colors and she now wants to go out and celebrate.

yellow-bellied
- extremely timid, cowardly
The man is yellow-bellied and is never willing to fight for what is right.

black Idioms


as black as a skillet
- very black
My hands were as black as a skillet when I finished working on the car engine.

as black as a stack of black cats
- very black
The little boy was as black as a stack of black cats after playing outside all day.

as black as a sweep
- very dirty/black (a chimney sweep cleans chimneys and becomes very black)
My friend was as black as a sweep after he finished cleaning the basement.

as black as coal
- very black
My friend's cat is as black as coal.

as black as night
- very dark and black
The old house was as black as night when we entered it.

as black as pitch
- very black
My face was as black as pitch after cleaning the stove all morning.

as black as the ace of spades
- very black
The horse in the parade was as black as the ace of spades.

black and blue
- bruised
My shoulder was black and blue after I fell down the stairs.

black and white
- either good or bad, either one way or the other way but not in between
Our boss sees everything in black and white although he knows this is impossible.

black box
- an electronic device such as a flight recorder that can be removed from an aircraft as a single package
The investigators searched for a long time in order to find the black box of the airplane.

black eye
- a bruise near one's eye which makes it appear black
The man received a black eye when he bumped into the closed door.

black market
- the place where goods/money are illegally bought and sold
We sold some cigarettes on the black market during our travels.

black out
- to darken a room or building by turning off the lights
During the war people in the cities were forced to black out their windows so nobody could see them.

black out
- to lose consciousness
The man blacked out during the parade and he had to sit down and rest.

black sheep (of a family)
- a person who is a disgrace to a family or group
The man is the black sheep in his family and has not made a success of his life.

blackball (someone)
- to exclude/ostracize someone socially, to reject someone
The businessman was blackballed in the industry because of his bad business practices.

blacklist (someone)
- to exclude/ostracize someone, to write someone's name on a list if they break some rules
The sports federation blacklisted the swimmer because he was using steroids.

blackmail (someone)
- to extort/take money from someone by threatening him or her
The photographer tried to blackmail the famous actress with some photographs that he had taken.

blackout
- a temporary situation where you do not release some information
The government decided to have a blackout regarding the information related to the political prisoner.

black-tie event/affair
- a formal event where guests wear semi-formal clothes with men wearing black bow ties with tuxedos or dinner jackets
The award ceremony for the movie awards was a black-tie affair.

in black and white
- in writing, officially
I put down my complaint in black and white.

in (someone's) black books
- to be in disgrace or out of favor with someone
The boy is in his girlfriend's black books because he was late for their date.

in the black
- to be successful or profitable
Our company has been in the black since they began to cut costs.

pitch-black
- very black, as black as pitch
The road was pitch-black and we could not see anything.

pot calling the kettle black
- the person who criticizes/accuses someone else is as guilty as the person he or she criticizes/accuses
My friend criticized me for not changing jobs but that is like the pot calling the kettle black. She will not change jobs either.

put (something) down in black and white
- to write the details of a contract or something on paper
I asked the buyer to put the offer to buy my car down in black and white.


blue Idioms


black and blue
- bruised
My shoulder was black and blue after I fell down the stairs.

blue blood
- the blood of a noble/aristocratic family
Many of the blue bloods of the town went to the opening of the opera.

blue in the face
- to be very angry or upset, to be excited and very emotional
I argued with my supervisor until I was blue in the face.

blue-ribbon
- of superior quality or distinction, the best of a group
A blue-ribbon panel of experts were asked to suggest a new policy for the city.

get/have the blues
- to become sad or depressed
The dull cloudy weather has caused me to get the blues.

out of the blue
- without any warning, by surprise (like coming out of a blue sky)
Out of the blue my friend decided to quit his job and go to Europe.

talk a blue streak
- to talk very much and very rapidly
The woman beside me on the bus talked a blue streak for most of the journey.

talk until one is blue in the face
- to talk until one is exhausted
I talked until I was blue in the face but I could not change my teacher's mind about my essay.


gray Idioms


get/have gray hair
- to have one's hair turn gray from stress
Our teacher is getting gray hair from all the stress.

a gray area
- a question that is not clearly defined and may have a broad or more than one answer, neither black or white
The issue of the tax on children's toys was a gray area for the accountant.

gray matter
- brains, intelligence
I wish that my friend would use his gray matter more effectively when he is making his crazy plans.

green Idioms


get/have the green light
- to receive a signal to start or continue something
We got the green light to begin a study of the security problems at our school.

give (someone) the green light
- to give someone permission to proceed with a project
We were given the green light to begin the new project.

grass is always greener on the other side
- a place that is far away or different seems better than where we are now
The man realized that the grass is greener on the other side when he saw that his new job had many problems too.

green
- to be inexperienced or immature
The young man is rather green and does not have enough experience to drive the large piece of machinery.

green around the gills
- looking sick
My friend looked green around the gills after the long bus ride.

green belt
- an area of fields and trees around a town
Our city has a policy to increase the green belt around the city.

green-eyed monster
- jealousy
The woman was consumed by the green-eyed monster and it was affecting her life.

green thumb
- a talent for gardening, the ability to make things grow
My neighbor has a green thumb and she is able to grow one of the best gardens in our neighborhood.

green with envy
- to be very jealous, to be full of envy
I was green with envy when I heard that my cousin would be going to London for a week.

greenhorn
- an untrained/inexperienced/naive person
The young man was a greenhorn and he had much to learn about his new job.


pink Idioms


in the pink (of condition)
- in very good health
My grandmother was in the pink of condition when I saw her.

look at/see the world through rose-colored glasses
- to see only the good things about something, to be too optimistic
My friend always looks at the world through rose-colored glasses and he does not believe that some people are dishonest.

pink slip
- a termination notice from a job
I received my pink slip last week and I am now looking for a new job.

see pink elephants
- to see things which are not really there because they are only in your imagination
The man was seeing pink elephants according to those who listened to his story.

tickled pink
- to be very pleased or delighted by someone or something
"My mother was tickled pink that you visited her when you were in town."


red Idioms


as red as a cherry
- bright red
The car was as red as a cherry after its new paint job.

as red as a poppy
- bright red
The mark on my arm was as red as a poppy.

as red as a rose
- intensely red
The morning sunrise was as red as a rose.

as red as a ruby
- deep red
The office assistant was wearing lipstick that was as red as a ruby.

as red as blood
- deep red
The stain on the carpet was as red as blood.

catch (someone) red-handed
- to catch someone in the middle of doing something wrong
The woman was caught red-handed when she tried to steal some cosmetics.

ears are red
- one's ears are red from embarrassment
My ears were red after hearing what the teacher said about me.

in the red
- to be in debt, to be unprofitable
The company has been in the red for three years now.

like waving a red flag in front of a bull
- what you are doing will definitely make someone angry or upset
Talking about the city mayor with my father is like waving a red flag in front of a bull. He does not like the city mayor.

out of the red
- out of debt
Our company is finally out of the red and we are now making money.

paint the town red
- to go out and party and have a good time
When my cousin came to visit us we decided to go out and paint the town red.

red-carpet treatment
- to receive special/royal treatment
I always receive the red-carpet treatment when I go and visit my aunt.

red-eye
- an airplane flight that leaves late at night and arrives early in the morning
We caught the red-eye flight last night and we are very tired today.

a red flag
- a signal that something is not working properly or correctly
The fallen trees along the road raised a red flag for the safety inspectors.

red herring
- an unimportant matter that draws attention away from the main subject
Talking about the other issue was a red herring and did not do anything to deal with today's problem.

red-hot
- very hot, creating much excitement or demand
The new video game is red-hot and many people are waiting to buy one.

red in the face
- embarrassed
I became red in the face when the teacher began talking about me.

red-letter day
- a day that is memorable because of some important event
It was a red-letter day when my sister received her graduation diploma.
red tape
- excessive formalities in official business
Many businesses complain about the red tape that they must deal with in order to get anything done with the government.
roll out the red carpet
- to greet a person with great respect, to give a big welcome to someone
The government rolled out the red carpet when the politician came to visit.

see red
- to become very angry
My boss saw red when I told him that I would not be coming to work today.


white Idioms


as white as a ghost
- very pale because of fear/shock/illness
My sister became as white as a ghost when she saw the man at the window.

as white as a sheet
- very pale
I felt terrible this morning and in the mirror I looked as white as a sheet.

as white as the driven snow
- very white
The fur on the dog was as white as the driven snow.

black and white
- either good or bad, either one way or the other way but not in between
Our boss sees everything in black and white although he knows this is impossible.

carte blanche
- the freedom or permission to do what you want (blanche/blanc means white in French)
The new manager was given carte blanche to change the policies in her department.

in black and white
- in writing, officially
I put down my complaint in black and white.

put (something) down in black and white
- to write the details of a contract or something on paper
I asked the buyer to put the offer to buy my car down in black and white.

raise/wave a white flag
- to indicate that you have been defeated and you want to give up
The soldiers raised a white flag and gave themselves up to the enemy.

white elephant
- a useless possession (that often costs money to maintain)
The new airport is a white elephant and nobody wants to use it.

white lie
- a harmless or small lie told to be polite or to avoid hurting someone's feelings
I told my supervisor a white lie yesterday and said that I was sick when actually I was not.

white sale
- the selling of towels or sheets at a reduced price
We went to the white sale at the department store to buy some new sheets.

white-tie event/affair
- an event that requires guests to wear formal dress such as men wearing white bow ties with formal evening dress
I attended a white-tie dinner in honor of the president of our university.

whitewash (something)
- to cover up or gloss over faults/errors/wrongdoing
The government was accused of trying to whitewash the scandal about the illegal money.

yellow Idioms


have a yellow streak
- to be cowardly
The man has a yellow streak and he will not defend you if you are having a problem.

yellow-bellied
- extremely timid, cowardly
The man is yellow-bellied and is never willing to fight for what is right.

 

[Alina]

Court & Judge
Idioms




________________________________________


abide by a decision
- follow the orders that a court/judge has given
The company was forced to abide by the decision of the judge.

as sober as a judge
- alert and completely sober, not drunk, very formal
My father is always as sober as a judge when he gets into his car to drive.

at the mercy of (the court/someone)
- having no defense against the court/someone
My friend was at the mercy of the court when he went before the judge.

beat the rap
- escape conviction and punishment for a crime
The man hired a good lawyer and was able to beat the rap easily.

cast doubt on (someone or something)
- cause someone or something to be doubted
The evidence presented at the trial cast doubt on the truthfulness of the woman's testimony.

clear (someone's) name
- prove that someone is not guilty of a crime
The woman went to court to clear her name of the false charges.

come down hard on (someone)
- scold/punish someone severely, attack someone vigorously
The judge came down hard on the boy who had been arrested for breaking into a house.

cop a plea
- plead guilty to a crime or decide not to fight against a charge in order to try and receive a light punishment, the same meaning as plea bargain (usually done in a negotiation between the defendant and his or her lawyer and the prosecutor)
The man copped a plea and went to hear what the judge would decide regarding his case.

cross-examine (someone)
- question a suspect or a witness in a trial
The lawyer was very careful when he began to cross-examine the witness.

a cut-and-dried (case/decision)
- fixed, determined beforehand
The case was cut-and-dried and it ended in less than an hour.

decide in favor of (someone)
- determine that someone is not guilty or is the winner of something
The court decided in favor of the government in their dispute with the striking workers.

face the music
- receive punishment or judgement for something wrong or illegal that you have done
The young man was forced to face the music for the crimes that he had committed.

fair and impartial
- a fair and unbiased look at something
The judge made a fair and impartial decision in the case against the small store.

find (someone) guilty
- decide that someone is guilty in a court of law
The judge found the young man guilty of breaking and entering a small store.

find (someone) innocent
- decide that someone is innocent in a court of law
The woman went to court but the judge found her innocent of all charges.

for the record
- say something so that there will be a record of a particular fact
I was told, for the record, that my case had very little chance of succeeding in a court of law.

get a slap on the wrist
- get light punishment for a crime or wrongdoing
The boy got a slap on the wrist for causing the damage to the public washroom.

get a tongue-lashing
- get a severe verbal scolding for doing something wrong
The girl got a tongue-lashing from the judge over her role in the crime.

get down to the facts
- begin to discuss things that matter, get to the truth
As soon as the trial began the lawyers began to get down to the facts of the case.

get off (easy/lightly)
- receive very little or no punishment for something
The young man got off easy and did not have to go to jail for his crime.

get one's knuckles rapped
- receive punishment for something
The boy got his knuckles rapped after a stern lecture from the judge.

get (something) out in the open
- stop hiding a fact or a secret
The lawyers were able to quickly get things out in the open during the trial.

get the benefit of the doubt
- receive a judgement in your favor when the evidence is neither for you nor against you
The girl got the benefit of the doubt and was not found guilty of the crime.

give (someone) a fair shake
- give someone fair treatment
The man did not believe that the judge would give him a fair shake at his trial.

give (someone) a slap on the wrist
- give someone light punishment
The young offender was given a slap on the wrist by the judge but was required to do some community work as compensation for his crime.

give (someone) the benefit of the doubt
- make a judgement in someone's favor when the evidence is neither for nor against the person
The police gave the man the benefit of the doubt and did not arrest him as a suspect for the crime.

give (someone) their freedom
- set someone free
The court decided to give the man his freedom because of his good behavior in prison.

go by the book
- follow the rules exactly
The court clerks always go by the book when they are dealing with court matters.

go easy on (someone or something)
- be kind or gentle with someone or something
The judge wanted to go easy on the young man but his bad attitude made it difficult to try and help him.

go scot-free/get off scot-free
- go unpunished or be acquitted of a crime
The lawyer was able to get off scot-free in the case involving his illegal transactions.

a grain of truth
- the smallest amount of truth
There was only a grain of truth in what the witness said during the trial.

hand a verdict/decision down (to someone)
- announce or deliver a legal decision or verdict in a court
The court clerk announced that the judge would hand the verdict down in the morning.

hang in the balance
- be in an undecided state
The future of the criminal was hanging in the balance as he waited for the judge's decision.

have/get one's day in court
- have an opportunity to say or explain something or give your opinion in court
The business executive had his day in court and was cleared of any suggestion of wrongdoing.

a hung jury
- a jury that is divided and unable to agree on a verdict
The trial ended in a hung jury which made another trial necessary.

in absentia
- when someone is absent from a court etc.
The judge looked at the evidence and sentenced the man in absentia.

in contempt of court
- disobedience of the orders and authority of the court, disrespect for the court process
The man refused to answer the questions of the judge and was found to be in contempt of court.

in defiance of (someone or something)
- in resistence to someone or someone's orders
The union was in defiance of the court order and was given a large fine.

in session
- a court is operating or functioning
The court was in session when we arrived at the courthouse.

in (someone's) favor
- to someone's advantage
The judge ruled in the our favor in our dispute with the hospital.

judge (someone or something) on its/their own merit(s)
- judge or evaluate someone or something on their own achievements and virtues
We judged the man on his own merits and not by what other people were saying about him.

jump to conclusions
- judge or decide something without having all the facts
The manager had jumped to conclusions when she accused the employee of stealing from the company.

the jury is still out (on someone or something)
- a decision has not been reached on someone or something (used often and in a casual manner when one has not made a decision about something)
The jury is still out on whether or not we will move or not.

a kangaroo court
- an illegal court formed by a group of people to settle a dispute among themselves
There was a kangaroo court in the movie where the ranchers decided to make their own court.

keep one's own counsel
- not tell other people about one's thoughts and plans
Our lawyer was keeping his own counsel about how to proceed with our defense.

laugh (something) out of court
- dismiss something as ridiculous
The lawyer wanted to sue the man for hitting the dog but the judge laughed the case out of court.

a leading question
- a question to a witness that is designed to suggest or produce the reply that is wanted by the questioner
The judge reprimanded the lawyer for continuing to ask leading questions during the trial.

let (someone) off (easy)
- release someone without punishment
The judge let the man off easy in spite of the strong case against him.

a miscarriage of justice
- a wrong or mistaken decision made in a court of law
The trial was a miscarriage of justice and nobody was happy with the result.

the moment of truth
- the point at which someone has to face the reality of a situation
The moment of truth in the trial came when the lawyer presented the last piece of evidence.

not hold water
- make no sense, be illogical
The argument by the lawyer did not hold water.

on the bench
- a judge is sitting and directing a session of court
There was no indication by the court of who would be sitting on the bench during the important trial.

on trial
- being tried in court
The man is on trial for stealing money from his company.

an open-and-shut case
- a legal matter that is simple and uncomplicated
It was an open-and-shut case after the lawyer presented the evidence to the judge.

pick holes in an argument
- find all the flaws in an argument
The experienced lawyer found it very easy to pick holes in the argument of the main witness.

plea bargain
- plead guilty to a crime or decide not to fight against a charge in order to try and receive a light punishment (usually done in a negotiation between the defendant and his or her lawyer and the prosecutor)
The man decided to plea bargain in order not to have to endure a long trial with an uncertain result.

poetic justice
- the appropriate but chance reward or punishment by someone who deserves it
It was poetic justice when the supervisor who was harassing the workers lost his job because the president did not want him to work for the company anymore.

raise an objection (to/about someone or something)
- make an objection about someone or something
The defense lawyer stood up during the trial to raise an objection about the testimony of the witness.

the responsible party
- legally or morally obliged to do something or accept the blame for something
The judge determined that the man was the responsible party for the damage and must pay a large penalty.

send (someone) up the river
- send someone to prison
The judge sent the man up the river for three years.

settle (something) out of court
- reach an agreement without having to go through a court of law
It was very difficult but we were finally able to settle the dispute out of court.

sit in judgement of (someone)
- make a judgement of someone
The tribunal members were sitting in judgement of the group involved in the trade dispute.

to stand trial
- to be tried in court
The man had to stand trial for stealing the credit cards.

swear on a stack of bibles
- pledge to tell the truth about something (in a court of law someone may swear to tell the truth by placing his or her hand on a bible or other religious text)
The man swore on a stack of bibles that he had never seen the accused criminal before.

take an oath
- make an oath, swear to something
Before the trial began I had to take an oath and promise to tell the truth.

take the Fifth
- in the United States a witness at a trial has the right to refuse to incriminate him or herself because of the protection of the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States
The business executive decided to take the Fifth rather than give testimony at the trial.

take the stand
- sit in the witness chair in a courtroom
The main witness at the trial took the stand after the other witnesses were finished.

throw oneself at the mercy of the court
- ask a judge for mercy when being sentenced for a crime
The man knew that he had no excuse for what he had done so all that he could do was throw himself at the mercy of the court and hope for a light sentence.

throw the book at (someone)
- charge or convict someone of as many crimes or for as much time as possible
The criminal showed almost no remorse so the judge decided to throw the book at him.

a travesty of justice
- a legal action that is an insult to the system of justice
The trial was a travesty of justice and nobody was happy with the result.

under oath
- to take and be bound by an oath
The man explained what had happened at the scene of the crime while he was under oath at the trial.

 

[Alina]

Ear, Eye
and Nose Idioms




________________________________________

able to (do something) with one's eyes closed/shut
-to be able to do something very easily
The car mechanic was able to fix my car with his eyes closed.

all ears
-to be eager to hear something, to be very attentive
My sister was all ears last night when I talked about starting a home business.

all eyes
- to be watching very closely, to be wide-eyed with surprise
My friend is all eyes when he goes to a basketball game.

all eyes are on (someone or something)
- everyone is waiting eagerly for someone to appear or something to happen
All eyes were on the singer when he walked onto the stage.

apple of (someone`s) eye
- someone's favorite person or thing
The young girl is the apple of her father`s eye.

as blind as a bat
-blind, unable to see
The man was as blind as a bat and he could not see anything at all.

as plain as the nose on one's face
-clearly evident, obvious
The explanation for the problem was as plain as the nose on my face.

assault the ears
- to be very loud or persistent
The music was very loud and it assaulted our ears.

(not) bat an eye/eyelid
- to show no surprise or reaction even when something bad happens
Our boss did not bat an eye when we told him that we were going home early today.

believe one`s ears
- to believe what one is hearing, to become sure of something
I could not believe my ears when I heard that I had won a holiday to Mexico.

believe one`s eyes
- to believe what one is seeing
We could not believe our eyes when we saw the three bears on the highway.

bend (someone's) ear
-to talk to someone (usually in an annoying/persistent manner)
I met my co-worker this morning and she bent my ear for almost an hour about her problems at work.

blind leading the blind
-someone who does not know how to do something themselves tries to explain it to other people
It was like the blind leading the blind when I tried to help my friend fix his car. I do not know anything about cars.

blow one's nose
-to use the air from one's lungs to clear one's nose
I took some tissue from my pocket and blew my nose.

can't see beyond the end of one's nose
-to be able to see beyond what concerns one at the present time only
My friend cannot see beyond the end of his nose and he has no idea about what is happening around him.

cast a (critical/professional) eye over (someone or something)
- to look at something in a particular way
The movie director cast a critical eye over the movie script from the writer.

cast an eye over (something)
- to read or look at something quickly
I cast an eye over the report before I went to the meeting.

catch (someone`s) eye
- to attract someone`s attention
I tried to catch my friend`s eye at the movie theater but he did not notice me.

close one's eyes to (something)
-to ignore something, to pretend that something is not really happening
My father closed his eyes to the problems that were happening in his company.

count noses
-to count people
The teacher stopped to count noses before the students got on the bus.

cry one's eyes out
-to cry very hard
The little girl cried her eyes out when she lost her favorite doll.

cut off one`s nose to spite one`s face
- to make things worse for oneself by trying to harm someone/something else
The man cut off his nose to spite his face when he became angry and quit his job.

deaf and dumb
-unable to hear or speak
The young man is deaf and dumb and he has trouble understanding what is happening around him.

eagle eye
-a very careful watchful eye (like the eye of an eagle)
The woman has an eagle eye and she never misses a thing.

ears are burning
- someone is talking about you when you are not there
My ears are burning and I am sure that someone is talking about me.

ears are ringing
- one hears a ringing sound because of a very loud sound
My ears were ringing after the three fire trucks passed me.

ears become red
- one's ears become red from embarrassment
My ears became red when our teacher asked me a question.

evil eye
- the power to harm people just by looking at them (as some people believe)
The man seemed to give me the evil eye when I met him at the ceremony.

eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth
- a system of punishment where you punish someone in a similar way that they hurt you
Some people call for an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth when they hear of a terrible crime.

eye of the storm
- at the center of a storm/controversy
The company scandal is stressful for everybody and at the moment we are right in the eye of the storm.

eyeball-to-eyeball
-face to face
I had an eyeball-to-eyeball encounter with an angry dog at the park.

eyes are bigger than one`s stomach
- one takes more food than one can eat
My eyes were bigger than my stomach when I went to the restaurant and ordered too much food.

eyes pop out (of one's head)
- one is very surprised
My eyes popped out of my head when I saw the new computer that I got for my birthday.

fall on deaf ears
-to have one's talk or ideas ignored by the person that they are intended for
My complaints to the apartment manager usually fall on deaf ears and nothing is ever done.

feast one's eyes on (someone or something)
-to look at someone or something with pleasure/enjoyment
We stopped at the top of the hill to feast our eyes on some of the best scenery that we have ever seen.

flea in (someone`s) ear
- an idea or answer that is not welcome
The idea about changing the schedules is a flea in the supervisor`s ear.

follow one's nose
-to go straight ahead, to follow a smell to its source
I followed my nose to the place where they were baking the bread.

four eyes
- an expression (often used by children) for someone who is wearing glasses
The children called their friend with the glasses four eyes.

get a black eye
-to get a bruise near one's eye from being hit, to have one's reputation harmed
The little boy got a black eye when he bumped into the door.

get an eyeful (of someone or something)
-to see everything, to see a shocking or surprising sight
We really got an eyeful when we saw the accident on the highway.

get one`s nose out of (something)
- to become uninvolved in something or in someone else's business
I wish that our secretary would get her nose out of my business.

get the eye from (someone)
- to be looked at by someone in a hostile/unfriendly way
We got the eye from the manager of the restaurant when we entered in our old clothes.

give one's eye teeth (to do something)
- to want to do something very much
I would give my eye teeth to go to London with my cousin.

give (someone) a black eye
-to hit someone near their eye so it becomes dark, to hurt someone's reputation
The boy gave his friend a black eye.
The scandal gave the company a black eye.

give (someone) an earful
-to talk to someone in order to criticize or complain about something
I met my supervisor on the weekend and I decided to give her an earful about my job.

give (someone) the eye
- to look at someone in a hostile/unfriendly way
I gave the woman in the restaurant the eye but she ignored me.

go into (something) with one's eyes (wide) open
- to do something or make a choice knowing the problems that are involved and having all the necessary information
The city went into the construction contract with their eyes wide open.

go into (something) with one's eyes closed/shut
- to do something or make a choice not knowing the problems that are involved and not having all the necessary information
The young woman went into her marriage with her eyes closed but still the marriage was very successful.

grin from ear to ear
- to have a big grin on one's face
The man was grinning from ear to ear after he found the money.

hard-nosed
- to be not weak or soft, to be stubborn
The union took a hard-nosed position in the contract negotiations.

hard of hearing
- unable to hear well, partially deaf
My grandfather is hard of hearing.

have a good eye for (something)
- to be able to judge something correctly, to have good taste in something
The woman has a good eye for color and her apartment is beautiful.

have a nose for (something)
- to have the talent for finding something
My friend has a nose for finding cheap items at weekend flea markets.

have an ear for (something)
- to have the ability to learn music or languages
The girl has an ear for languages and she can learn them very fast.

have an ear out for (something)
- to listen carefully for something
I have an ear out for any business opportunities that may appear.

have an eye for (something)
- to be able to judge something correctly, to have good taste in something
My father has an eye for ceramic plates and he has a large collection of them.

have an eye on (someone or something)
- to watch someone or something carefully, to take care of someone or something, to want something
I have my eye on a nice camera that I would like to buy.

have eyes in the back of one`s head
- to have the ability to know what is happening behind one's back
Our teacher has eyes in the back of her head and she always knows what is going on in the classroom.

have nothing between the ears
- to be stupid, to have no brains/intelligence
The young man has nothing between the ears and he is always making stupid mistakes.

have one's ear to the ground
- to listen carefully in the hope of getting advance warning of something
I have my ear to the ground to see if any changes are planned for my company.

have one's eye on (someone or something)
- to want someone or something and hope that you will be able to get it
The woman has her eye on a new job in the company and she is working very hard to get it.

have one's eyes glued to (something)
- to watch something very carefully and not look away from it
Everybody in the airport lobby had their eyes glued to the television screen.

have one's nose in a book
-to be reading a book
The girl had her nose in a book during the long journey.

have one's nose in (something)
- to have unwelcome interest in something, to have impolite curiosity about something
My boss always has his nose in the business of other people so he is not very well-liked.

have one's nose in the air
- to be conceited or aloof
The girl has had her nose in the air ever since she won the speech contest.

have one`s nose to the grindstone
- to work hard or keep busy at something
My friend has his nose to the grindstone and he is studying hard at school.

have (someone's) ear
-to be able to get someone to listen to you (usually someone who has the power or ability to help you)
Our supervisor has the company president's ear and he is able to talk to him anytime.

have (something) coming out of one's ears
- to have much of something
We have towels coming out of our ears and we do not need any more.

have stars in one`s eyes
- to have an appearance or feeling of very great happiness, to be obsessed with show business
The girl had stars in her eyes when she won first prize in the speech contest.

Here's mud in your eye.
- Drink up! (used as a toast)
"Here's mud in your eye," I said as I had a drink with my old friend.

hit (someone) right between the eyes
- to make a strong impression on someone, to surprise someone greatly
The news about the accident hit us right between the eyes and really shocked us.

hold one's nose
- to accept that you have to do something that you do not want to do
I had to hold my nose and sign the legal contract which I did not want to sign.

in a pig's eye
- never
I will never in a pig's eye drive with my friend to visit her family.

in one ear and out the other
-a piece of information is heard and then quickly forgotten
Everything that the teacher said went in one ear and out the other and I did not remember a thing.

in one`s mind`s eye
- in one`s imagination
I tried to relax and in my mind`s eye pretend that I was on a beautiful island.

in the public eye
- visible to all, in public
Very often the wife or husband of a politician does not like to be in the public eye.

in the twinkling of an eye
- very quickly
I went into the store and in the twinkling of an eye I lost my money.

keep an ear out for (something)
- to listen carefully for something
I plan to keep an ear out for any information about a new job for my friend.

keep an eye on (someone or something)
- to watch someone or something carefully, to take care of someone or something
I asked my aunt to keep an eye on our apartment when we went away for our holiday.

keep an eye out for (someone or something)
- to watch for the arrival or appearance of someone or something
I have been keeping my eye out for my grandparents all morning.

keep one's ear to the ground
- to continue to listen carefully in the hope of getting advance warning of something
I am keeping my ear to the ground to see what is going to happen with the new owners of this company.

keep one's eye on the ball
- to remain alert to what is happening around one, to watch or follow the ball carefully while playing a game
I try hard to keep my eye on the ball during a meeting.

keep one's eyes open
- to remain alert and watchful, to notice what is happening around you
I always try to keep my eyes open when I am walking downtown at night.

keep one's eyes peeled for (someone or something)
- to remain alert and watchful for someone or something
I stood at the corner and kept my eyes peeled for my friend and his car.

keep one`s nose clean
- to stay out of trouble
The judge told the young man that he must keep his nose clean in order not to go to jail in the future.

keep one`s nose out of (something)
- to not become involved in something or in someone else's business
I wish that our secretary would keep her nose out of my personal affairs.

keep one`s nose to the grindstone
- to continue to work hard or keep busy at something
My friend is keeping his nose to the grindstone so that he can save enough money to buy a new car.

lay one's eyes on (someone or something)
- to see/find someone or something
"If you lay your eyes on my keys please tell me."

lead (someone) around by the nose
- to make someone do what you want
My sister has been leading her husband around by the nose since they got married.

lend (someone) an ear
- to listen to someone or to what they are saying
I asked my friend to lend me an ear and listen to my problems.

listen to (someone) with half an ear
- to not listen carefully to someone
I listened to my friend with half an ear while the news was on the radio.

look at (someone) cross-eyed
- to do something or look at someone in a way that may provoke anger
If you look at the man cross-eyed he will usually become angry.

look down one`s nose at (someone)
- to look at someone with contempt or dislike, to feel that you are better than someone else
The girl looks down her nose at people who she thinks are not as smart as she is.

look (someone) (right/straight) in the eye
- to face and look at someone directly
I looked at the salesman right in the eye and told him not to bother me again.

make a silk purse out of a sow's ear
- to create something of value out of something of no value
The girl is a terrible singer and she will never become better. You cannot make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.

make eyes at (someone)
- to try to attract someone, to flirt with someone
The woman in the restaurant is always making eyes at the customers.

make oneself heard
- to speak loudly so that you can be heard
The speaker tried very hard in order to make himself heard.

more to (someone or something) than meets the eye
- more interesting/intelligent/complicated than it seems
The problem appeared to be very simple but there was more to it than meets the eye.

naked eye
- the human eye (with no microscope/binoculars/telescope etc.)
It was difficult to see the star with the naked eye.

nose about/around (something)
- to look for something private or secret, to investigate something
The reporters spend a lot of time nosing around the business of famous people.

nose (someone) out
- to push someone away, to exclude someone
The older boy nosed the younger boy out of the line.

not a dry eye in the house
- everybody in an audience feels sad or emotional or cries
There was not a dry eye in the house when the manager gave her farewell speech.

not see farther than or past the end of one's nose
- not to care about anything that is happening to other people or someplace else
My friend cannot see past the end of her nose and she does not know about anything that is happening around her.

on the nose
- in exactly the right place/amount, at exactly the right time
I arrived at 3:00 on the nose.

only have eyes for (someone)
- to be loyal or interested in only one person
The man only has eyes for the woman who works in his office.

open (someone's) eyes to (something)
- to become aware of something
The documentary on television opened our eyes to the problems of the homeless in our city.

out of earshot
- too far from a sound/voice to hear it
I was out of earshot when my friends began to talk about me.

out of the corner of one's eye
- with a quick glance at something
I saw the big truck coming toward me out of the corner of my eye.

out on one's ear
- to be forced to (unwillingly) leave one's job/organization/home
The man did not pay his rent for two months and he was quickly out on his ear.

pay through the nose for (something)
- to pay too much for something
My mother paid through the nose for her new dress and she is very happy with it.

play by ear
- to play a musical instrument by remembering the tune and not by reading the music
My sister learned to play the piano by ear when she was a child.

play it by ear
- to decide what to do in a certain situation when you encounter the situation, to not plan in advance for something
I do not know what time I will be back on Sunday so we should play it by ear to find a good time to meet.

poke one's nose into (something)
- to interfere with something, to be nosy about something
My aunt always pokes her nose into the business of other people.

powder one's nose
- a woman goes to the restroom to put powder on her nose
The singer went to the dressing room to powder her nose before the performance.

prick up one's ears
- to listen more carefully to something (like an animal that moves its ears up to hear better)
When I heard my friends talking about me I quickly pricked up my ears.

pull the wool over (someone`s) eyes
- to deceive someone, to fool someone, to trick someone
The girl tried to pull the wool over her mother`s eyes when she said that she had been studying all weekend.

put a bug in (someone`s) ear
- to give someone an idea
I put a bug in my friend's ear when I said that I would like to go for a holiday with him.

put one's nose to the grindstone
- to keep busy doing one's work
I put my nose to the grindstone and began to work on my final essay for my history class.

put (someone's) eye out
- to puncture or harm someone's eye causing blindness
The man put his eye out when he had the accident with the metal rod.

put (someone's) nose out of joint
- to offend someone, to cause someone to feel insulted
I put my friend's nose out of joint when I asked him to give back the money that he had borrowed from me.

raise eyebrows
- to cause surprise or disapproval, to shock people
I raised eyebrows when I arrived at work two hours late this morning.

rub (someone's) nose in (something)
- to remind someone of something that they have done wrong
The girl's supervisor always rubs the girl's nose in it when she makes a mistake.

see eye to eye (with someone)
- to agree with someone, to have the same opinion as someone else
I never see eye to eye with my friend about which television program to watch.

set one's eyes on (someone or something)
- to see someone or something for the first time
I have not set my eyes on the new car model yet.

set (something) on its ear
- to cause a group/organization to be excited and interested in something
The new plan set most of the company on its ear. Everyone was very excited.

a sight for sore eyes
- a welcome sight
The man was a sight for sore eyes when he came home from his trip.

(no) skin off (someone`s) nose/teeth
- to be of no interest/concern/trouble to someone
It is no skin off my nose as to whether or not I go to the party.

smile from ear to ear
- to have a big smile on one's face
The little boy was smiling from ear to ear after he scored the goal.

spit in (someone's) eye
- to insult or annoy someone
The comments by my supervisor were as if someone had spit in my eye.

stick one's nose into (something)
- to interfere with something, to be nosey about something
I wish that my neighbor would stop sticking his nose into my business.

talk (someone's) ear off
- to talk to someone and bore them
The man beside me on the train talked my ear off during the journey.

thumb one`s nose at (someone or something)
- to look with disfavor or dislike at someone or something, to refuse to obey someone
My friend thumbed his nose at me when I asked him to stop talking so loud.

a tin ear for (something)
- the inability to judge the value of music etc.
The woman has a tin ear for music and she is not a good singer at all.

to the naked eye
- as something is seen exactly as you look at it
To the naked eye it looked like there was little damage to the car but actually there was much damage.

turn a blind eye to (someone or something)
- to ignore someone or something troublesome and pretend not to see it
Our teacher sometimes turns a blind eye to the bad behavior of the students in the class.

turn a deaf ear to (someone)
- to pretend not to hear someone, to not pay attention to someone
The supervisor turned a deaf ear to our complaints about the heat.

turn one`s nose up at (someone or something)
- to reject someone or something, to express scorn for someone or something
My sister turned up her nose at the chance to go to nursing school.

under (someone`s) nose
- easily found by someone, right in front of someone
I thought that I had lost my house keys but I found them right under my nose.

up to one's ears/eyeballs/neck in (something)
- to have a lot of something, to be much involved/busy with something
I have been up to my ears in work for several weeks now.

Walls have ears
- Someone may hear us.
"Walls have ears and you should think carefully about what you say when you are talking about your co-workers."

wet behind the ears
- to be young and inexperienced, to be new in a job or place
The man is still wet behind the ears and does not know very much about his company.

win by a nose
- to win by a very small amount
The young horse won by a nose in the horse race.

with a jaundiced eye
- with a prejudiced or distorted way of seeing something
My friend is very smart but he always looks at everything with a jaundiced eye.

with an eye to (doing something)
- with the intention of doing something
The community center built their new building with an eye to renting it to other agencies in order to make money.

without batting an eye
- casually, without showing alarm/response/thought
The wealthy man gives much money to charity without batting an eye.

 

[Alina]

Education & School Idioms

________________________________________

A for effort
- recognize that someone tries hard to do something even though they may not be successful
The students received an A for effort for their work on the class project.

above average
- better or higher than average
The boy received above average marks in all subjects except history.

as easy as ABC
- very easy
Learning how to use a computer was as easy as ABC for the children.

back to basics
- an approach in education which uses traditional ideas or methods that have been successful in the past
The teacher believed that back to basics was important in her classroom and the parents were happy with the results.

below average
- worse or lower than average
Most members of the class were below average in the math test.

bookworm
- someone who reads a lot
My sister is a bookworm and is always reading a book.

brainstorm something
- try to develop an idea or think of new ideas
The students got into groups to brainstorm ideas for the school play.

call the roll
- call the names of students on a roll and usually expect them to answer if they are there
Every morning before the class started the teacher called the roll.

cap and gown
- the special cap called a mortarboard and the robe that is worn during academic ceremonies such as graduation
All of the students wore a cap and gown to the graduation ceremony.

catch up to (someone or something)
- move fast or work hard to reach someone or something that is ahead of you
After my illness I had to study very hard to catch up to the rest of the class.

copycat
- someone who copies the work of another
The children called the girl a copycat when they discovered that she had copied part of the test from another student.

count noses
- count the number of people
The teacher stopped to count noses several times during the field trip.

cover a lot of ground
- complete a lot of material in a class or course
We covered a lot of ground during the first month of the science class.

cow college
- a school where farming/agriculture is studied
My cousin plans to go to a cow college when he finishes high school.
crack a book
- open a book to study (usually used in the negative)
I did very well in the course even though I didn't crack a book until the last week of classes.

crank out a paper
- write out a paper in a mechanical way
I had to crank out a paper almost every week to pass the course.

cut class
- not go to class
I decided to cut class in order to study for my geography test.

draw a blank
- get no response from someone when you ask them a question
The teacher drew a blank when she asked about the boy's plans for the weekend.

drop out of school
- stop attending school
My friend dropped out of school when he was seventeen and began to drive a truck.

eager beaver
- someone who works very hard and is very enthusiastic
The young girl was an eager beaver and always came to class before the other students.

fill in the blanks
- supply the missing words or information on a test or other exercise
We had to fill in the blanks for most of the questions on the test.

flunk out
- fail a course or fail out of school
The boy was very smart but he always flunked out of his language class.

from the old school
- having ideas that were popular in the past but which are no longer popular or common
My grandmother was from the old school and always made her children make their own lunches and walk to school.

get credit for (a course)
- receive official recognition and credits after passing a course
I was able to get credit for the course even though I had taken a similar course before.

get through (a course or set of material)
- finish (a course or set of material)
The boy was a very good student and quickly got through every course that he started.

goof off
- waste time
My sister spent most of the week goofing off and was not prepared for her test.

have one's nose in a book
- be reading a book
The boy loves to read and always has his nose in a book.

higher education
- education after graduating from high school - usually college or university
The government has recently invested a lot of money in higher education.

hit the books
- begin to study hard
After playing all weekend I had to hit the books on Sunday evening.

honor roll
- a list of people/students with exceptional achievements
My neighbor was on the honor roll during his last year in high school.

in pen
- written or signed with a pen
The teacher asked the students to make sure that they wrote the essay in pen.

in pencil
- written or signed with a pencil
I wrote the test in pencil so that I could erase my mistakes easily.

Ivy League
- a small group of older and famous eastern United States colleges and universities such as Harvard, Yale and Princeton
Several of the company executives had gone to an Ivy League school.

know one's ABCs
- know the alphabet or the most basic things about something
The students worked hard and had a good teacher and soon everyone knew their ABCs very well.

learn by heart
- memorize something so you can repeat it without thinking
The children learned all of the songs by heart for the school play.

learn by rote
- learn or memorize something without thinking about it
We learned many verbs by rote in the foreign language class.

live in an ivory tower
- not be aware of the realities of everyday life
The university professors lived in an ivory tower and had no idea what was going on around them.

make the grade
- be satisfactory and of an expected level
My final assignment didn't make the grade and I was forced to do it again.

meet the requirements (for something)
- fulfill the requirements (for something)
The young woman was unable to meet the requirements to enter medical school.

off campus
- at a different location than the grounds of a college or university
Most of the students went to a restaurant off campus when they had the chance.

old boy network
- the situation where people (usually men) who went to the same school help each other get good jobs
It was an old law firm and being part of an old boy network was necessary to get a job there.

on campus
- located on the grounds of a college or university
There was a small bank on campus which many of the students used.

pass with flying colors
- pass something easily and with a high score
I was able to pass the science test with flying colors.

play hooky
- not go to school when you should
The boys played hooky and went to the video game center for the afternoon.

publish or perish
- university professors often have to publish books or articles in journals or they will not be successful in their jobs at the university
As a university professor his father wrote many scientific papers. He was forced to publish or perish.

put one's thinking cap on
- start thinking in a serious manner
The boys put on their thinking caps and tried to think of a new name for the school newspaper.

read out loud
- read something so that other people can hear you
The students each had a chance to read out loud from the book of poems.

read to oneself
- read without saying anything so that other people cannot hear you
I spent the morning in the library reading to myself.

read through something
- read all of something
I read through the test briefly before I started to answer any questions.

school of hard knocks
- the ordinary experience of learning from work and daily life
She left school early and began to learn about life in the school of hard knocks.

school of thought
- a particular way or a philosophy of thinking about something
There are many schools of thought related to the different ways to learn a foreign language.

show-and-tell
- in the lower grades of school children bring something interesting to show to the rest of the class
The little girl brought in a turtle shell from her holiday to show-and-tell at school.

show of hands
- raise hands in a classroom or other group to vote or see what people think about something
After a show of hands the class voted to go on a field trip the next week.

(in) single file
- stand in a line with one person behind the other
The students lined up in single file before they entered the auditorium.

take attendance
- record the names of persons who are attending school or something similar
After our teacher took attendance we began to do our math lesson.

take the roll
- call the names of students in an attendance book and expect them to answer if they are there
The teacher took the roll and then we started the lesson.

teach one's grandmother to suck eggs
- try to tell or teach someone who knows more than you do how to do something
Teaching some of the children how to use a computer is like teaching my grandmother to suck eggs. Many of them know more than I do.

teach someone a lesson
- do something to someone in order to punish them for their bad behavior
My friend was always late so I taught her a lesson and left our meeting place before she had arrived.

teacher's pet
- the teacher's favorite student
My sister was always the teacher's pet when she was in the first grade at school.

the three R's
- the three basic skills for a basic education - reading, (w)riting, and (a)rithmetic
My father studied in a small country school where they studied the three R's and almost nothing else.

town-and-gown
- the relations (often bad) between a town and its people and the university and university students who are located in that town
There were town-and-gown conflicts every year around graduation time when many parties were held for the new graduates.

university of life
- learning from daily life and work rather than going to university
My grandfather began to work on the family farm when he was fourteen and learned everything from the university of life.

work one's way through college
- work at a job to help pay for your college or university expenses
My brother worked his way through college at the local supermarket.

 

[Alina]

Fish, Insect
and Reptile Idioms


________________________________________


as busy as a bee
- very busy
I was as busy as a bee all weekend.

as calm as a toad in the sun
- very calm and content
The girl was as calm as a toad in the sun during the speech contest.

as crazy as a bedbug
- crazy
My neighbor is as crazy as a bedbug.

as full/tight as a tick
- very full of food or drink
I was as full as a tick after the large meal at the restaurant.

as gaudy as a butterfly
- gaudy, colorful
The woman was as gaudy as a butterfly when she left for the concert.

as happy as a clam
- happy and content
The little girl was as happy as a clam as she played with her toys.

as mad as a hornet
- very angry, in a fighting mood
Our boss was as mad as a hornet when he came to work this morning.

as merry as a cricket
- cheerful
I felt as merry as a cricket as I waited for my friend to arrive at the airport.

as red as a lobster
- very red
The girl was as red as a lobster after sitting in the sun all day.

as slippery as an eel
- undependable, devious, cannot be trusted
That sales person is as slippery as an eel and you should be careful when you talk to him.

as snug as a bug in a rug
- cozy and snug
The children were as snug as a bug in a rug as they read a book in the big bed.

as ugly as a toad
- very ugly
The man was as ugly as a toad and very difficult to look at.

big fish in a small pond
- an important person in a small place
The man was not so important in the city but in the small town he was a big fish in a small pond.

birds and bees
- the facts about sex and birth
The woman told her daughter about the birds and the bees during the summer holidays.

bitten by (some kind of) bug
- to become interested and excited about a particular activity and want to start doing it
The man has been bitten by a gold bug and he only thinks about gold.

bug-eyed
- to be wide-eyed with surprise
The little boy was bug-eyed when he got a new bicycle for his birthday.

bug (someone)
- to annoy or irritate someone
My friend is beginning to bug me with his endless questions.

clam up
- to stop talking, to refuse to talk (like a clam closes its shell)
I had to clam up during the meeting so my boss would not become angry with me.

cold fish
- a person who is unfriendly or does not mix with others
The man is a cold fish and he has very few friends.

cry/shed crocodile tears
- to have a show of sorrow that is not sincere, to pretend that one is crying
The boy was asked to apologize for his wrongdoing but he cried crocodile tears which were not sincere.

drink like a fish
- to drink alcohol to excessive amounts
The man drank like a fish at the party and he had to go home by taxi.

a fine kettle of fish
- a situation that is not satisfactory, a mess
"This is a fine kettle of fish. Now I will be late for the next meeting."

fish for a compliment
- to try to get someone to say something nice about you
The man is fishing for a compliment about his new Italian suit.

fish for (something)
- to try to get information from someone
The lawyer was fishing for information from the woman.

fish in troubled waters
- to involve oneself in a difficult/confused or dangerous situation in order to get something
The woman was fishing in troubled waters when she began to ask questions about the crime.

fish or cut bait
- to either do what you are supposed to do or quit and let someone else do it
It was time to fish or cut bait so I decided to let someone else handle the problem.

fish out of water
- someone who does not fit in, an uncomfortable or awkward feeling
The woman felt like a fish out of water when she went to the party in her formal dress while everyone else was wearing jeans.

fishy
- to be suspicious or unlikely
"Something is fishy with these numbers. There are too many people on this list."

flea in (someone`s) ear
- an idea or answer that is not welcome
I put a flea in our supervisor's ear when I told him about the computer problems.

flea market
- a place where antiques and secondhand goods and other cheap items are sold
We go to the flea market every weekend to look for old photographs.

fly in the ointment
- something small that spoils one`s fun
The complaints about the food were a fly in the ointment and gave everyone a bad feeling about the gathering.

go on a fishing expedition
- to attempt to discover information
The lawyer went on a fishing expedition to try and discover the facts of the case.

have a bee in one`s bonnet
- to have a fixed idea that stays in one's mind
My friend has a bee in her bonnet and she will not stop talking about moving to a new apartment.

have a frog in one's throat
- to get a tickle or soreness in one's throat which makes it difficult to speak until you cough and clear your throat
I had a frog in my throat and it was difficult to talk on the telephone.

have ants in one`s pants
- to be nervous and restless
The teacher asked the little boy if he had ants in his pants when he kept moving around in his seat.

have butterflies in one`s stomach
- to have a feeling of fear or anxiety in one's stomach
I had butterflies in my stomach on the day that I received the award.

have other/bigger fish to fry
- to have other more important things to do, to have other opportunities
I have other fish to fry and I do not plan to spend any more time talking about my friend's problems.

hive of activity
- somewhere where things are very busy (like the activity around a beehive)
The wedding hall was a hive of activity while everyone got ready for the wedding.

Holy mackeral!
- an expression used to express a strong feeling of surprise
"Holy mackeral! Look at the size of that motorcycle."

knee-high to a grasshopper
- to be very young, to be short and small (like a child)
I have been playing the piano since I was knee-high to a grasshopper.

like shooting fish in a barrel
- one side in a competition is so weak that they have no chance at all of winning
The contest was like shooting fish in a barrel. It was very easy to win.

live in a fish bowl
- to live where many people know about your life and personal business
The small town was like living in a fish bowl. Everybody knew what I was doing.

louse up
- to make a mess of something, to spoil something
"Please try not to louse up the computer again. It was working fine this morning."

make a beeline for (someone or something)
- to go straight toward someone or something (like bees when they fly in a straight line)
Whenever my friend goes to a football game he makes a beeline for the food stand.

neither fish nor fowl
- something that does not belong to a definite group/category
I do not know what you should call the strange food. It is neither fish nor fowl.

no flies on (someone)
- very fast or busy (too fast or busy for a fly to stay on someone)
There are no flies on my friend. He is always moving or going somewhere.

none of (someone's) beeswax
- none of someone's business
It was none of my beeswax so I did not ask my friend about his problems.

not hurt a flea
- to not hurt anything or anyone (not even a small insect like a flea)
Our dog is very gentle and he will not hurt a flea.

open up a can of worms
- to create unnecessary complications or problems
The company opened up a can of worms when they decided to talk about the union contract.

packed in like sardines
- packed very tightly, very crowded
We were packed in like sardines during the morning commute in the train.

pale/blue/green around the gills
- to be looking sick
The man looked pale around the gills when he left the boat.

put a bug in (someone`s) ear
- give someone a hint or an idea about something
My friend put a bug in my ear about going to France and I cannot stop thinking about it.

put (something) in mothballs
- to put something into storage
The old navy ship was put into mothballs by the government.

red herring
- some information or a suggestion that is used to draw attention away from the real facts of a situation (orginally used as a strong fish smell from a smoked fish that was used to confuse hunting dogs when they were hunting and following something)
The tax issue is a red herring and it is not what the news reporters wanted to talk about.

rise to the bait
- to be attracted by some kind of bait (just as a fish is attracted to bait)
The politician did not rise to the bait and argue with the news reporter.

a shark
- a ruthless or dishonest person
"The salesman is a shark. Don't do business with him."

small fry
- unimportant people, children (small fry are young newly-hatched fish)
The police were only able to catch some of the small fry in the organized crime gang.

snail`s pace
- very slowly
We went away for the weekend but the cars were moving at a snail`s pace when we came home on Sunday.

snake in the grass
- a low and dishonest person
The man is a snake in the grass and nobody likes him.

snake oil salesman
- someone who tries to sell you something that does not work
The carpet seller is like a snake oil salesman. His carpets are no good at all.

stir up a hornet`s nest
- to make people angry, to create trouble or difficulties
I stirred up a hornet`s nest when I went to the meeting and started talking about the work schedule.

swallow (something) hook, line and sinker
- to believe something completely, to be tricked by something
The teacher swallowed the student's excuse hook, line and sinker.

there are plenty of other fish in the sea
- there are other choices, there are other people to choose
There are plenty of other fish in the sea and when my sister lost her boyfriend she did not worry too much.

turn turtle
- to turn upside down
The car went off the road in the storm and turned turtle.

a whale of (something)
- an exceptionally good or large something
Everybody had a whale of a time at the birthday party.

world is one`s oyster
- someone can get anything that he or she wants, someone will have great opportunities
"When you graduate from university the world will be your oyster so don`t worry about the future."

worm one's way out of (something)
- to squeeze or wiggle out of a problem or a responsibility
My friend was easily able to worm her way out of the problem at work.

Bee Idioms


as busy as a bee
- very busy
I was as busy as a bee all weekend.

birds and bees
- the facts about sex and birth
The woman told her daughter about the birds and the bees during the summer holidays.

have a bee in one`s bonnet
- to have a fixed idea that stays in one's mind
My friend has a bee in her bonnet and she will not stop talking about moving to a new apartment.

hive of activity
- somewhere where things are very busy (like the activity around a beehive)
The wedding hall was a hive of activity while everyone got ready for the wedding.

make a beeline for (someone or something)
- to go straight toward someone or something (like bees when they fly in a straight line)
Whenever my friend goes to a football game he makes a beeline for the food stand.

none of (someone's) beeswax
- none of someone's business
It was none of my beeswax so I did not ask my friend about his problems.

as snug as a bug in a rug
- cozy and snug
The children were as snug as a bug in a rug as they read a book in the big bed.

Bug Idioms


as crazy as a bedbug
- crazy
My neighbor is as crazy as a bedbug.

as snug as a bug in a rug
- cozy and snug
The children were as snug as a bug in a rug as they read a book in the big bed.

bitten by (some kind of) bug
- to become interested and excited about a particular activity and want to start doing it
The man has been bitten by a gold bug and he only thinks about gold.

bug-eyed
- to be wide-eyed with surprise
The little boy was bug-eyed when he got a new bicycle for his birthday.

bug (someone)
- to annoy or irritate someone
My friend is beginning to bug me with his endless questions.

put a bug in (someone`s) ear
- give someone a hint or an idea about something
My friend put a bug in my ear about going to France and I cannot stop thinking about it.

Butterfly Idioms


as gaudy as a butterfly
- gaudy, colorful
The woman was as gaudy as a butterfly when she left for the concert.

have butterflies in one`s stomach
- to have a feeling of fear or anxiety in one's stomach
I had butterflies in my stomach on the day that I received the award.

Fish Idioms


big fish in a small pond
- an important person in a small place
The man was not so important in the city but in the small town he was a big fish in a small pond.

cold fish
- a person who is unfriendly or does not mix with others
The man is a cold fish and he has very few friends.

drink like a fish
- to drink alcohol to excessive amounts
The man drank like a fish at the party and he had to go home by taxi.

a fine kettle of fish
- a situation that is not satisfactory, a mess
"This is a fine kettle of fish. Now I will be late for the next meeting."

fish for a compliment
- to try to get someone to say something nice about you
The man is fishing for a compliment about his new Italian suit.

fish for (something)
- to try to get information from someone
The lawyer was fishing for information from the woman.

fish in troubled waters
- to involve oneself in a difficult/confused or dangerous situation in order to get something
The woman was fishing in troubled waters when she began to ask questions about the crime.

fish or cut bait
- to either do what you are supposed to do or quit and let someone else do it
It was time to fish or cut bait so I decided to let someone else handle the problem.

fish out of water
- someone who does not fit in, an uncomfortable or awkward feeling
The woman felt like a fish out of water when she went to the party in her formal dress while everyone else was wearing jeans.

fishy
- to be suspicious or unlikely
"Something is fishy with these numbers. There are too many people on this list."

go on a fishing expedition
- to attempt to discover information
The lawyer went on a fishing expedition to try and discover the facts of the case.

have other/bigger fish to fry
- to have other more important things to do, to have other opportunities
I have other fish to fry and I do not plan to spend any more time talking about my friend's problems.

Holy mackeral!
- an expression used to express a strong feeling of surprise
"Holy mackeral! Look at the size of that motorcycle."

like shooting fish in a barrel
- one side in a competition is so weak that they have no chance at all of winning
The contest was like shooting fish in a barrel. It was very easy to win.

live in a fish bowl
- to live where many people know about your life and personal business
The small town was like living in a fish bowl. Everybody knew what I was doing.

neither fish nor fowl
- something that does not belong to a definite group/category
I do not know what you should call the strange food. It is neither fish nor fowl.

packed in like sardines
- packed very tightly, very crowded
We were packed in like sardines during the morning commute in the train.

pale/blue/green around the gills
- to be looking sick
The man looked pale around the gills when he left the boat.

red herring
- some information or a suggestion that is used to draw attention away from the real facts of a situation (orginally used as a strong fish smell from a smoked fish that was used to confuse hunting dogs when they were hunting and following something)
The tax issue is a red herring and it is not what the news reporters wanted to talk about.

a shark
- a ruthless or dishonest person
"The salesman is a shark. Don't do business with him."

small fry
- unimportant people, children (small fry are young newly-hatched fish)
The police were only able to catch some of the small fry in the organized crime gang.

there are plenty of other fish in the sea
- there are other choices, there are other people to choose
There are plenty of other fish in the sea and when my sister lost her boyfriend she did not worry too much.

Flea Idioms


flea in (someone`s) ear
- an idea or answer that is not welcome
I put a flea in our supervisor's ear when I told him about the computer problems.

flea market
- a place where antiques and secondhand goods and other cheap items are sold
We go to the flea market every weekend to look for old photographs.

not hurt a flea
- to not hurt anything or anyone (not even a small insect like a flea)
Our dog is very gentle and he will not hurt a flea.

Frog/Toad Idioms


as calm as a toad in the sun
- very calm and content
The girl was as calm as a toad in the sun during the speech contest.

as ugly as a toad
- very ugly
The man was as ugly as a toad and very difficult to look at.

have a frog in one's throat
- to get a tickle or soreness in one's throat which makes it difficult to speak until you cough and clear your throat
I had a frog in my throat and it was difficult to talk on the telephone.

 

[Alina]

Food 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.

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

as busy as popcorn on a skillet
- very active
The children were as busy as popcorn on a skillet when the teacher entered the classroom.

as cool as a cucumber
- to be calm, to be not nervous or anxious
The man is as cool as a cucumber and never worries about anything.

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

as easy as duck soup
- very easy
It was as easy as duck soup to find the book that I wanted in the library.

as flat as a pancake
- very flat
The child's toy was as flat as a pancake after the car drove over it.

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

as nutty as a fruitcake
- silly, crazy
The man in the supermarket was as nutty as a fruitcake.

as red as a cherry
- bright red
My new sweater is as red as a cherry.

as slow as molasses in January
- very slow
The little boy is as slow as molasses in January and he never gets his work finished on time.

as sour as vinegar
- sour and disagreeable
The old man next door is as sour as vinegar.

as sweet as honey/sugar
- very sweet
The retired librarian is as sweet as honey and everybody loves her.

as thick as pea soup
- very thick (can be used with fog as well as with liquids)
The fog was as thick as pea soup when we walked along the beach.

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

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

back to the salt mines
- to go back to work (this is a humorous expression to express going back to unpleasant work)
"Lunch is over so let`s go back to the salt mines for the afternoon."

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

bad egg
- a bad person, a bum
My neighbor is a bad egg and you should avoid him if you can.

bear fruit
- to yield or give results
The woman's hard work at her business finally began to bear fruit when she started to make money.

best bib and tucker
- one's best clothes
I put on my best bib and tucker for the wedding reception.

big cheese
- an important person, a leader
My uncle is a big cheese in his company so you should be very nice to him.

big enchilada
- the biggest and most important thing or person
The new accounting manager is the big enchilada in our company.

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.

bite the hand that feeds one
- to harm someone who does good things for you
I do not want to make my company angry because I do not want to bite the hand that feeds me.

bitter pill to swallow
- something unpleasant that one must accept
It was a bitter pill to swallow when I learned that I would not get the job that I thought I would.

born with a silver spoon in one's mouth
- to be born to a wealthy family with many advantages
The boy was born with a silver spoon in his mouth and he never has to work very hard.

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.

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.

bring home the bacon
- to earn your family`s living
Recently, I have been working very hard to bring home the bacon. I have no time to do anything else.

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.

butter (someone) up
- to flatter someone in order to get his or her favor or friendship
The man spends much time trying to butter up his boss so that he will not have to work so hard.

can't stomach (someone or something)
- to dislike or hate someone or something
I can't stomach the idea of meeting my old girlfriend.

carrot and stick
- the reward for someone if they do what you want or the punishment if they do not do what you want
The government took a carrot-and-stick approach to remove the people who were protesting against the construction of the dam.

cheese (someone) off
- to annoy/irritate/anger someone
I cheesed off my neighbor when I borrowed his ladder without telling him.

cheesed off
- to be bored/depressed/annoyed
I was cheesed off when I heard that I would not be able to go away for the weekend.

chew the fat with (someone)
- to chat with someone
We stayed up very late last night chewing the fat about our university days.

chips and dip
- potato chips and something to dip them into before eating them (potato chips are called crisps in the United Kingdom)
We bought some chips and dip for the party.

clear the table
- to remove the dishes and other eating utensils from a table after eating
We had to clear the table before we could eat our dessert.

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

Come and get it!
- Dinner is ready. Come and eat.
"Come and get it," my mother called after she made dinner.

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.

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.

couch potato
- someone who spends a lot of time on a couch watching television
My cousin is a couch potato and he never wants to leave his house.

cream of the crop
- the best of a group, the top choice
Our company is a very good place to work and is always able to hire the cream of the crop of university graduates.

a cream puff
- a person who is easily influenced or beaten
The boy is a cream puff and is always a victim of other people's insults.

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.
cut the mustard
- to succeed, to do adequately what needs to be done
The young man was not able to cut the mustard and he had to leave the army after only one year.

dine out
- to eat a meal at a restaurant
I love to dine out at nice restaurants.

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.

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

drop (someone/something) like a hot potato
- to suddenly stop being involved with someone or with some kind of a problem
The advertisers dropped the basketball star like a hot potato when he became involved in a scandal.

duck soup
- a task that does not require much effort
"It was like duck soup. I was able to finish my school project last night."

eat and run
- to eat a meal and then quickly leave
I had to eat and run in order to be on time for my evening class.

eat crow
- to admit that one is mistaken or defeated, to take back a mistaken statement
I was forced to eat crow and apologize for the things that I had said about my co-worker.

eat dirt
- to act humble, to accept another person's insults or bad treatment
We made the boy eat dirt after he accused us of lying.

eat high on/off the hog
- to eat expensive and high quality food
My uncle has been eating high on the hog since he got his new job.

eat humble pie
- to be humbled, to admit one`s error and apologize
Our boss was forced to eat humble pie after he made the wrong budget estimate for next year.

eat like a bird
- to eat only a small amount of food
The girl eats like a bird and is very slim.

eat like a horse
- to eat a large amount of food
I usually eat like a horse after I work hard all day.

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.

eat one's heart out
- to be envious of someone or something
I ate my heart out when I saw my friend and his new bicycle.

eat one`s words
- to take back something that one has said, to admit that something is not true
I told my boss that I would soon quit my job but later I had to eat my words and tell him that I wanted to stay.

eat out
- to eat a meal at a restaurant
My aunt and uncle eat out often at very nice restaurants.

eat out of (someone's) hands
- to do what someone else wants
The young secretary is always eating out of her bosses hands.

eat (someone) for breakfast
- to defeat someone easily
The young wrestler can eat the older wrestler for breakfast.

eat (someone) out of house and home
- to eat a lot of food in someone's house
The young boy is eating his parents out of house and home.

eat (something) up
- to enjoy/absorb/appreciate something
The students were eating up the comments by their professor.

egg (someone) on
- to encourage someone to do something (often something bad/wrong/dangerous)
The boys egged their friend on to jump into the water.

either feast or famine
- either too much or not enough of something
Either I have too much time or too little time. It is either feast or famine..

everything from soup to nuts
- almost everything that one can think of
We brought everything from soup to nuts for our weekend holiday.

eyes are bigger than one's stomach
- the amount of food that one takes is greater than what one could possibly eat
My eyes were bigger than my stomach and I took too much food at the buffet dinner.

fat is in the fire
- a situation is bad or a person has serious problems
The fat is in the fire now that the deadline is fast approaching for the court case.

feed one's face
- to eat
I stopped at a small restaurant after the game to feed my face.

fine kettle of fish
- a mess, an unsatisfactory situation
It was a fine kettle of fish that I was in when I lost the keys to my apartment.

food for thought
- something to think about
The advice from the bank manager was food for thought when I made my financial plan.
for peanuts
- for very little money, for almost nothing
I was able to buy a used computer for peanuts.

forbidden fruit
- something that one finds attractive partly because it is illegal/immoral/prohibited
Entering the old building was forbidden fruit for the young boys.


fruits of one's labor
- the results of one's work
My father is retired now and he is finally enjoying the fruits of his labor.

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.

get oneself into a stew over (someone or something)
- to be worried or upset about someone or something
I try hard not to get myself into a stew over some of the rude remarks of my supervisor.

go bananas
- to become highly excited, to behave in a crazy way
The boy's girlfriend went bananas when he forgot to buy her a birthday present.

go/turn beet-red
- to become red in the face because you are embarrassed
The girl turned beet-red when her friend asked her about her boyfriend.

go on a binge
- to eat/do too much of something
My friend went on a binge and ate too much chocolate recently.

good egg
- a good person
The man is a good egg and everybody likes him a lot.

(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.

grab a bite to eat
- to get/have something to eat (usually quickly)
I will grab a bite to eat after the game today.

gravy train
- a job or some work that pays more than it is worth
For many years my father's job was a gravy train but now the company has become very strict about paying extra money.

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.

hand (something) to (someone) on a silver platter
- to give a person something that has not been earned
The father handed everything to the boy on a silver platter and now he is very spoiled and selfish.

hard nut to crack
- a difficult person or thing to deal with
My friend is a very serious person and she is a very hard nut to crack.

have a lot on one's plate
- to have a lot of things to do or deal with
I have a lot on my plate this week and I am very, very busy.

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.

have a sweet tooth
- to have a desire to eat sweet foods
I have a sweet tooth and I love chocolate bars.

have a taste for (something)
- to have a desire for a food/drink/experience
The opera singer has always had a taste for classical music.

have bigger fish to fry
- to have other more important things to do
I have bigger fish to fry and I do not want to spend every evening doing extra work for my company.

have egg on one`s face
- to be embarrassed (because of an obvious error)
The man has egg on his face now that he has admitted that he was wrong about his boss.

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.

have one's finger in the pie
- to be involved in something
The man has his finger in the pie of everything at his workplace.

have one's finger in too many pies
- to be involved in too many things so that you cannot do any of them well
Our supervisor has her finger in too many pies to really do her job well.

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.

hot potato
- a question or argument that is controversial and difficult to settle
The issue of building the nuclear power plant is a hot potato for the local town council.

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.

in a nutshell
- briefly, in a few words
We went to the meeting and they told us in a nutshell about the plans for our company.

in a pickle
- to be in trouble, to be in a mess
The boy was in a pickle when he lost the keys to the school cupboard.

in a stew about/over (someone or something)
- to be worried or upset about someone or something
My father is in a stew over the fact that his order of car parts has not arrived.

in one's salad days
- to be in one's youth
My aunt was a beautiful woman in her salad days.

in the soup
- in serious trouble, in a bad situation
The woman is in the soup now. She told her boss that she was sick but he saw her downtown shopping.

kill the fatted calf
- to prepare an elaborate banquet in honor of someone
We killed the fatted calf for my cousin when she returned from her trip abroad.

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.

lay an egg
- to give a bad performance of something
The singer laid an egg during her performance last evening.

life is a bowl of cherries
- only good things happen in life
Ever since my father retired from his job he has believed that life is a bowl of cherries.

like taking candy from a baby
- something is very easy to do
I asked the department store to refund the money for my goods and they quickly agreed. It was like taking candy from a baby.

like two peas in a pod
- to be very close or intimate with someone
The sisters are like two peas in a pod and they do everything together.

live high off/on the hog
- to live well and eat good food
The woman is able to live high on the hog when she goes away on a business trip.

live off the fat of the land
- to grow one's own food, to live on the resources of the land
The family is able to live off the fat of the land on their small farm.

make a meal of (something)
- to eat enough/much of one kind of food for one meal
We made a meal of the fish that we caught in the lake.

make mincemeat/hamburger out of (someone or something)
- to beat up or destroy someone or something
The older boxer made mincemeat out of the young boxer.

make one`s mouth water
- to make someone hungry, to make someone want to eat or drink something very much
The restaurant is wonderful and when I see the menu it makes my mouth water.

make (someone) eat crow
- to cause someone to admit an error or retract a statement
We made our boss eat crow when we discovered the mistake that he made with our work schedule.

 

[Alina]

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.

 

[Alina]

Food Idioms

bite the hand that feeds one
- to harm someone who does good things for you
I do not want to make my company angry because I do not want to bite the hand that feeds me.

bitter pill to swallow
- something unpleasant that one must accept
It was a bitter pill to swallow when I learned that I would not get the job that I thought I would.

can't stomach (someone or something)
- to dislike or hate someone or something
I can't stomach the idea of meeting my old girlfriend.

clear the table
- to remove the dishes and other eating utensils from a table after eating
We had to clear the table before we could eat our dessert.

Come and get it!
- Dinner is ready. Come and eat.
"Come and get it," my mother called after she made dinner.

eat and run
- to eat a meal and then quickly leave
I had to eat and run in order to be on time for my evening class.

eat crow
- to admit that one is mistaken or defeated, to take back a mistaken statement
I was forced to eat crow and apologize for the things that I had said about my co-worker.

eat dirt
- to act humble, to accept another person's insults or bad treatment
We made the boy eat dirt after he accused us of lying.

eat high on/off the hog
- to eat expensive and high quality food
My uncle has been eating high on the hog since he got his new job.

eat humble pie
- to be humbled, to admit one`s error and apologize
Our boss was forced to eat humble pie after he made the wrong budget estimate for next year.

eat like a bird
- to eat only a small amount of food
The girl eats like a bird and is very slim.

eat like a horse
- to eat a large amount of food
I usually eat like a horse after I work hard all day.

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.

eat one's heart out
- to be envious of someone or something
I ate my heart out when I saw my friend and his new bicycle.

eat one`s words
- to take back something that one has said, to admit that something is not true
I told my boss that I would soon quit my job but later I had to eat my words and tell him that I wanted to stay.

eat out
- to eat a meal at a restaurant
My aunt and uncle eat out often at very nice restaurants.

eat out of (someone's) hands
- to do what someone else wants
The young secretary is always eating out of her bosses hands.

eat (someone) for breakfast
- to defeat someone easily
The young wrestler can eat the older wrestler for breakfast.

eat (someone) out of house and home
- to eat a lot of food in someone's house
The young boy is eating his parents out of house and home.

eat (something) up
- to enjoy/absorb/appreciate something
The students were eating up the comments by their professor.

either feast or famine
- either too much or not enough of something
Either I have too much time or too little time. It is either feast or famine..

eyes are bigger than one's stomach
- the amount of food that one takes is greater than what one could possibly eat
My eyes were bigger than my stomach and I took too much food at the buffet dinner.

feed one's face
- to eat
I stopped at a small restaurant after the game to feed my face.

go on a binge
- to eat/do too much of something
My friend went on a binge and ate too much chocolate recently.

grab a bite to eat
- to get/have something to eat (usually quickly)
I will grab a bite to eat after the game today.

have a lot on one's plate
- to have a lot of things to do or deal with
I have a lot on my plate this week and I am very, very busy.

have a sweet tooth
- to have a desire to eat sweet foods
I have a sweet tooth and I love chocolate bars.

have a taste for (something)
- to have a desire for a food/drink/experience
The opera singer has always had a taste for classical music.

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.

make a meal of (something)
- to eat enough/much of one kind of food for one meal
We made a meal of the fish that we caught in the lake.

make one`s mouth water
- to make someone hungry, to make someone want to eat or drink something very much
The restaurant is wonderful and when I see the menu it makes my mouth water.

make (someone) eat crow
- to cause someone to admit an error or retract a statement
We made our boss eat crow when we discovered the mistake that he made with our work schedule.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

egg Idioms


bad egg
- a bad person, a bum
My neighbor is a bad egg and you should avoid him if you can.

egg (someone) on
- to encourage someone to do something (often something bad/wrong/dangerous)
The boys egged their friend on to jump into the water.

good egg
- a good person
The man is a good egg and everybody likes him a lot.

have egg on one`s face
- to be embarrassed (because of an obvious error)
The man has egg on his face now that he has admitted that he was wrong about his boss.

lay an egg
- to give a bad performance of something
The singer laid an egg during her performance last evening.

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.

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.

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

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."

fish Idioms


fine kettle of fish
- a mess, an unsatisfactory situation
It was a fine kettle of fish that I was in when I lost the keys to my apartment.

have bigger fish to fry
- to have other more important things to do
I have bigger fish to fry and I do not want to spend every evening doing extra work for my company.

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.

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

fruit Idioms


as nutty as a fruitcake
- silly, crazy
The man in the supermarket was as nutty as a fruitcake.

bear fruit
- to yield or give results
The woman's hard work at her business finally began to bear fruit when she started to make money.

forbidden fruit
- something that one finds attractive partly because it is illegal/immoral/prohibited
Entering the old building was forbidden fruit for the young boys.


fruits of one's labor
- the results of one's work
My father is retired now and he is finally enjoying the fruits of his labor.

nut Idioms


everything from soup to nuts
- almost everything that one can think of
We brought everything from soup to nuts for our weekend holiday.

for peanuts
- for very little money, for almost nothing
I was able to buy a used computer for peanuts.

hard nut to crack
- a difficult person or thing to deal with
My friend is a very serious person and she is a very hard nut to crack.

in a nutshell
- briefly, in a few words
We went to the meeting and they told us in a nutshell about the plans for our company.

pie Idioms


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

eat humble pie
- to be humbled, to admit one`s error and apologize
Our boss was forced to eat humble pie after he made the wrong budget estimate for next year.

have one's finger in the pie
- to be involved in something
The man has his finger in the pie of everything at his workplace.

have one's finger in too many pies
- to be involved in too many things so that you cannot do any of them well
Our supervisor has her finger in too many pies to really do her job well.

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.

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

potato Idioms


couch potato
- someone who spends a lot of time on a couch watching television
My cousin is a couch potato and he never wants to leave his house.

drop (someone/something) like a hot potato
- to suddenly stop being involved with someone or with some kind of a problem
The advertisers dropped the basketball star like a hot potato when he became involved in a scandal.

hot potato
- a question or argument that is controversial and difficult to settle
The issue of building the nuclear power plant is a hot potato for the local town council.

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.

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.

salt Idioms


back to the salt mines
- to go back to work (this is a humorous expression to express going back to unpleasant work)
"Lunch is over so let`s go back to the salt mines for the afternoon."

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.

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."

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.

soup Idioms


as easy as duck soup
- very easy
It was as easy as duck soup to find the book that I wanted in the library.

as thick as pea soup
- very thick (can be used with fog as well as with liquids)
The fog was as thick as pea soup when we walked along the beach.

duck soup
- a task that does not require much effort
"It was like duck soup. I was able to finish my school project last night."

everything from soup to nuts
- almost everything that one can think of
We brought everything from soup to nuts for our weekend holiday.

in the soup
- in serious trouble, in a bad situation
The woman is in the soup now. She told her boss that she was sick but he saw her downtown shopping.

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.

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.

stew Idioms


get oneself into a stew over (someone or something)
- to be worried or upset about someone or something
I try hard not to get myself into a stew over some of the rude remarks of my supervisor.

in a stew about/over (someone or something)
- to be worried or upset about someone or something
My father is in a stew over the fact that his order of car parts has not arrived.

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.

too many cooks spoil the 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

 

[Alina]

Head & Mind Idioms

a head
- for one person, for one individual (used for counting people or some animals like cattle)
"The tickets were only a few dollars a head."

able to (do something) standing on one's head
- to be able to do something very easily and quickly
The man is able to do his job standing on his head.

absent-minded
- to be forgetful
Our neighbor is very absent-minded and he often forgets his keys.

all in (someone's) mind
- to imagine a situation or problem that does not actually exist
The problem that my aunt has with her neighbor is all in her mind. It does not exist.

as bald as a baby's backside
- completely bald
The man who works in the post office is as bald as a baby's backside.

as bald as a coot
- completely bald
The man in the store was as bald as a coot.

at one's wit's end
- to be in a worrying or stressful situation where you have no idea about what to do next
I was at my wit's end about what to do for my sister's wedding.

bad hair day
- a day when everything seems to go wrong (just like when you cannot make your hair look attractive)
Yesterday was a bad hair day and everything went wrong for me.

bang/beat one`s head against a (brick) wall
- to not succeed at something after trying very hard, to waste one's time trying to do something that is hopeless
I am beating my head against the wall trying to understand what my boss wants.

bear (someone or something) in mind
- to remember and think about someone or something
"Please keep the starting time for the concert in mind so that we can arrive early."

beat one`s brains out
- to tire oneself by thinking too much
I have been beating my brains out all day trying to remember where I put my notebook.

beat (something) into (someone`s) head
- to force someone to learn something by repeating it over and over
The teacher tried to beat the material into the student's head.

bite (someone's) head off
- to speak to someone in an angry way
I went to speak with my supervisor but she bit my head off.

black out
- to faint or pass out
The man suddenly blacked out while he was waiting for the bus.

blow one's stack/top
- to become very angry
My father will blow his top if he learns that I failed my course.

blow (someone`s) mind
- to overwhelm or excite someone
My friend told me that the new book would blow my mind.

blow up in (someone`s) face
- to end abruptly/unexpectedly, to be ruined while you are working on it, to explode suddenly in front of you
The plan to have a party for our boss blew up in our face when he decided not to come.

blue in the face
- to be very angry or upset, to be excited and emotional
The man argued with the supervisor until he was blue in the face.

boggle one's mind
- to confuse someone, to overwhelm someone, to be hard to imagine
It boggles my mind to think how quickly the Internet has changed people's lives.

bonehead
- an unusually dense or stupid person
The boy is a bonehead. He never understands what other people are trying to tell him.

bored out of one's mind/skull
- to be very bored
The little boy was bored out of his mind and wanted to return home.

brain drain
- the loss of talented and educated people from one place/country to other places/countries where conditions are better
There is a brain drain from many poor countries to wealthy countries where conditions are better.

brain (someone)
- to strike a person on the head
The spectator was brained in the middle of the match with a tennis ball.

brain teaser
- a problem for which it is hard to find the answer
My father likes to look in the newspaper for interesting brain teasers.

brains behind (something)
- the person/people who thought of and developed a successful plan/system/organization
The president of our company is the brains behind the plans to develop the new audio product.

brainchild
- an idea that one has thought of without any help from others
The idea for building the new swimming pool was the brainchild of our boss.

brainless
- to be stupid
The woman is brainless and she has no idea what she is doing.

brainstorm (something)
- to try to develop an idea
The club members gathered to try and brainstorm some ideas for a spring festival.

brainwash (someone)
- to make someone believe something that is not true by repeating it again and again
The people were brainwashed into thinking exactly what their leader wanted them to think.

bring (something) to a head
- to cause a situation with problems to reach the point where something must be done to solve/deal with the problems
The union brought the issue of working hours to a head when they threatened to go on strike.

bury one's head in the sand
- to ignore a problem or hide from some obvious danger, to refuse to see or face something
My uncle buried his head in the sand and tried not to talk about the problem.

butt heads with (someone)
- to argue with someone about a particular subject/problem
I do not want to butt heads with the manager of our department.

by a hair's breadth
- just barely, by a very small distance
I got to the concert in time to see the beginning but only by a hair's breadth.

by a whisker
- just barely, by a very small distance
I won the race by a whisker.

by the sweat of one`s brow
- by hard work
The man built up his business by the sweat of his brow.

change (someone's) mind
- to cause a person to think differently about something
I tried hard to change my friend's mind about going on a holiday with me.

cheek by jowl
- side by side, close together
The boxes were placed in the room cheek by jowl and nothing else could fit in.

collect one's wits
- to make an effort to control one's thoughts and feelings after something shocking or unexpected happens
I stopped at a small coffee shop after the job interview in order to collect my wits.

come face to face with (someone or something)
- to meet someone or something in person, to deal with someone immediately
I was walking through the forest when I came face to face with a black bear.

come to mind
- to enter into one's consciousness (used for an idea)
It came to mind last night that I had only two more weeks to work before my holiday.

come to one's senses
- to wake up, to begin to think clearly
The man came to his senses and finally stopped spending his money as soon as he receives it.

commit (something) to memory
- to memorize something
The new manager was able to quickly commit the names of his staff to memory.

count heads
- to count people
The teacher always counts heads in the morning.

crack a smile
- to smile a little
I tried not to crack a smile during the speech.

cross (someone`s) mind
- to be a sudden or passing thought, to occur to someone (an idea)
It suddenly crossed my mind that the store would be closed all day on Monday.
curl (someone`s) hair
- to shock/frighten/horrify someone
The movie is very realistic and many of the scenes will curl your hair.

drum (something) into (someone's) head
- to keep telling someone something until they cannot forget it
The teacher worked hard to drum the mathematics material into the heads of the students.

enter (someone's) mind
- to come into someone's mind (used for an idea or thought)
It never entered my mind that my friend would leave his job.

exercise one's brain
- to exercise one's intelligence
I always do puzzles in order to exercise my brain.

face-to-face
- in person, in the same location
The soccer star had a face-to-face meeting with his new team yesterday.

fall flat on one's face
- to be completely unsuccessful
I fell flat on my face when I tried to make a speech at the wedding.

fall head over heels
- to fall down (and maybe roll over)
The little boy fell head over heels down the hill.

fall head over heels in love with (someone)
- to fall deeply in love with someone
The girl fell head over heels in love with the boy on the basketball team.

feed one's face
- to eat
I stopped at a small restaurant to feed my face.

fly in the face of (something)
- to ignore something
The explanation by the criminal flies in the face of any common sense that someone would have.

from head to toe
- from the top of one's head to one's feet
The woman was dressed in her best clothes from head to toe.

get a head start
- to get an advantage when you start doing something or going somewhere
We woke up early in the morning in order to get a head start on our holiday.

get a load off one's mind
- to talk about what is troubling you
I wanted to get a load off my mind so I passed the evening talking with a friend.

get gray hair
- to have your hair turn gray because of stress
The father said that he was getting gray hairs from his son.

get in (someone's) hair
- to bother or irritate someone
The little boy often gets in his mother's hair.

get into (someone's) head
- to understand what someone thinks and feels so that you can communicate well with them
I am having a difficult time to get into the principal's head and understand what he is really doing.

get it into one's head to (do something)
- to decide to do something even though there may not be a good reason to do it
The girl got it into her head to learn to swim this winter.

get out of (someone's) face
- to go away or leave someone
I wish that my friend would get out of my face.

get (someone) out of one's hair
- to stop someone from annoying or bothering you
The woman tried hard to get the little boy out of her hair.

get (someone or something) out of one's head/mind
- to stop thinking about or wanting someone or something, to forget someone or something
My friend is trying hard to get his former girlfriend out of his mind.

get (something) into/through (someone`s) head
- to make someone understand or believe something
It was difficult to get it through the bank manager's head that I did not want a credit card.

get (something) through (someone's) thick skull
- to manage to get someone (including oneself) to understand something
The salesman cannot get it through his thick skull that I do not want to talk to him.

give (someone) a piece of one`s mind
- to scold someone angrily, to say what one really thinks of someone (especially when they have behaved badly)
I gave the store manager a piece of my mind when I told him about the bad product.

give (someone) a swelled head
- to make someone conceited
The girl's high test scores are giving her a swelled head.

go head to head with (someone)
- to compete in a direct and determined way with another person or group
We plan to go head to head with the other team in order to win the city championship.

go over (someone's) head
- to be too difficult for someone to understand
The reasons for the decision went over my head. I could not understand why.

go to one's head
- to make one dizzy
The drink quickly went to the man's head and he had to sit down and rest.

go to (someone`s) head
- to make someone too proud, to make a person think that he or she is too important
The man's new job has gone to his head and he thinks that he is better than everyone else.

gray matter
- brains, intelligence
The young man seems to be lacking in gray matter.

great minds think alike
- someone has the same idea or says the same thing as you do and at the same time
Great minds think alike and just as I suggested that we go to a movie, my friend suggested the same thing.

hang by a hair/thread
- to be in an uncertain position and depend on something not substantial
The results of the election are still undecided and are hanging by a hair.

hanging over (someone's) head
- to be worrying someone and be something that you will eventually have to deal with
The court case has been hanging over my friend's head for many months.

have a big head
- to think that you are better than everyone else, to be conceited
My friend has a big head now that he has won the speech contest at university.

have a brainstorm
- to suddenly have a very good idea
I had a brainstorm last night and I now have some very good ideas for next year's party.

have a brainwave
- to have a sudden clever idea
Last night I had a brainwave and had some great ideas about what to do at my job.

have a clean/clear conscience (about someone or something)
- to be free of guilt about someone or something
I have a clear conscience about what happened to my father's car in the accident.

have a closed mind (about something)
- to be unwilling to change one's ideas or opinions about something
My aunt has a closed mind and she is not flexible about most things.

have a good head for (something)
- to have the mental ability for something, to find it easy to learn something
My uncle has a good head for numbers.

have a good head on one's shoulders
- to be sensible and intelligent
The supermarket manager has a good head on his shoulders and he should be able to solve the problem.

have a good mind to (do something)
- to be tempted to do something, to be almost ready to do something
I have a good mind to go and tell my boss that I am planning to look for another job.

 

[Alina]

Head & Mind Idioms


have a head start
- to have an advantage when you start doing something or going somewhere
The boy had a head start and he easily won the race.

have a lot on one's mind
- to have many things to worry about
I have a lot on my mind with my new job and new apartment.

have a mind like a steel trap
- to have a very sharp and quick mind
The man has a mind like a steel trap and he never forgets a thing.

have a mind of its own
- a machine/vehicle does not do what you want it to do
Sometimes my car seems to have a mind of its own and it will not do anything that I want.

have a mind of one's own
- someone does/thinks what they want to do/think instead of doing/thinking what they are told
The little boy has a mind of his own and he always wants to do what he wants.

have a notion to do (something)
- to have a desire to do something
I have a notion to go to the beach for my holidays.

have a one-track mind
- to have a mind that thinks only about one thing
The boy has a one-track mind and he only thinks about car racing.

have a price on one's head
- to be wanted by the authorities who have offered money for your capture
The criminal has a price on his head and should soon be captured by the police.

have a stroke
- to suddenly become (partially or totally) paralyzed because of an interruption in the blood supply to the brain
The truck driver had a stroke just before the accident on the highway.

have an open mind about (something)
- to be flexible and willing to listen to other people's opinions and change your own ideas
I usually have an open mind and I am willing to listen to what other people say about something.

have bats in one's belfry
- to be slightly crazy
The woman has bats in her belfry. She is a little crazy.

have egg on one's face
- to become embarrassed because of something that is obvious to everyone or after you make a mistake
I had egg on my face after I learned that I had suggested the wrong day for the wedding.

have half a mind to do (something)
- to have almost decided to do something
I have half a mind to take my new television set back to the store because I do not like it.

have keen wits
- to have the ability to think quickly
The man has keen wits and he can make smart decisions very fast.

have one's head in the clouds
- to be unaware of what is going on
The store clerk usually has his head in the clouds and makes many mistakes.

have one's head screwed on right/straight
- to be sensible and make good decisions
The woman has her head screwed on right. She always makes good decisions.

have rocks in one`s head
- to be stupid/silly/crazy, to not have good judgement
My friend must have rocks in his head if he thinks that I am going to lend him more money.

have second thoughts about (someone or something)
- to have doubts about someone or something
We are beginning to have second thoughts about going camping on our holiday.

have (someone or something) on one's mind
- to be thinking a lot about someone or something
My friend has many school problems on his mind.

have (something) hanging over one's head
- to have something bothering or worrying you, to have a deadline to worry about
I have had the final essay hanging over my head for many weeks now.

have (something) in mind
- to be thinking of something in particular, to have an idea in your mind
"What do you have in mind for the meeting next week?"

have (something) on the brain
- to be obsessed with something, to never stop thinking or talking about something
The boy has cars and trucks on the brain and he does not think of anything else.

have the presence of mind to (do something)
- to have the calmness and ability to act sensibly in a difficult situation
The farmer had the presence of mind to close the barn door after the fire started.

have the wits to do (something)
- to have the intelligence or understanding to do something
The man had the wits to quickly phone the police when he saw the accident.

head and shoulders above (someone or something)
- to be superior to someone or something
The new principal is head and shoulders above those who have come before.

a head case
- to be crazy
The apartment manager is a head case. She is crazy.

head is buzzing
- to be thinking of something or many things at the same time
My head was buzzing after I left the meeting last night.

head-on
- with the head or front pointing at something, with the front facing something
There was a head-on car crash last night near our house.

head over heels
- upside down, head first
The little boy fell head over heels down the steep hill.

head over heels in debt
- to be deeply in debt
My cousin has been head over heels in debt for many years.

head over heels in love with (someone)
- to be very much in love with someone
The young man is head over heels in love with the girl in his swimming club.

head shrinker
- psychiatrist
When I was a child my next door neighbor was a head shrinker.

Heads up!
- Raise your head and be careful about some nearby danger!
"Heads up," the construction worker yelled at the other worker.

heads will roll
- serious trouble is coming, someone will lose his or her job
Heads will roll if we do not make some progress in fixing the accounting problem.

headhunt
- to search for qualified individuals to fill certain positions
The company is now headhunting in order to find a new president.

hide one's face in shame
- to cover one's face because of shame or embarrassment
The manager of the company hid his face in shame when he was fired for stealing company money.

hide one`s head in the sand
- to ignore a problem or hide from some obvious danger, to refuse to see or face something
The man likes to hide his head in the sand and he never wants to deal with any problem.

hold one's head up
- to keep or display one's dignity
The accounting manager was totally honest during the investigation into the scandal and when it was over he was able to hold his head up and be proud of himself.

in a positive frame of mind
- to be happy and in a good mood
Our teacher has been in a positive frame of mind this week.

in one`s hair
- to be bothering someone, to be always annoying someone
My sister's small son is always in her hair when she is making dinner.

in one's mind's eye
- in one's mind
In my mind's eye I cannot imagine what happened to my friend in the accident.

in one's right mind
- to be sane, to be sensible
The man who hit the dog was not in his right mind.

in over one's head
- to be having more difficulties than one can manage
The electrician seems to be in over his head and he does not know how to fix the electrical problem.

in the face of (something)
- in spite of the fact that there may be problems/difficulty/danger
In the face of many problems, my cousin was still able to raise wonderful children.

in two minds about (something)
- to be undecided about something
I am in two minds about going to a movie tonight.

keep a cool head
- to keep calm in a difficult and stressful situation
The bank manager kept a cool head during the bank robbery.

keep a straight face
- to not smile or laugh
It was hard to keep a straight face during the comedy movie.

keep an open mind about (something)
- to be flexible and willing to listen to other people's opinions and change your own ideas
I tried to keep an open mind and was willing to listen to what others said about the problem.

keep one`s chin up
- to be brave, to be determined, to face trouble with courage
My brother is trying to keep his chin up even though he has no job.

keep one`s head
- to stay calm when there is trouble or danger
Everyone tried to keep their head during the fire at the hotel.

keep one's head above water
- to keep out of difficult financial problems, to stay out of trouble
My brother has been having a hard time keeping his head above water since he lost his job.

keep one's head down
- to quietly do your work without causing any problems and causing other people to notice you
I knew that there was a problem at work so I kept my head down all morning.

keep one's wits about one
- to keep one's mind operating clearly in a time of stress
Firefighters must always keep their wits about them when they are fighting a large fire.

keep (someone or something) in mind
- to remember and think about someone or something
I tried to keep my cousin in mind when I was inviting people to the dinner party.

keep (someone) out of one's hair
- to keep someone from annoying or bothering you
We tried hard to keep the little boy out of our hair while we were preparing for the wedding.

knit one's brow
- to wrinkle one's brow (by frowning)
The ticket agent knit his brow when I began to ask questions about the airline routes.

knock some heads together
- to scold some people to get them to do what they are supposed to be doing
The principal felt that it was time to knock some heads together and begin to get things done in the school.

knock (someone's) block off
- to strike someone hard in the head
The young boy said that he was going to knock his friend's block off.

know one's own mind
- to be very sure of what one's opinions are and what you want to do
My friend knows his own mind and it is difficult to convince him that he is wrong.

last thing on (someone's) mind
- the last thing that someone is thinking about
Going to a movie was the last thing on my mind yesterday evening.

laugh one's head off
- to laugh a lot and for a long time
I laughed my head off during the movie.

let one`s hair down
- to act freely and naturally, to relax
We were able to let our hair down at the party and have a good time.

a long face
- a sad or disappointed look
The man had a long face after he was fired from his job.

lose face
- to be embarrassed or ashamed by an error or failure, to lose self-respect
The manager lost face when the person who she hired was a terrible worker.

lose one's head over (someone or something)
- to become confused or obsessed over something
The woman lost her head during the investigation into the company problems.

lose one's marbles/mind
- to go crazy, to go out of one's mind
I think that the man next door is beginning to lose his marbles.

lose one's train of thought
- to forget what one was talking about or thinking about
I lost my train of thought during my meeting with my boss.

make a face (at someone)
- to twist one's face into a strange expression in order to show dislike etc.
The boy made a face at the girl in the hall.

make chin music
- to talk, to chatter
The two old friends spent the morning making chin music.

make heads or tails (out) of (something)
- to find meaning in something, to understand something
I was unable to make heads or tails out of our company's plans to restructure our department.

make (someone's) hair curl
- to surprise or shock someone (used for a story or experience)
The horror movie made my hair curl.

make (someone's) hair stand on end
- to cause someone to become frightened
The movie made my hair stand on end.

make (someone's) head spin/swim
- to confuse or overwhelm someone, to make someone dizzy
The speed of the day's events made my head spin.

make up one`s mind
- to choose what to do, to decide something
I have not been able to make up my mind about going to the party or not.

meeting of minds
- complete agreement
We were able to achieve a meeting of minds at the meeting and everybody was happy.

mind goes blank
- to be suddenly unable to remember something
My mind went blank when I tried to remember the woman's name.

mind is buzzing
- to be thinking of something or many things at the same time
My mind was buzzing after I left the theater last night.

mind is in the gutter
- someone is thinking or talking about a subject that offends and shocks people
The man's mind is often in the gutter and I do not like to talk to him.

mind is on (something)
- someone is thinking about and giving attention to something
My mind has been on my summer holidays all week.

mind over matter
- if you really want to you can do something that is very difficult or even impossible
"It is mind over matter. If you really want to succeed with your project you will be able to do it."

mind-boggling
- overwhelming, startling
The choices of evening classes at the university are mind-boggling.

mind-numbing
- to be extremely boring
The speech was so boring that it was mind-numbing.

(something)-minded
- to be thinking about something, to focus on something
The girl is very sports-minded and she loves to participate in any kind of sport that she can.

narrow-minded
- to be unwilling to accept or understand new ideas
My uncle is very narrow-minded and he is not flexible at all about anything.

need one's head examined
- to make remarks or do actions that are wrong or stupid
My teacher needs her head examined. It will be impossible to finish the project before Monday.

need (something) like a hole in the head
- to not need something at all
My friend needs a new stereo system like he needs a hole in the head.

neither hide nor hair (of someone or something)
- no sign or indication of someone or something
I have seen neither hide nor hair of the girl in my geography class.

nobody in his/her right mind would do (something)
- it would be very stupid or unreasonable to do something
Nobody in his right mind would drive his car when the roads are so terrible.

no-brainer
- to be easy to do or understand and not need much intelligence
It is a no-brainer that if you do not study then your marks will not be good.

not beyond the wit of (someone)
- to not be too difficult for someone to do
It would not be beyond the wit of my cousin to enter the best school in the country.

not just a pretty face
- to be intelligent and capable and not just good-looking or pretty
The woman is not just a pretty face. She is very smart.

not show one's face
- to not appear somewhere
The hero of the movie did not show his face for most of the movie.

of one mind
- to have the same opinion about something, to agree on something with someone else
The finance committee was of one mind when they made this year's budget.

of the same mind
- to have the same opinion about something, to agree on something with someone else
I was of the same mind as my friend when we made our decision about our holiday.

of two minds
- to be unable to decide what to do or what you think about something
I am of two minds about going to the movie tonight. I am very busy but I also want to see the movie very much.

off the top of one`s head
- without thinking about something very much
I was unable to remember the name of the restaurant off the top of my head.

 

[Alina]

Head & Mind Idioms

on one's mind
- occupying one's thoughts, currently being thought about
Recently I have had many things on my mind.

on/upon (someone`s) head
- on one's own self
The little boy brought the anger of his parent's upon his head.

on the face of it
- on the surface of an issue or a problem
On the face of it, it is very easy to see who caused the problem with our schedules.

out of one`s hair
- to get rid of an annoying person or thing
My sister is trying to get her daughter out of her hair.

out of one's mind/head/senses
- to be crazy/irrational/silly
The woman is out of her mind and she is always doing something crazy.

out of sight, out of mind.
- if you do not see something then you will not think about it
The chocolates were out of sight, out of mind and nobody thought about them.

out of the mouths of babes
- something that a child says shows that they understand more about a situation than you thought that they did
The statement was right out of the mouths of babes. The little boy knew everything that was going on.

over one`s head
- to be/go beyond one's ability to understand, to be too difficult
The mathematics lectures went over my head during the first few weeks.

pass through (someone's) mind
- to occur to someone, to think about something briefly
The idea passed through my mind briefly but then it was gone.

pay (someone or something) no mind
- to ignore someone or something
I was told by the policeman to pay the traffic lights no mind while the accident was being cleaned up.

per head
- for one person, for one individual (used for counting people or animals like cattle)
The tickets cost only a small amount of money per head.

pick the brains of (someone)
- to talk to someone in order to get some information about something
We picked the brains of the official who was sent to talk about the pollution problem.

pit one's wits against (someone)
- to challenge someone over something to see who wins
The best students in our school decided to pit their wits against the best students in the city.

pull one's hair out
- to be angry/upset/worried about something
My friend began to pull her hair out when she discovered that she had no nice clothes for the party.

put hair on one's chest
- to be good for someone (something that you eat or drink)
I told my friend that vegetable juice will put hair on his chest.

put ideas into (someone's) head
- to suggest something to someone
The girl's best friend is always putting ideas into her head.

put on a brave face
- to try to appear happy or satisified even though you are faced with serious problems
The man put on a brave face after he was fired from his job.

put one's face on
- to put make-up on one's face
The woman spent a long time putting her face on.

put one's head in a noose
- to say or do something that could harm you or your image
The man put his head in a noose when he became angry and criticized his boss at the meeting.

put one's head in the lion's mouth
- to put oneself in a dangerous or difficult situation
I put my head in the lion's mouth when I went to the meeting with my boss.

put one's head on the block for (someone or something)
- to take great risks or to go to a lot of trouble for someone or something
I love my boss and I would be happy to put my head on the block for her.

put one's heads together
- to discuss/talk about something with someone or a group of people and try to solve a problem
We put our heads together with the other members of the department to try and find a solution to the problem.

put one's mind to (something)
- to give one's complete attention to something
I put my mind to making the party as successful as possible.

put (someone or something) out of one's head/mind
- to try to forget someone or something
I was forced to put my holidays out of my head when we had the emergency problems at our company.

rack one`s brain
- to try one's best to think about something, to make a great mental effort
I racked my brain for over an hour to try and decide what to do about the new computer.

raise a hand against (someone or something)
- to threaten to strike someone or something
The teacher never raises a hand against her students.

raise its (ugly) head
- a problem or bad situation appears or happens after not happening for a period of time
The problem between the two managers raised its ugly head again after many months of calm.

raise one's voice to (someone)
- to speak loudly or shout at someone in anger
The child was told not to raise his voice to his parents.

read (someone's) mind
- to guess what someone is thinking (as if one has special powers to see someone's thoughts)
The girl told her boyfriend that she cannot read his mind and that he must tell her what he wants.

rear its ugly head
- to appear after being hidden (usually something unpleasant)
The problem between the two sisters rears its ugly head at the beginning of every year.

red in the face
- embarrassed
The clerk was red in the face after she heard the comment by the customer.

save face
- to save one's good reputation or dignity when something has happened to hurt him or her
The government was unable to save face after they failed to deal with the crisis properly.

say (something) right to (someone's) face
- to say something unpleasant or important directly to someone
I said that the man was not telling the truth right to his face.

scratch one's head
- to be confused or perplexed
I was left scratching my head after the speech by our department manager.

scream one's head off
- to scream a lot and for a long time
The girl screamed her head off after the accident.

should have one's head examined
- to behave as if you are mentally ill or crazy
My sister is crazy to buy that car. She should have her head examined.

show one's face
- to appear
I do not think that my friend will show his face tonight.

shut one's face/trap
- to be quiet, to shut up
"Please sit down and shut your trap."

sixth sense
- the ability to know or feel things that are beyond the five basic senses of sight/hearing/smell/taste/touch
The woman has a sixth sense and she knows everything that is happening around her.

a slap in the face
- an insult
The terrible candidate who won the city election was a slap in the face to the voters.

slip one's mind
- to forget something
It slipped my mind that I need to phone my dentist soon.

slow-witted
- to be not very smart
The girl is slow-witted and she has trouble doing simple things.

speak one's mind
- to say frankly what one thinks about something
My father plans to speak his mind at the school meeting this evening.

split hairs
- to find and argue about small and unimportant differences
My boss always splits hairs when I talk to him about something important.

stand head and shoulders above (the rest/someone/something)
- to be much better than anyone or everything else in the same group
Our new principal stands head and shoulders above the one who we had before.

stand on one's head (to do something)
- to make a great effort to do something
I did everything but stand on my head to help my friend get a job.

stand (something) on its head
- to show that an idea or argument is wrong and means the opposite of what it first seemed to mean, to change the way that people think about something
We stood the argument on its head with our intelligent argument against it.

stare (someone) in the face
- to be very likely to happen, to be clear and easy to recognize
Defeat was staring the runner in the face right from the beginning of the race.

stick in (someone's) mind
- to not forget something
The date of my friend's wedding stuck in my mind for many years.

stick one's head in a noose
- to say or do something that could harm you or your image
I stuck my head in a noose when I mentioned that I wanted to find another job.

stuff one's face
- to eat a lot in a short time
I stuffed my face in the restaurant last night.

swelled head
- a feeling that one is very important or more important than one really is
My sister has had a swelled head since she got her new job.

take it into one's head to do (something)
- to decide to do something that does not seem sensible to others
The young woman took it into her head to go to China and she did.

take it on the chin
- to be badly beaten or hurt, to get into trouble
My friend took it on the chin when he fought with the man at the store.

take leave of one's senses
- to become irrational/crazy
I believe that the woman in the store is beginning to take leave of her senses.

take one's mind off (something)
- to stop from worrying or thinking about a problem
I went to a movie to take my mind off my problems at work.

take (something) at face value
- to accept something as the truth and with no hidden meaning
I was forced to take what my boss said at face value.

take (something) on the chin
- to experience and endure a blow or hardship
The man is able to take things on the chin and quickly move on with his life when he has a problem.

talk (someone's) head off
- to speak too much
The woman beside me in the bus talked my head off during our journey.

talk until one is blue in the face
- to talk until one is exhausted
I talked until I was blue in the face but my friend would still not change his mind.

tear one's hair out
- to be anxious/frustrated/angry
The mother was tearing her hair out as she waited for her daughter to return home.

tell (someone) to his or her face
- to tell something to someone directly
I told my friend to her face that I did not like her constant complaining.

thin on top
- bald or balding
My uncle is a little thin on top but he is very handsome.

throw (something) back in (someone's) face
- to use something that someone has said previously to harm or upset him or her
I immediately threw the question back in the lawyer's face.

to (someone's) mind
- in someone's opinion
"To my mind I believe that both opinions are valid."

tongue in cheek
- jokingly, insincerely, mockingly, not really meaning something
The remark was made tongue in cheek and the man did not mean it.

touched (in the head)
- to be crazy
My neighbor is touched in the head. He is really crazy.

trouble one's head about (someone or something)
- to worry about someone or something
"Please do not trouble your head about the arrangements for the party. I will do everything."

turn (someone's) head
- to distract someone, to make someone notice you
The woman's beautiful dress turned everybody's head. It was beautiful.

turn (something) on its head
- to show that an idea or argument is wrong and means the opposite of what it first seemed to mean, to change the way that people think about a subject
The lawyer was able to easily turn the argument on its head.

turn (something) over in one's mind
- to think about something continuously
I could not sleep last night because I was turning my situation at work over in my mind.

turn the other cheek
- to ignore someone's abuse or insult, to not hit back when someone hits you
The children were told that they should turn the other cheek when they were attacked by someone.

up to one's chin in (something)
- to be very busy with something, to be working hard at something, to have much/many of something
The woman is up to her chin in work and has no free time.

use one`s head/noggin/noodle
- to use one's brain or mind, to use one's own common sense
Sometimes I think that the manager of the video store never uses her head when I ask her a question.

wag one's chin
- to chat with someone
I stopped at the coffee shop to wag my chin with an old friend.

weigh on (someone's) mind
- to be in someone's thoughts, to be bothering someone
The decision about selling my car or not was weighing on my mind.

within a whisker of (doing something)
- almost do something
I came within a whisker of quitting my job but I decided to continue working there.

written all over (someone's) face
- to be shown clearly what someone is thinking/feeling or if they are guilty by the look on his or her face
The fact that the little boy took the cookies was written all over his face.

 

[Alina]

Heart Idioms





aching heart
- a feeling of sadness that one has when love has been lost or has faded
The young woman spent the weekend alone with her aching heart.

after one`s own heart
- to be well-liked for agreeing with one`s own feelings/interests/ideas
My new boss loves to go fishing. He is a man after my own heart.

at heart
- basically, essentially, what one really is rather than what one seems to be
The man seems to be angry all the time but actually he is a very gentle person at heart.

bleeding heart
- someone who feels too much sympathy for people such as poor people or criminals etc.
The man is a bleeding heart and he is always asked by other people for money to help others.

break (someone`s) heart
- to make someone feel sad or hopeless (usually from love or a similar loss)
It broke my heart to see the boy who had just lost his dog.

close/near to (someone's) heart
- an idea or something that is important to you and that you care about
The plan to improve the downtown area was very close to the mayor's heart.

cross one`s heart and hope to die
- to say or promise that what you have said is true (often used by children)
"I promise that I will meet you tomorrow. Cross my heart and hope to die."

die of a broken heart
- to die of emotional distress, to suffer from emotional distress (from a failed romance)
The man almost died of a broken heart several times when he was a teenager.

do (someone's) heart good
- to make someone feel good, to make someone healthy
It does one's heart good to get a reasonable amount of exercise every day.

do (something) in a heartbeat
- to do something almost immediately if you have the chance
I would change jobs in a heartbeat if I had the chance.

eat one`s heart out
- to suffer from excessive longing or envy
"You can eat your heart out but I will not give you a piece of this chocolate cake."

find it in one's heart to (do something)
- to have the courage or compassion to do something
I could not find it in my heart to tell the young woman that she could not continue to work at the company.

follow one's heart
- to act according to one's feelings
The boy followed his heart and decided to study music at school.

from the bottom of one`s heart
- with great feeling, sincerely
My sister thanked the man from the bottom of her heart for saving her dog`s life.

from the heart
- sincerely, honestly
The speech by the politician was right from the heart.

get to the heart of (something)
- to understand the most important/essential thing about something
It took a long time but we finally got to the heart of the problem with the new computer.

go (somewhere) in a heartbeat
- to go somewhere almost immediately if you have the chance
I would go camping in the mountains in a heartbeat if I had the chance.

have a big heart
- to be very kind/generous/helpful
The man has a big heart and he will always try to help other people.

have a change of heart
- to change the way one feels/thinks about something
I had a change of heart and I decided to go to the movie with my friend.

have a heart
- to be a generous and forgiving person
I wish that our boss would have a heart and try to help other people.

Have a heart!
- Don't be unkind or do something mean or cruel!
"Have a heart," I told my supervisor when he said that I must work during the weekend.

have a heart of gold
- to be kind/generous/friendly
My grandmother has a heart of gold and she is always willing to help a stranger.

have a heart of stone
- to be cold and unfriendly
The man who murdered his wife and children has a heart of stone.

have a heart-to-heart talk with (someone)
- to have a sincere and intimate talk with someone
I had a heart-to-heart talk with my girlfriend last evening.

have a soft spot in one's heart (for someone or something)
- to be fond of someone or something
My grandfather always had a soft spot in his heart for his youngest daughter.

have one`s heart set on (something)
- to want something very much
The little boy has his heart set on getting a dog for his birthday.

heart and soul
- the core or total person
The girl loved her boyfriend heart and soul.

heart bleeds for (someone)
- to feel sympathy for someone
My heart bleeds for the family who lost their father in the accident.

heart goes out to (someone)
- to feel great sympathy for someone
My heart goes out to the victims of the recent hurricane.

heart is dead set against (something)
- to be totally against something
My mother's heart is dead set against my plan to go to art school.

heart is in one's mouth
- to feel very nervous or frightened or have strong emotions about something
My heart was in my mouth when I saw the little boy standing on the ladder.

heart is in the right place
- to be kindhearted/sympathetic, to have good intentions (even if the results may be bad)
Although the girl makes a lot of mistakes her heart is in the right place.

heart is not in (something)
- to not really want to do what you are doing
The boy's heart was not in the swimming club so he quit the team.

heart is set against (something)
- to be totally against something
Our principal is set against expanding the music program in our school.

heart is set on (something)
- to want something very much
The little boy's heart is set on getting a dog for his birthday.

heart misses/skips a beat
- to be startled or excited from surprise/joy/fright
My heart skipped a beat when I heard my name on television.

heart stands still
- to be very frightened or worried about something
My heart stood still when the truck on the highway almost hit our car.

heart to heart
- candid, intimate
Our conversation was heart to heart and we both felt very good afterwords.

heartbeat away from (something)
- to be the next person to take over someone's position if they die
The young prince is a heartbeat away from becoming the next king of his country.

heavy heart
- a feeling of being weighed down with sorrow, a sad feeling
We left the meeting with a heavy heart when we heard that our boss would soon leave the company because of illness.

in one's heart of hearts
- to know something is true although you may not want to admit it or believe it
In my heart of hearts I knew that I would soon have to change jobs although I did not want to.

know (something) by heart
- to know something perfectly, to have memorized something
The little boy knows many stories by heart.

learn (something) by heart
- to memorize something
The children were forced to learn the poem by heart.

lose heart
- to feel discouraged because of failure, to lose the hope of success
I tried not to lose heart even though I had failed my driver`s exam for the second time.

not have the heart to do (something)
- to be unwilling to say or do something that may hurt or upset others
I did not have the heart to tell the woman that soon she may lose her job.

open one`s heart to (someone)
- to talk about one`s feelings honestly, to confide in someone
The woman suddenly opened her heart to me when I began talking to her on the bus.

pour one's heart out (to someone)
- to tell all of one's hopes/fears/feelings to someone
My friend poured her heart out to me when we went to the coffee shop last evening.

search one`s heart/soul
- to study one`s reasons and acts, to try to discover if one has been fair and honest about something
I searched my soul to try and discover why my girlfriend had left me.

set one's heart against (something)
- to turn against something, to become totally against something
From the beginning my friend set his heart against my proposal for having a birthday party for our teacher.

set one's heart on (something)
- to select something as one's goal
The young runner set his heart on winning the marathon.

sick at heart
- very sad or upset about something
The woman was sick at heart over the illness of her cat.

strike at the heart of (something)
- to do something that damages or destroys the basic idea or way of doing something that is very important to someone or to a group
The decision to change the zoning laws struck at the heart of the citizen's ideas of how they wanted to live.

take heart
- to be encouraged, to be brave
The father took heart in the fact that his son was still going to university even though he was failing most of his courses.

take (something) to heart
- to be strongly affected by something that someone says to you so you take it seriously or are upset by it
I did not expect my friend to take my criticism to heart when I complained that he was always late.

to one's heart's content
- as much as one wants
The little boy was able to play in the water to his heart's content.

tug at (someone's) heartstrings
- to make someone feel very sad or feel great sympathy for someone else
Seeing the young boy and his little dog tugged at my heartstrings.

warm the cockles of (someone's) heart
- to make someone feel warm and happy
The beautiful ending of the movie warmed the cockles of my heart.

way to (someone's) heart
- the best way to please someone or make them like you
The way to my grandfather's heart was through his stomach as he always liked good food.

wear one`s heart on one`s sleeve
- to show one`s feelings openly
The man wore his heart on his sleeve when he talked about his sick son.

win (someone's) heart
- to do nice things for someone to make him or her love you, something (music/book/art) has the qualities to make you like it
The young man won the girl's heart by his kind and caring attitude toward her.

with all one`s heart (and soul)
- with all one's energy and feeling
I tried with all my heart to get my friend a job at my company.

young at heart
- to do things that usually younger people enjoy doing (usually used for an older person)
The older couple were young at heart and they had much fun together.

 

[Alina]

Initials





AA
- Alcoholic's Anonymous - a group that helps people recover from alcohol abuse
My boss has been going to AA meetings for over a year.

AD
- Anno Domini - used to mark time that comes after the commonly accepted beginning of the Christian era
The ancient city was founded in 125 AD.

AGM
- Annual General Meeting - the annual meeting of an organization
My sister attended the AGM of the condominium owners last night.

AI
- Artificial Intelligence - used for robots etc.
Several professors at our university have been researching AI for many years now.

AIDS
- Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome - a disease of the immune system
Recently the number of AIDS patients has been increasing rapidly in many countries.

AM
- Amplitude Modulation - a type of radio frequency
We don't listen to AM radio much because we don't like the songs that they play.

AOB
- Any Other Business - used in meetings etc.
The organizer of the meeting wrote AOB at the bottom of the meeting information sheet.

AOK
- great, doing well
He said that he was feeling AOK even after the truck had hit him.

APB
- All Point's Bulletin - used by the police when looking for a criminal
The police put out an APB on the men who had robbed the bank.

ASAP
- As Soon As Possible
Please finish the first draft of the letter and give it to me ASAP.

AWOL
- Absent Without Leave - often used in the military
The military police were searching the area for the soldier who had gone AWOL.

BA
- Bachelor of Arts - from a university
My brother has received a BA in economics from his university.

B&B
- Bed and Breakfast - a small inn or hotel that serves breakfast
My sister wants to open a small B&B when she quits her job.

B&E
- Break and Enter - a criminal act of breaking into a house or building to steal something
When I was going to university there was a B&E in my apartment.

BLT
- Bacon, Lettuce, Tomato - a type of sandwich
We went into the restaurant and ordered a BLT sandwich.

BO
- Body Odor - smell of sweat from the human body
The BO from the man in the elevator was very bad.

BS
- Bullshit - lies or other information that is false
We heard a lot of BS at the meeting last night which nobody believed.

BSc
- Bachelor of Science - from a university
My cousin has just received a BSc in computer science from his university.

BYOB
- Bring Your Own Bottle - used for a party or dinner where each person must bring something to drink
I decided to have a dinner party at my house next week and told everyone that it was BYOB.

CA
- Chartered Accountant
We went to see a CA in order to get our income tax finished on time.

CD
- Compact Disc
The price of CDs has recently begun to decrease.

CEO
- Chief Executive Officer
My uncle was the CEO of a large computer company.

CIA
- Central Intelligence Agency - US spy and security organization
The CIA was involved in the efforts to free the hostage air force pilot.

C/O
- Care Of - used when you want to send something to someone at the address of another person
I didn't know my friend's address so I sent a letter to him C/O another friend of mine.

COD
- Cash On Delivery - used when a delivery person receives cash when they deliver something
I decided to send away for some video cassettes and the company said that they would send them to me COD.

CPA
- Certified Public Accountant
The woman in our accounting department has been studying for her CPA exams for three months.

DIY
- Do-It-Yourself
I went to a DIY store and bought the materials to build a bed.

DJ
- Disc Jockey
My cousin worked in the summer as a disc jockey while he was going to university.

DNA
- Deoxyribonucleic Acid - main constituent of the chromosomes of all organisms
The large university has spent a lot of money in the study of DNA.

DUI
- Driving Under the Influence
The man was sent to jail for several months on a charge of DUI.


DVD
- Digital Video Disc
The sales of DVDs is increasing every year in most video stores.
ECG
- Electrocardiogram - an electronic test of a person's heart
My father was asked to take an ECG test by his doctor.

eg
- Exempli Gratia - the Latin which means for example
The company has hundreds of small factories around the world - eg Italy, Mexico, Thailand and Korea.

ER
- Emergency Room - the place in a hospital which deals with emergency situations
The victims of the accident were quickly taken to the ER.

ESL
- English as a Second Language
The ESL classes at the college have been held for almost ten years now.

ESP
- Extrasensory Perception
The movie was about a small boy who had the ability of ESP.

ETA
- Estimated Time of Arrival
What will your ETA be when you return home next month?

FBI
- Federal Bureau of Investigation
The killers were found in a nationwide search by the FBI.

FM
- Frequency Modulation - a type of radio signal
The radio station that we listen to regularly is an FM station.

FYI
- For Your Information
I wrote FYI on the information bulletin and sent it to the other members of the staff.

GI
- Government Issue - stamped on US military equipment and often means US soldier
The man went to the store and bought a GI Joe doll for his son.

GMT
- Greenwich Mean Time - a place in England used as the standard for time around the world
The rocket will be launched at 10:00 AM tomorrow GMT.

GNP
- Gross National Product - the total value of goods and services produced by a country in one year
The GNP of the country that I visited last year has been decreasing for several years.

GP
- General Practitioner - a general doctor
I went to see a GP when I broke my leg last summer.

HIV
- Human Immunodeficiency Virus
The rate of HIV infection among drug users is very high.

HQ
- Headquarters
The HQ of the company is located in a small town in Korea.

IMF
- International Monetary Fund - an international agency that works to stabilize currencies etc.
The IMF imposed very strict currency guidelines that many people were opposed to.

IOU
- I Owe You - a signed paper saying that you owe money to someone
I gave my friend an IOU when I bought his stereo.

IQ
- Intelligence Quotient - a measure of a person's intelligence
The IQ of the new student is very high.

JP
- Justice of the Peace
They went to a JP when they decided to get married.

KO
- Knockout
The boxer won the match in the fifth round by a KO.

LLB
- Bachelor of Laws
My brother received his LLB and will begin to practice law next week.

LP
- Long-Playing Record
I recently decided to give all of my old LPs to a charity.

LPG
- Liquid Petroleum Gas
The truck carrying LPG was in an accident on the highway last night.

MA
- Master of Arts
My cousin's wife has recently decided to study for her MA in economics.

MIA
- Missing In Action
According to some people in the United States there are still some MIA soldiers in Vietnam.

MC
- Master of Ceremonies
My cousin was the MC for my sister's wedding.

MD
- Doctor of Medicine
She received her MD when she was 26 years old and has been practicing medicine since then.

MP
- Member of Parliament - used in the United Kingdom and Canada etc.
There were several MPs at the restaurant where we had dinner.


MP3
- MPEG-1 audio layer 3 - a method to compress digital audio
The three students listened to their MP3 players as they worked in the computer lab.
MSc
- Master of Science
The woman has an MSc in computer science and has been able to find a job easily.

NASA
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration - the US space organization
According to a spokesperson for NASA the rocket will be launched next week.

NATO
- North Atlantic Treaty Organization
The members of NATO are gathering for an important meeting next month in Brussels.

NB
- Nota Bene - Latin for take notice or note well
Our teacher told us to memorize the information in our text that is marked NB.

OAP
- Old Age Pensioner
At first I could not understand why I couldn't get the discount that was for OAPs only. Later I realized it was for senior citizens.

OAU
- Organization of African Unity
The OAU is working very hard to promote free trade between its various countries.

OD
- Overdose - on drugs
The man died because of a drug OD.

OR
- Operating Room - in a hospital
Before entering the OR the doctors carefully washed their hands.

PA
- Public Address System
Every morning the children listened to the latest school information over the PA.

PC
- Politically Correct - language that is not harmful or insulting to others
The university had a very strict policy that says that all material published in the school newspaper must be PC.

PC
- Personal Computer
The PC industry has been growing rapidly in recent years.

PE
- Physical Education
My PE class was held indoors during the winter months.

Phd
- Doctor of Philosophy
After receiving his Phd in history my friend was able to get a job at a university.

PLO
- Please Leave On - used when you want to leave something on a blackboard or whiteboard
Although the teacher wrote PLO on the blackboard the information was erased during the lunch break.

PM
- Post Meridiem - Latin for after noon
The meeting started at exactly 1:00 PM.

POW
- Prisoner of War
The negotiations regarding POWs continued for many years after the Vietnam war.

PR
- Public Relations
With good PR the politician was able to easily gain the support of many people.

PS
- Postscript - written at the end of a letter when you want to add some extra information
After finishing the main part of the letter I wrote PS to include something very important that I had forgotten.

PTA
- Parent-Teacher Association
We got home late last night after attending our son's PTA meeting.

PTO
- Please Turn Over - written on a piece of paper to tell someone to look at the other side
I wrote PTO on the last page of my essay to make sure that the professor would look at the last page.

RCMP
- Royal Canadian Mounted Police - Canada's national police force
The movie was about the RCMP and it took place in northern Canada.

RIP
- Requiescat In Pace (from the Latin) or Rest In Peace- used when talking about someone who is dead and sometimes written on a gravestone
At the end of the movie RIP was written on the gravestone of the character who had been killed.

RSVP
- Respondez S'il Vous Plait - French for please reply
The invitation said RSVP so I quickly sent off a note to say that I would be able to attend the party.

SOB
- Son Of a Bitch - a swear word used in anger or when you want to insult someone
The man called me a SOB when I drove in front of him in the parking lot.

SOS
- international code signal of distress, call for help
The sinking ship had been sending out an SOS signal but still nobody was able to come to their rescue.

TA
- Teaching Assistant
After leaving university he was able to get a job as a TA at the junior college.

TB
- Tuberculosis
For various reasons the number of TB cases has been increasing around the world recently.

TBA
- To Be Announced - used when something will be announced later
I looked in the television guide to see what the 7:00 movie would be but it only said TBA.

TGIF
- Thank Goodness (God) It's Friday
The restaurant had a large TGIF sign on the door and all drinks were half price.

TKO
- Technical Knockout
Although the boxer didn't appear to win the fight he was awarded a TKO and won the boxing match.

TLC
- Tender Loving Care
With lots of TLC the house plants did very well under my sister's care.

TP
- Toilet Paper
I went to the store and bought several rolls of TP.

UFO
- Unidentified Flying Object
The number of UFO sightings has increased dramatically recently.

UV
- Ultraviolet - a type of light ray
We used lots of sunscreen in order to protect ourselves from UV rays.

VCR
- Video Cassette Recorder
We bought a new VCR after our old one began to have problems.

VDU
- Video Display Unit
The VDU at work was beginning to cause problems with my eyes so I went to an eye doctor.

VHF
- Very High Frequency
The television wasn't working because of a problem with the VHF connection.

VIP
- Very Important Person
The football player was given the VIP treatment when he went to visit his hometown.

VP
- Vice-President
After serving faithfully as vice-president for many years my father was appointed to the position of company president.

VTR
- Video Tape Recorder
The VTR in the classroom was missing because someone was using it for a meeting.

WC
- Water Closet - toilet
As soon as we entered the park we went directly to the sign that said WC.

YMCA
- Young Men's Christian Association
The English classes at the YMCA were recommended to the students last year.

YWCA
- Young Women's Christian Association
My friend stayed at the YWCA when she visited New York City last summer.

 

[Alina]

Leg & Foot Idioms



Achilles' heel (of someone or something)
- the weak part of a person/place/system/argument which can easily be attacked or criticized
The lack of skilled workers was the Achilles' heel of the government's plans to prepare for the Olympics.

at one`s heels
- close behind someone
The large car was at my heels during my drive into town.

back on one`s feet
- to recover from sickness or trouble, to become independent again
Our teacher was back on her feet shortly after her accident.

balls of one's feet
- the bottom of the feet just under the toes
The balls of my feet were very sore after walking around all day.

bound hand and foot
- to have one's hands and feet tied up
The bank manager was bound hand and foot by the three bank robbers.

Break a leg!
- Good luck! (an expression that is used in theater performances)
"Break a leg!" the director called to the lead actor.

bring (someone) to heel
- to make someone obey you or pay attention to you again after they have stopped doing this
The new supervisor quickly brought her employees to heel.

bring (someone or something) to its/their knees
- to have a negative effect or destroy someone or a group of people, to defeat someone/something
The strike by the teachers quickly brought the school to its knees.

charley horse
- a cramp in one's arm or leg from straining oneself
I got a charley horse after running this morning.

cool one`s heels
- to be forced to wait by someone in power or authority
I was forced to cool my heels in the lobby for an hour while I waited for the job interview.

cost an arm and a leg
- to cost much money
My father paid an arm and a leg for his car and he loves driving it.

dead on one's feet
- very tired, worn out
I was dead on my feet when I returned from shopping all day.

dig in one's heels
- to refuse to change one's mind or course of action
The man decided to dig in his heels and refuse to accept the offer to settle the dispute.

dip one's toe in the water
- to slowly start to do something new to see if you like it or if other people will approve of it
I am doing some volunteer work at the hospital to try and dip my toe in the water of working in the medical field.

down-at-the-heels
- poorly dressed, looking poor
A man who looked down-at-the-heels came to the small cafe for dinner.

drag one`s feet/heels
- to act slowly or reluctantly
Our company is dragging their feet in making a decision to hire new workers.

fall head over heels
- to fall down (and maybe roll over)
The little boy fell head over heels when he fell down in the park.

fall head over heels in love (with someone)
- to fall deeply in love with someone
The young man fell head over heels in love with the girl in his English class.

feet of clay
- a hidden fault or weakness in a respected person
The new manager has feet of clay and may not last very long in his new position.

find one's feet
- to become used to a new situation or experience
I was able to easily find my feet when I started my new job.

follow in (someone's) footsteps
- to do what someone else has done (especially to do the same job as one's father or mother)
The young man followed in his father's footsteps and decided to become an accountant.

footloose and fancy-free
- able to do whatever you want without any obligations
The couple have no children and they are footloose and fancy-free.

from head to toe
- from the top of one's head to one's feet
I dressed warmly from head to toe before I went outside.

get a foothold (somewhere)
- to get an initial position of support, to reach a starting point
The small company was able to get a foothold in the breakfast cereal market.

get a toehold (somewhere)
- to get an initial position of support, to reach a starting point
We were able to finally get a toehold in the textbook market.

get cold feet
- to become timid or afraid to do or try something
I wanted to go to Europe with my cousin but he got cold feet and decided not to go.

get off on the wrong foot
- to make a bad start to a relationship or something else
Unfortunately my relationship with my new teacher got off on the wrong foot.
get one`s feet wet
- to begin to do something for the first time
We do not have to finish this job today but at least we can get our feet wet and start.

get one's foot in the door
- to take the first step in doing something
I hope that I can get my foot in the door and join the new company.

get one's sea legs
- to become accustomed to a ship moving at sea, to become accustomed to something in general
After a few days at the new job I was able to get my sea legs.

get to one's feet
- to stand up
The audience got to their feet at the end of the concert.

go down on one's knees/on bended knee
- to show a lot of emotion when you are asking someone for something
I was forced to go down on my knees and ask my supervisor for some free time from work.

go toe-to-toe with (someone)
- to try hard to beat someone in a fight/competition/argument
Our lawyer went toe-to-toe with the lawyer from the other side.

have a foot in both camps
- to have an interest in or to support each of two opposing groups of people
The new mayor has a foot in both camps of the development dispute.

have a hollow leg
- to be able to eat or drink a lot
I think that my friend has a hollow leg. He never stops eating.

have a lead foot
- to drive too fast
My friend has a lead foot and he has received many speeding tickets.

have a leg to stand on
- to have no support/excuse/evidence for something
The criminal does not have a leg to stand on in his defense of his actions.

have a leg up on (someone)
- to have an advantage in your job/education etc. because someone gives you help or money
The boy went to summer school which should give him a leg up on the other students in his class.

have cold feet
- to become timid or afraid to do or try something
I think that my friend has cold feet and will not go to the party with me.

have foot-in-mouth disease
- to embarrass oneself by a silly mistake
I think that my friend has foot-in-mouth disease. She is always making very stupid statements.

have legs
- (for an idea/plan/topic) to be likely to succeed or to continue
The news story has legs. We will be talking about it for a long time.

have one foot in the grave
- to be near death
Our neighbor has one foot in the grave and I do not expect him to live past this winter.

have one's feet (planted firmly) on the ground
- to have an understanding of what can be done in a certain situation, to have sensible ideas
The new manager seems to have his feet on the ground and should have a sensible solution to our problems.

have two left feet
- to move in a very awkward way when you dance
The man has two left feet and he is a very bad dancer.

keep on one's toes
- to stay alert and watchful
The students were forced to keep on their toes by their new teacher.

keep one's feet (firmly) on the ground
- to remain firmly established
The man is trying hard to keep his feet firmly on the ground with his new job and new apartment.

kick up one`s heels
- to have a good time, to celebrate
We kicked up our heels last night and had a great time at the party.

knee-high to a grasshopper
- not very tall/old (usually used for a child)
My grandfather told me many stories when I was knee-high to a grasshopper.

knock (someone) off their feet
- to surprise or shock someone so much that they do not know what to do, to overwhelm someone
The singer's voice was so beautiful that it knocked me off my feet.
land on one's feet
- to come out of a bad situation successfully
I was able to land on my feet even though our company had recently gone bankrupt.

let the grass grow under one`s feet
- to be idle, to be lazy, to waste time
My friend is never content to let the grass grow under his feet. He is always busy.

light on one's feet
- to be able to move quickly and gracefully
The boxer is light on his feet and he wins many boxing matches.

make one's toes curl
- to make one feel uncomfortable
The story of my friend's car accident made my toes curl.

My foot!
- I do not believe it (said after someone says something that you do not believe and you repeat the statement with the expression "My foot!")
"My foot!" the man exclaimed when he learned that he would not be able to attend the meeting.

on bended knee
- with great humility
I went to my neighbor on bended knee to ask him if I could borrow some tools.

on foot
- by walking
We decided to go to the stadium on foot.

on one's feet
- standing up
I was on my feet for several hours yesterday.

on one`s heels
- close behind, as a constant follower or companion
The dog was on the heels of the small rabbit.

on one`s toes
- alert, ready to act
The speaker kept the audience on their toes by asking many interesting questions.

on (something's) last legs
- something is almost worn out or finished
My car is on its last legs and I will soon have to buy a new one.

on the heels of (something)
- soon after something
There was a large rain storm on the heels of the wind storm.

on tiptoe
- standing or walking on the front part of the feet
I stood on tiptoe to look into the construction site.

pay an arm and a leg (for something)
- to pay a lot of money for something
The woman paid an arm and a leg for her new coat.

play footsie (with someone)
- to attract someone's attention by touching his or her foot under the table, to flirt with someone
The couple at the restaurant were playing footsie under the table.

pull (someone`s) leg
- to fool someone with a humorous account of something, to trick or joke with someone
The man was pulling my leg when he said that I could not enter the movie theater after the movie had started.

put one's best foot forward
- to try and make a good impression, to act one's best
I tried to put my best foot forward during the job interview.

put one's foot down (about something)
- to object to something strongly, to refuse to do something, to refuse to allow something to happen
My sister finally put her foot down and stopped paying for the gas for her daughter's car.

put one's foot in one's mouth
- to say something that is the wrong thing to say in a situation
I put my foot in my mouth and said that I did not like fish just before my friend served me fish at the dinner party.

put one's toe in the water
- to slowly start to do something new to see if you like it or if other people will approve of it
I plan to put my toe in the water to see if the new job is suitable for me.

regain one's feet
- to stand up again after falling, to become independent after financial difficulties
I quickly regained my feet after almost falling on the sidewalk.

set foot (somewhere)
- to go or enter somewhere
The chef has not set foot in her restaurant for several months now.

set one back on one's heels
- to surprise/shock/overwhelm someone
The announcement on the school's loudspeaker set everyone back on their heels.

shake a leg
- to go fast, to hurry
"Please try and shake a leg. We are already late for the concert."

shoe is on the other foot
- the opposite is true, places are changed
My friend always has problems at school but now the shoe is on the other foot and I am the one who is having problems.

shoot oneself in the foot
- to make a mistake or a stupid decision that makes a situation worse
The man shot himself in the foot when he refused to work the extra hours that his boss wanted him too.

sit at (someone's) feet
- to admire someone greatly, to be taught by someone
I would love to sit at the feet of the famous painter.

six feet under
- dead (buried six feet under the ground in a grave)
The criminal lives a bad life and if he does not change he will soon be six feet under.

stand on one's own two feet
- to be independent and self-sufficient
My sister needs to do something to make her daughter stand on her own two feet.

start off on the wrong foot
- to begin something by doing something wrong
I started off on the wrong foot and I have been unable to do my job well since.

step/tread on (someone`s) toes
- to do something that interferes with or offends someone else
I do not want to tread on my supervisor's toes because he is not in a good mood today.

stretch one's legs
- to walk around after sitting down or lying down for a period of time
The airplane passenger decided to stand up and stretch her legs.

sweep (someone) off his or her feet
- to overwhelm someone (with love etc.), to knock someone down
The woman was swept off her feet when she met the young man at the party.
tail between one`s legs
- feeling beaten or humiliated (like a frightened dog as it walks away)
The salesman was forced to leave the company with his tail between his legs after he lied about his sales figures.

take a load off one's feet
- to sit down and relax
I sat down for awhile to take a load off my feet.

take to one's heels
- to run away
The little boys took to their heels when the older boys approached.

think on one's feet
- to think/reason/plan while one is talking or doing something
I had to think on my feet when the flood waters began to approach my house.

throw oneself at (someone's) feet
- to behave in a very humble manner
I threw myself at my friend's feet and asked for forgiveness for the problems that I had caused.

toe the line/mark
- to follow the rules, to do what one is expected to do
The team members were forced to toe the line when the new coach arrived.

turn on one`s heel
- to turn around suddenly
The dog suddenly turned on his heel and ran away.

under (someone's) feet
- to annoy or interrupt someone when they are working
The children were under the mother's feet while she was cooking dinner.

vote with one's feet
- to express one's dissatisfaction with something by leaving or walking away
The students were voting with their feet when they began to withdraw from the science course.

wait on (someone) hand and foot
- to serve someone in every possible way, to do everything for someone
I always wait on my sister hand and foot when she comes to visit me.

with one's tail between one's legs
- feeling beaten or humiliated like a frightened or defeated dog as it walks away
The saleswoman left the sales meeting with her tail between her legs because she did not meet the sales target.

 

[Alina]

Legal & Law
Idioms

after the fact
- after something (a crime etc.) has occurred
We were told, after the fact, that the company would not pay compensation to the fire victims.

an act of God
- an event or accident due to natural causes for which no human is responsible and which could not have been avoided by planning ahead (a storm, an earthquake, a volcano etc.)
The insurance company refused to pay the money because they said that the forest fire was an act of God.

assemble a case (against someone)
- gather the evidence needed to make a legal case against someone
The prosecution was unable to assemble a case against the man.

assume liability
- accept the responsibility for paying the cost of something
The business refused to assume liability for the dangerous products.

at arms length
- at a distance, a transaction in which each person (who is not related to you) acts in their own self-interest
We purchased the property at arm's length and were not involved in any management decisions.

bail (someone) out
- pay a sum of money that allows someone to get out of jail while waiting for a trial
The family of the accused criminal paid much money to bail him out.

beyond a reasonable doubt
- a legal phrase meaning that something is almost certain
The judge sent the man to jail because he believed, beyond a reasonable doubt, that he had committed the crime.

bona fide
- "in good faith" (from Latin), without any element of dishonesty or fraud
The mediator asked the two sides in the dispute to make a bona fide effort to solve the dispute.

a breach of promise
- the breaking of a promise which may also be a breach of contract
The couple was accused of breach of promise when they broke the contract to buy the condominium.

a breach of the peace
- causing a disturbance, violent or disorderly behavior
The man was charged with breach of the peace when he began fighting with the store clerk.

break the law
- fail to obey the law
The woman was forced to quit her job after it was discovered that she had broken the law.

build a case (against someone)
- gather the evidence needed to make a legal case against someone
The legal team was working hard to build a case against the suspected car thief.

burden of proof
- the necessity to prove a disputed fact as required by the laws of evidence
The burden of proof during the trial fell on the man who had accused his employee of theft.

(do something) by the book
- follow all the rules when you do something
Our lawyer is very good and he does everything by the book.

a case of mistaken identity
- incorrectly identify someone
The young man was arrested in a case of mistaken identity.

causing a disturbance
- an offence committed by fighting/screaming/shouting/swearing or being drunk in public
Several of the fans were arrested for causing a disturbance after the football game.

caveat emptor
- "let the buyer beware" (from Latin), a buyer of something is responsible to examine the goods that he or she has purchased
Caveat emptor is a good concept to remember when you are buying a used car.

to cease and desist
- a legal phrase which means to stop doing something and not start again - often used in the form of a cease and desist order
The woman's husband was given a cease and desist order to stop bothering her.

circumstantial evidence
- indirect evidence
My court case was difficult to win as most of my evidence was circumstantial evidence.

citizen's arrest
- an arrest which may be made by somebody without a warrant when somebody commits a crime
The local politician tried to make a citizen's arrest of the violent beggar.

civil action
- legal action that deals with private or civil matters
The couple decided to take civil action over their complaints about their neighbor's dog.

civil law
- the area of the law which deals with civil/private matters such as violations of contracts (different from criminal law)
The lawyer had much experience in civil law and almost none in criminal law.

class action lawsuit
- a lawsuit on behalf of a group of persons in a similar situation or who have suffered a similar wrong
The workers filed a class action lawsuit against the company for damage to their health.

come by (something) honestly
- get something honestly
The woman came by a large amount of money honestly but many people wondered where it had come from.

come clean (with someone/about something)
- be completely honest with someone or confess something to someone
The man decided to come clean with the police and he confessed everything about the crime.

commercial law
- the area of law that governs commerce/trade/merchandising
The lawyer has specialized in commercial law since he first became a lawyer.

common law
- the law that is not written in statutes but is based on custom and court decisions of the past (most often with its origin in the old unwritten law of England)
Through research into previous cases of common law we were able to make a decision on how to proceed with our case.

common property
- real property owned by a group of tenants in a condominium or subdivision which everyone has the right to use, land that is owned by the government which everyone can use
The bicycles were common property and anyone in the apartment complex could use them.

community property
- property belonging jointly to a married couple or acquired during their marriage
The couple decided to divide some of their community property and give it to their children before they left to do volunteer work overseas.

comparitive negligence
- in a civil lawsuit where the fault (negligence) of the two parties is taken into account in assessing damages
The judge determined that it was a case of comparative negligence and the landlord and the tenant were both forced to pay damages.

conclusive evidence
- evidence that is so strong that it proves the point in question beyond reasonable doubt
The witness offered conclusive evidence that led to the conviction of the criminal.

conditional sale
- a contract where the title to the goods being sold will not go to the purchaser until a certain condition is fulfilled
The sale of the house was a conditional sale and I had to talk to my bank manager before the deal was complete.

consecutive sentences
- sentences that are given to someone and which run one immediately after another
The criminal was given three consecutive sentences for the murder of the young girls.

contempt of court
- disobedience of the orders and authority of the court, disrespect for the court process
The judge ordered the man to be held in contempt of court when he was several hours late for the trial.

crack down on (someone or something)
- enforce a rule or law more strictly
The police recently decided to crack down on speeding cars.

criminal law
- the law that is concerned with crimes by people against the state/society with the function to punish the offender
The university law department had one of the best criminal law libraries in the country.

dangerous offender
- a person who has been convicted of a violent or sexual crime and is a continuimg threat to others
Several dangerous offenders escaped from the prison last week.

disorderly conduct
- disturbing the peace
The football fans were charged with disorderly conduct after the fight during the game.

disturbing the peace
- disorderly/violent /threatening conduct, an interruption of the peace and tranquillity of the community
Two men were arrested for disturbing the peace when they got into a fight in front of the shopping mall.

draw up an agreement/contract
- put something into writing, prepare a written statement
I spent several hours with my lawyer trying to draw up an agreement to buy the small business.

due process (of law)
- the rights that each individual has to be protected by the law
Although the man was accused of theft by his employer, he knew that he was entitled to due process of law and would have no problems proving his innocence.

examination for discovery
- an oral examination that is taken under oath in which each side to a lawsuit has the right to examine the other side's witnesses before a trial or hearing
The man spent several hours in an examination for discovery session in connection with his case.

expert witness
- an expert or specialist whose opinions are used as evidence in a trial or hearing
The lawyer called in an expert witness to discuss the handwriting of the accused man.

extenuating circumstances
- special circumstances that explain an irregular or improper way of doing something
Because of extenuating circumstances, the man was able to avoid going to jail for stealing the money.

false arrest
- unlawful physical detention
It was a case of false arrest when the man was arrested as a suspect in the robbery.

false pretenses
- intentionally misrepresent facts to cheat or defraud someone
The woman was acting under false pretenses when she went to the bank and asked for a loan.

false witness
- a person who deliberately offers inaccurate evidence
The man was accused of being a false witness after he testified at the trial.

fee simple
- absolute title or ownership of real estate
The property was sold fee simple by the woman.

for cause
- reasons which the law accepts as justified
The man was fired from his job for cause after several violations of his contract.

free and clear
- own something fully with no money owed or other restrictions on the item or property
My parents own their home free and clear.

give notice
- inform an employer, employee, landlord or tenant that a contractual agreement will end
The woman gave notice that she will leave her job next month.

go into effect
- a law or rule becomes effective or in use
The new parking law will go into effect at midnight.

go legit
- begin a legitimate (honest) business after having been operating an illegal business
The brothers decided to go legit and get the proper licenses for their small business.

go on record
- make an official statement rather than an informal one
The mayor of the city plans to go on record as being opposed to the new convention center.

goods and chattels
- personal property (as opposed to land and buildings)
All of the goods and chattels of the man were seized by the bank to pay for the bad loan.

grace period
- a period of time (often about 30 days) after the due date for something
I was given a 30-day grace period in which to pay the speeding ticket.

gray area
- an area of a subject that is not clearly defined
Smoking outside of public buildings is a gray area that the smoking law does not deal with.

grounded in fact
- based on facts
The decisions that were made during the legal discussions were grounded in fact.

grounds for (something)
- a cause or reason for legal action such as a lawsuit
The fact that the woman had lied to her employer was grounds for her being quickly fired from the company.

have a brush with the law
- have a brief experience or encounter with the law
The man had a brush with the law when he was a teenager.

have a case (against someone)
- have lots of evidence that can be used against someone
The police do not have a case against the young woman.

(do not) have a leg to stand on
- do not have the facts to support or win an argument or a legal charge that is made against you (usually used in the negative)
The apartment manager tried to evict the young family but he didn't have a leg to stand on and he lost the case in court.

have a run-in with (the law/someone)
- have a bad or unpleasant encounter with the law/someone
The couple had a run-in with the law when they were on their holiday.

have (someone) dead to rights
- prove someone absolutely guilty
The police had the man dead to rights when they videotaped him stealing the car.

have (someone) in one's pocket
- have control over someone
The businessmen have the mayor of the city in their pocket.

have the right to (do something)
- have the freedom or legal right to do something
The lawyer did not have the right to ask personal questions during the trial.

a hung jury
- a jury that is divided and unable to agree on a verdict
There was a hung jury after the trial of the pop star.

implicate (someone) in (something)
- suggest that someone is involved in something
The president of the company was implicated in the scandal over the expense account.

in abeyance
- the temporary suspension of an activity or a ruling
My grandfather's estate settlement was in abeyance while the lawyers looked at his will in more detail.

in accordance with (something)
- conforming to something
The new contract was written in accordance with the new employment law.

in arrears
- late or overdue (usually for bills and money)
My account at the department store was in arrears so the manager phoned me.

in bad faith
- insincerity, with bad or dishonest intentions, the intention to deceive someone
The manager was acting in bad faith when she refused to give the documents to the other department.

in consideration of (something)
- after thinking about something
In consideration of the amount of time that I had spent on the case I charged a lot of money for my services.

in/have custody of (someone or something)
- being guarded or protected by someone or some group
The police put the man in custody last night.

in debt
- owing money
The woman is in debt to the furniture store.

in dispute
- something that is in disagreement
Most parts of the agreement are not in dispute.

in effect
- a law that is necessary to obey
The new law has been in effect for three months now.

 

[Alina]

Legal & Law
Idioms

in favor of
- in agreement with
The members of the panel voted in favor of postponing the meeting.

in good faith
- with good and honest intentions
I went to the mediation session in good faith to try and resolve the dispute.

in kind
- in goods rather than in money
We were paid in kind for our time planning for the convention.

in lieu of (something)
- instead of something
In lieu of being paid for our overtime work we were given extra time off.

in perpetuity
- forever, eternally
The man was promised by the city that he would receive a discount on his water bill in perpetuity.

in person
- personally, yourself
The man was asked to appear in the courtroom in person.

in plain English/language
- in simple and easy to understand language
The legal contract was written in plain English so that we could easily understand it.

in private
- secretly, not openly or in public
The discussion between the two judges took place in private.

in public
- openly so others can see, not secretly
The new smoking law does not permit smoking in public.

in receipt of (something)
- having received something
My lawyer was already in receipt of the documents when he phoned me.

in reference to (something)
- concerning/regarding/about something
The letter was in reference to my earlier request for legal advice.

in (someone's) name
- in someone's ownership, as someone's property
We put the property in my name so that it would be easier to get a loan on it.

in the act of (doing something)
- while doing something
The man was arrested in the act of stealing money from the cash register in the store.

in the right
- on the legal or moral side of an issue, not guilty
I believed that I was in the right so I decided to take the case to court.

in the wrong
- on the illegal or wrong side of an issue, guilty
The man was in the wrong and was easily found guilty by the court.

in trouble with the law
- due to be punished by the law
The teenager has often been in trouble with the law.

in trust of (someone)
- under the responsibility or care of someone
The money was given to the child in trust of his grandparents.

invasion of privacy
- the act of doing something so that someone loses his or her privacy
Some people think that it is an invasion of privacy when there are video cameras in public places.

invest someone with the power or legal right to (do something)
- give someone the power or right to do something
The police were invested with the power to enforce the decision of the court.

jump bail
- fail to appear in court and therefore give up the money that you paid for bail
The criminal jumped bail and went to another city to hide.

last will and testament
- one's will (especially its latest edition) - a will is the legal term to describe what a person wants to do with his or her property after they die
I went to a lawyer in order to write my last will and testament.

law-abiding
- obeying the law
The couple were law-abiding citizens who never had any problems with the law.

a law unto oneself
- someone who makes his or her own laws or rules
The manager was a law unto herself and thought that she could do whatever she liked.

lay down the law
- state firmly what the rules or laws are for something
We decided to lay down the law regarding time off from work without pay for our employees.

a leading question
- a question to a witness designed to suggest or produce the reply desired by the questioner
The lawyer asked the witness a leading question but she didn't answer it in the way that the lawyer had expected.

legal age
- the age when a person can do things such as buy cigarettes or when they are responsible for their actions
The young men were not of legal age and were unable to buy any cigarettes.

let (someone) go
- free someone from prison or from an arrest
The courts decided to let the man go because there was no evidence to keep him in prison.

lodge a complaint (against someone)
- make a complaint against someone
The man decided to lodge a complaint against the company that had built the apartment building.

a matter of record
- a fact or event that is kept officially as a legal record
It was a matter of record how much the mayor had spent on the foreign trip.

mineral rights
- the right to take minerals or money from the minerals on one's property
The farmer owned all of the mineral rights on his property.

moral turpitude
- behavior that is contrary to accepted rules of behavior
The judge accused the lawyer of moral turpitude after his questionable tactics to defend his client.

next of kin
- someone's closest relative or relatives
The police notified the next of kin of the woman who was killed in the car accident.

null and void
- worthless, canceled
The check which was written by the company was null and void.

of one's own free will/accord
- by one's own choice
The woman signed the contract to buy the car of her own free will.

off the record
- unofficial, informal
The judge told the lawyers off the record what they could expect the lawsuit to settle for.

offensive weapon
- any weapon capable of being used to cause physical injury or harm
The young man with the knife was charged with carrying an offensive weapon.

on condition that
- providing that
The man was not sent to prison on condition that he do volunteer work in the community.

on probation
- serving a period of probation - probation is when a person who is guilty of a crime is allowed to be free but is supervised by the government
The man was on probation for robbing a small store last year.

on record
- an official recorded statement or fact that everyone may know
The businessman was on record as having refused to accept any illegal money.

out on bail
- released from jail after you pay the bail bond money - the bail bond is the money that you must pay to guarantee that you will appear in court
The man was out on bail while he was waiting for his trial.

out on parole
- out of jail but being supervised by the police
While the criminal was out on parole he was forced to meet with a social worker every two weeks.

pay one's debt (to society)
- serve a sentence for a crime (usually in prison)
The man was forced to pay his debt to society by going to prison for three years.

a peeping Tom
- someone who looks into someone's window (usually a woman) and watches them
There were several reports of a peeping Tom near our apartment building.

penalty clause
- a section in a contract specifing an amount to be paid if the contract is not fulfilled
There is a penality clause in our apartment rental agreement if we decide to move out early.

post mortem
- a medical examination of a body made after death to determine the cause of death
The authorities performed a post mortem on the dead man to try and determine the cause of his death.

power of attorney
- a legal document granting authority for one person to act as another's representative
The woman was given power of attorney over her mother's business.

a preliminary hearing
- a hearing before a judge to determine if there is enough evidence to charge someone with a crime
The man appeared at a preliminary hearing to determine the nature of the crime.

prima facie
- "at first view" (from Latin), someting is assumed to be true in the absence of evidence to the contrary
Prima facie it appeared that the man had enough evidence to take legal action against his employer.

privy to something
- have unique or special knowledge about something
I was not privy to the conversation regarding the new business plan so I was unable to comment on it.

punitive damages
- extra damages awarded to someone in order to punish them and to deter others
The patient was awarded a large amount of money as punitive damages in his lawsuit against the hospital.

put (something) down in black and white
- write something down, make or draw up a contract
I put my strategy for the meeting down in black and white.

quid pro quo
- "something for something" (from Latin), mutual concessions made by the parties in a transaction
The government and the teachers gave up some of their contract demands in a quid pro quo effort to solve their dispute.

the responsible party
- the party that is legally or morally obliged to do something or accept the blame for something
The responsible party was forced to compensate the victims of his crimes.

run afoul of the law
- get into trouble with the law
The young man ran afoul of the law and was taken into police custody.

serve notice on (someone)
- deliver a legal announcement or document to someone
The company served notice on the union that they would be closing their factory next year.

set (someone) free
- release someone from prison or captivity
The police set the man free when they decided that there was not enough evidence to keep him in prison.

to show cause
- to give a reason or explanation for something
The lawyer was asked to show cause as to why the man was guilty of the crime.

to show good faith
- to demonstrate good intentions or good will
We always show good faith when we meet the opposing side in our contract negotiations.

to sign on the dotted line
- to put your signature on a contract or other important document
We went to the lawyer's office to sign on the dotted line of the contract to start the new business.

signed, sealed and delivered
- formally and officially sign something
The contract was signed, sealed and delivered before we went home for the evening.

to skip bail
- to fail to appear in court and therefore give up the money that you paid for bail
The amount of bail was set very high so the accused criminal would not skip bail.

small/fine print
- the part of a document or contract that may contain important information but is not easily noticed because the print is small
It is a good idea to read the small print before you buy most products.

stand one's ground
- stand up for one's rights
I stood my ground and refused to do anything that was not honest and the right thing to do.

the straight and narrow
- a straight and law-abiding route through life
The young man was back on the straight and narrow after his discussions with the police officer and social worker.

to stretch the truth
- to misrepresent the truth (a little)
The witness was stretching the truth when she told the judge her excuse for the crime.

subject to (something)
- depending on something
The sale of the house is subject to our getting a report from the housing inspector.

take effect
- a law or rule becomes effective or in use
There is a new law related to Internet advertising that will soon take effect.

take the law into one's own hands
- try to administer the law on your own
The transit supervisor was taking the law into his own hands when he tried to arrest the man.

take precedence over (someone or something)
- have the right to come before someone or something else
The protection of children and the family takes precedence over the laws regarding evicting people from an apartment after they have a baby.

to the letter
- precisely, exactly
The lawyer always suggests that his clients follow the judge's decisions to the letter.

trumped-up
- false and exaggerated, invented by fraud or criminal deception
The business owner was arrested on trumped-up charges.

turn a blind eye to (someone or something)
- pretend not to see someone or something that may be troublesome
The police often turn a blind eye to people when they cross the street on a red light.

(to be) under a cloud (of suspicion)
- to be suspected of doing something wrong or illegal
The manager of the coffee shop was fired from her job under a cloud of suspicion.

under age
- below the legal age to do something
The boy was under age and was not able to buy any cigarettes.

under arrest
- arrested by the police before being charged with a crime
The man was placed under arrest for stealing a car.

vicarious liability
- the liability of one person through the act of another
It was a case of vicarious liability when the man was charged because of his friend's behavior.

with impunity
- without risk of punishment
The man was able to continue to abuse his position and clients with impunity.

with no strings attached
- with no obligations attached
The man was forced to agree to the terms of the agreement with no strings attached.

 

[Alina]

Medical Idioms




at death's door
- very near death
The sales manager was at death's door after having a heart attack.

back on one's feet
- to be physically healthy again
My mother is back on her feet after being sick for two weeks.

black out
- to lose consciousness, to faint, to pass out
The football player blacked out after being hit by the other player.

break out in (something)
- to begin showing a rash or other skin disorder
I broke out in a terrible rash after eating the raw shrimp at the restaurant.

breathe one's last
- to die
The man breathed his last after a long illness.

bring (someone) around
- to restore someone to health or consciousness, to cure someone
The medical workers were able to bring the man around after the accident.

bring (someone) to
- to restore someone to consciousness from sleep/anesthesia/hypnosis/fainting
We tried hard to bring the woman to after the car accident.

catch a cold
- to get a cold
I caught a bad cold last week and had to miss three weeks of work.

catch one's death of cold
- to become very ill (with a cold/flu etc.)
The little boy was told to be careful in the rain or he would catch his death of cold.

check-up
- an examination of a patient by a doctor
I went to have my annual check-up last week.

clean bill of health
- a report or certificate that a person or animal is healthy
The doctor gave me a clean bill of health when I visited him last month.

come down with (something)
- to become sick with something, to catch something
My niece came down with a bad cold and was unable to visit me last week.

couch doctor
- a psychoanalyst who puts his patients on a couch
The man was sent to see a couch doctor because of his his problems at work.

a dose/taste of one's own medicine
- the same treatment that one gives to others (usually a negative meaning)
Our boss got a taste of his own medicine when people began to treat him badly like he treats others.

draw blood
- to make someone bleed, to get blood from someone
The doctor decided to draw blood from the patient to check his blood sugar level.

fall ill
- to become sick or ill
The man fell ill last winter and has not recovered yet.

feel on top of the world
- to feel very healthy
I have been feeling on top of the world since I quit my job.

flare up
- to begin again suddenly (an illness or a disease)
My mother's skin problem flared up when she started to use the new laundry soap.

a flare-up
- a sudden worsening of a health condition
My father's arthritus flares up every winter.

go under the knife
- to be operated on in surgery
The woman went under the knife at the hospital last evening.

hang out one's shingle
- to give public notice of the opening of a doctor's office etc.
The doctor decided to hang out his shingle as soon as he finished medical school.

have a physical (examination)
- to get a medical check-up
Our company sent all the employees to have a physical last week.

head shrinker
- a psychiatrist
The man went to see a head shrinker after his recent problems at work.

just what the doctor ordered
- exactly what is needed or wanted
A nice hot bath was just what the doctor ordered after the long day at work.

look the picture of health
- to be in good health
My uncle looked the picture of health when I saw him last week.

on the mend
- healing, becoming better
My grandfather is on the mend after he broke his leg last week.

out cold
- to be unconscious, to be in a faint
When the patient entered the operating room he was out cold because of the anesthesia.

over the worst
- to be recovering from an illness
My brother is over the worst since his skiing accident last month.
pull through
- to recover from a serious illness
The car accident was very bad and I do not think that the driver will pull through.

run a fever/temperature
- to have a higher than normal body temperature
The little boy is running a temperature and should stay in bed all day.

run down
- to be in poor condition
My father worked very hard last month and has become run down.

run some tests
- to do some medical tests on a patient
The doctor decided to run some tests on the patient.

splitting headache
- a severe headache
I have been suffering from a splitting headache all morning.

take a turn for the worse
- to become sicker
My aunt took a turn for the worse last week and she is still in the hospital.
take (someone's) temperature
- to measure someone's body temperature
The nurse took my temperature when I went to the hospital yesterday.

throw up
- to vomit
The woman threw up several times after eating the bad shellfish.

under the weather
- to be not feeling well
My boss has been under the weather all week and has not come to work during that time.

 

[Alina]

Money

above par
- more than average, above normal, more than the face value of a bond/stock/currency
The currency was selling above par at the small exchange shop.

almighty dollar
- money when it is viewed as more important than anything else
The man spent most of his life chasing the almighty dollar.

ante up
- to pay money, to produce a necessary amount of money
I had to ante up a lot of money to get my car fixed.

as phony as a three-dollar bill
- phony, not genuine
The man who was asking for donations for the charity was as phony as a three-dollar bill.

as poor as a church mouse
- very poor
The young mother is as poor as a church mouse and she has little money to feed her family.

as sound as a dollar
- very secure and dependable
The company president believes that his business is as sound as a dollar.

at a premium
- at a higher price than usual because of something special
The tickets for the final basketball game were selling at a premium.

at all costs
- at any expense of time/effort/money
We plan to send our child to a good school at all costs.

back on one`s feet
- to return to good financial health
My sister is back on her feet after losing her job last year.

balance the books/accounts
- to make sure that all money is accounted for by using generally accepted accounting methods
The small business owner works very hard to balance the books of her company.

below par
- lower than average, below normal, less than the face value of a bond/stock/currency
The government bonds were selling at a price that was below par.

bet one`s bottom dollar
- to bet all that one has on something because you are sure that you will win
I would bet my bottom dollar that the accounting manager will be late again today.

bet on the wrong horse
- to base one`s plans on a wrong guess about the results of something
The businessman is betting on the wrong horse if he continues to support the other candidate for mayor.
beyond one's means
- more than one can afford
The young man was living beyond his means before he got his first job.

born with a silver spoon in one`s mouth
- to be born to wealth and comfort, to be born rich
The new student in our class was born with a silver spoon in his mouth and he has never worked in his life.
bottom dollar
- one`s last dollar
The man spent his bottom dollar on some new clothes to wear for his job interview.
bottom line
- the line in a financial statement that shows net income or loss
The bottom line in the company's financial statement was much worse than expected.
bottom line
- the final result, the main point
The bottom line was that we were unable to attend the conference because of our busy schedule.
bottom out
- to reach the lowest point
The value of the company's stock has recently appeared to bottom out.

bread and butter
- one's income, the source of someone's food
The man's business is his bread and butter and he works very hard to make it successful.

break even
- to have income equal to expenses
Our company was able to break even after only six months of operation.
break the bank
- to win all the money at a casino gambling table, to use all of one's money
The man broke the bank at the casino and walked away with a lot of money.
bring home the bacon
- to earn the family living, to earn a salary
I have been working hard all month bringing home the bacon for my family.
burn a hole in one`s pocket
- to stimulate someone to spend money quickly
The money was burning a hole in the man's pocket when he decided to go to the casino.
buy off (someone)
- to give money to someone to stop them from doing their duty
The man tried to buy off the politician but he refused to agree to the plan.
buy (something) for a song
- to buy something cheaply
I was able to buy my first house for a song.

by check
- by using a check
I paid for the hotel room by check.

can take (something) to the bank
- a statement is true, something is guaranteed to be successful
I believe that we can take the new business plan to the bank.

cash-and-carry
- selling something for cash only and with no delivery
We were able to get a good price on a sofa in a cash-and-carry deal at the furniture store.
cash in (something)
- to exchange coupons or bonds for their value in money
I cashed in a large number of my savings bonds in order to get some money to buy a car.
cash in on (something)
- to make money from an opportunity
The former basketball player cashed in on his popularity to open a very successful restaurant.
cash in one`s chips
- to exchange or sell something to get some money (from the chips used in a poker game)
I decided to cash in my chips and go back to school.
cash on the barrelhead
- money paid in cash when something is bought
I gave the salesman cash on the barrelhead for the used car.
caught short
- to not have enough money when you need it
I was caught short and had to borrow some money from my father last week.
cheapskate
- a person who will not spend much money, a stingy person
My friend is a cheapskate and will not even go to a movie with me.
chicken feed
- a small amount of money
The amount of money that I paid for the used car was chicken feed.
chip in (money)
- to contribute money for something, to pay jointly for something
Everybody in our office chipped in some money to buy a wedding present for our boss.

chisel (someone) out of (something)
- to cheat someone to get money or something
The criminal tried to chisel the small business owner out of much money.

clean up
- to make a lot of money, to make a big profit
I cleaned up at the horse races last year and I still have some of the money left.

cold hard cash
- cash/coins/bills
I paid for the stereo in cold hard cash.
control the purse strings
- to be in charge of the money in a business or a household
My sister controls the purse strings in her family.

cook the books/accounts
- to illegally change information in the accounting books in a company, to write down false numbers in the accounting books in a company
The accountant was cooking the books for more than one year before he was caught.
cost a pretty penny
- to cost a lot of money
It is going to cost a pretty penny to get my car fixed.

cost an arm and a leg
- to cost a lot of money
My new stereo system cost an arm and a leg.

cross (someone's) palm with silver
- to give money to someone in payment for a service
We had to cross the apartment manager's palm with silver in order to rent the apartment quickly.

cut one's losses
- to reduce one's losses of money or something else
The owners decided to sell the soccer team in order to cut their losses.

cut (someone) a check
- to write a check (usually used for a company which automatically produces a check with a computer)
The company cut me a check to pay me for my extra work.

cut (someone) off without a penny
- to stop giving someone a regular amount of money, to leave someone no money in a will
The wealthy businessman cut his son off without a penny when the young man refused to work hard.

cut-rate
- a price that is lower than usual
We went to a cut-rate furniture store to buy some new furniture for our apartment.
deadbeat
- a person who never pays the money that he or she owes
Recently, the government is trying to solve the problem of deadbeat dads who do not support their families.
a dime a dozen
- easy to get and therefore of little value
Used computers are a dime a dozen and have very little value.

dirt cheap
- extremely cheap
The land in the country was dirt cheap when we bought it.

dollar for dollar
- considering the cost
Dollar for dollar the new hotel is the best bargain in this city for tourists.

down-and-out
- having no money
My friend was down-and-out for many years before he got a job and began to make money.
draw interest
- (for money) to earn interest while it is on deposit at a bank
We put the money into our bank account so that it would draw interest.

Dutch treat
- a situation where each person pays his or her own share of the expenses
The movie was a Dutch treat so I did not have to pay for my date.
easy money
- money that you do not need to work hard to get
I was able to make some easy money from my job during the summer.

face value
- the value or price printed on a stamp/bond/note/paper money
The face value of the stamp was very low but it was worth a lot of money.
a fast buck
- money that is earned quickly and easily (and sometimes dishonestly)
The company tried to make a fast buck on the property but actually they lost a lot of money.

feed the kitty
- to contribute money to a special collection
Everybody had to feed the kitty in order to collect money for the party.

feel like a million dollars/bucks
- to feel wonderful, to feel well and healthy
Although I have been sick for a few weeks I feel like a million dollars today.
flat broke
- to have no money at all
I am flat broke and do not have enough money to pay my rent.

float a loan
- to get a loan, to arrange for a loan
I decided to float a loan to get some money to buy a new car.

a fool and his money are soon parted
- if a person acts unwisely with money he or she will soon lose it
A fool and his money are soon parted and when the young man got the money from his father he soon spent it.

foot the bill
- to pay for something
My sister will foot the bill for her daughter's education if she decides to go to university.
for a song
- at a low price, cheaply
We bought the car for a song and will use it on our holidays.

(not) for love or money
- not for anything, not for any price (usually used in the negative)
I would not want to have that man's job for love or money.

for my money
- used before you say something to show that it is your opinion
"For my money, I believe that the new company policy will not be successful."

for peanuts
- for very little money
The man had no money and was willing to work for peanuts.

fork money out (for something)
- to pay for something
I had to fork much money out to get my car fixed.

fork over (some money)
- to pay money for something
I forked over much money for the painting that is hanging on my wall.

free and clear
- (to own something) completely and without owing any money
Our neighbor owns his house free and clear.

from rags to riches
- from poverty to wealth
The man went from rags to riches with his hard work and effort.

get a run for one's money
- to receive a challenge, to receive what one deserves
The man got a run for his money when he decided to volunteer for the cleaning project.

get along on a shoestring
- to be able to live on very little money
The woman was forced to get along on a shoestring when she was a student.

get one's money's worth
- to get everything (or even a little more) that one has paid for
We got our money's worth when we were able to spend the day at the water park.

give (someone) a blank check
- to let someone act as they want or as they think is necessary (like a check that has the amount left blank)
The police department gave the new committee a blank check to try and solve the homeless problem.

give (someone) a run for their money
- to give someone a challenge, to give someone what they deserve
The young candidate for the city park board gave the more experienced candidates a run for their money during the election.

go broke
- to lose all one`s money, to become bankrupt
My uncle started a company last year but it quickly went broke.

go Dutch
- to share in the cost of a meal or some other event
We decided to go Dutch when we went to the restaurant for dinner.

go to the expense (of doing something)
- to pay the cost of doing something
I did not want to go to the expense of buying a new sofa for our apartment.

going rate
- the current rate
The going rate for used bicycles is not very much.

gravy train
- a job or some work that pays more than it is worth
The job was a gravy train and I made a lot of money when I worked there.
grease (someone`s) palm
- to pay for a special favor or for extra help, to bribe someone
We had to grease the palm of the hotel manager to get a room.
a handout
- a gift of money (usually from the government)
The bus company has received many handouts from the government.
hard up
- to not have much money
The man is always hard up for money and he often wants to borrow some.

have an itchy/itching palm
- to ask for tips or money
The hotel clerk has an itchy palm and he is always asking for money.

have one's hand in the till
- to be stealing money from a company or an organization
The clerk had her hand in the till so we decided to fire her.

have money to burn
- to have very much money, to have more money than is needed
My aunt has money to burn and she is always travelling somewhere.
have sticky fingers
- to be a thief
The new employee has sticky fingers and many things in the store have disappeared.

have the Midas touch
- to have the ability to make money easily (King Midas turned everything that he touched into gold)
My uncle has the Midas touch and every business that he starts makes a lot of money.

(not) have two cents to rub together
- to not have much money
My friend does not have two cents to rub together and he is usually broke.

He who pays the piper calls the tune
- the person who pays for something has control over how the money is used
He who pays the piper calls the tune and the owner of the sports team can decide who will play on the team.

head over heels in debt
- to be deeply in debt
My cousin is head over heels in debt and has no money at all.

heads or tails
- the face of a coin or the other side of the coin
The referee threw the coin to see if it would be heads or tails.

highway robbery
- the charging of a high price for something
The amount of money that the company is charging for its services is highway robbery.
hit pay dirt
- to make a valuable discovery, to find the dirt in which much gold is found
We hit pay dirt when we got the rights to distribute the new product.
hit the jackpot
- to make a lot of money suddenly (usually from gambling)
We hit the jackpot at the casino and came home with a lot of money.

honor (someone's) check
- to accept someone's personal check
The bank refused to honor my check for the apartment rent.

ill-gotten gains
- money acquired in a dishonest or illegal manner
The ill-gotten gains of the politician were the subject of a large government inquiry.

in clover
- in a very good financial situation
My aunt and uncle have been in clover since my uncle got his new job.

in debt
- owing money
The man is in debt and owes much money to many people.

in kind
- in goods rather than money
I paid for the work on my car in kind rather than with actual cash.

in the black
- to be profitable, to make money
Our company has been in the black since it started.

in the chips
- with much money, wealthy
My grandfather was in the chips after they discovered oil on his farm.

in the hole
- to be in debt, to owe money
I think that we are now in the hole and our business is having trouble.

in the money
- to be wealthy, to suddenly get a lot of money
I am in the money now that I won the lottery.

in the red
- to be unprofitable, to be losing money, to be in debt
The company has been in the red for several months now and will soon go bankrupt.

jack up (the price)
- to raise the price of something
The store jacked up the prices of their summer stock at the beginning of the summer.

keep books
- to keep records of money that is earned and spent
Our accountant is keeping careful books of all the transactions in the company.

keep the wolf from the door
- to earn enough money to maintain oneself at a minimal level of existence
The job does not pay very well but it is enough to keep the wolf from the door.

kickback
- money paid illegally for favorable treatment
The politician received several illegal kickbacks and he was forced to resign.

last of the big spenders
- a humorous way to describe someone who spends a lot of money for something (although he or she may not want to spend it)
The man is pretending to be the last of the big spenders as he spends money on his family.

lay away money
- to save money
I am trying hard to lay away enough money to buy a car.

lay out (money)
- to spend/pay money
I had to lay out a lot of money to get my car fixed so now I do not have much money.

layaway plan
- a plan in which one pays some money as a downpayment and then pays a little more when one is able and the store holds the goods until the full price is paid
We bought our furniture on the layaway plan at the store.

let the buyer beware
- let the person who buys something check to see if the product is in good condition or has no problems
Consumers of electronic products should remember the motto of "let the buyer beware," when they buy something.

live beyond one's means
- to spend more money than you can afford
The girl is living beyond her means and will soon have some serious financial problems.

live from hand to mouth
- to live on little money
My friend has been living from hand to mouth and is now using his savings from his previous job.

live high off the hog
- to have the best of everything, to live in great comfort
My mother and father have been living high off the hog since they won the lottery.

live within one's means
- to spend no more money than one has
I try very hard to live within my means so that I do not have any financial pressure.

loaded
- to have lots of money
My uncle is loaded and he has lots of money.

look like a million dollars
- to look very good
The woman looked like a million dollars when she went to accept the award.

lose one`s shirt
- to lose all or most of one`s money
I lost my shirt in a small business and now I have no money.

(not) made of money
- to not have a lot of money (usually used in the negative to say that you do not have enough money for something)
My friend is not made of money and he has difficulty paying for his children's education.

make a bundle/pile
- to make a lot of money
I made a bundle on the stock market and decided to buy a house.

make a check out to (someone)
- to write a check with someone's name on it
I made a check out to the man who repaired my bathroom.

make a fast/quick buck
- to make money with little effort
The young man is very lazy and he is always trying to make a fast buck.
make a killing
- to make a large amount of money
My sister made a killing when she worked overseas in the oil industry.
make a living
- to earn enough money to live
The man works hard to make a living and support his family.

make ends meet
- to have enough money to pay one`s bills
I have been having trouble making ends meet because the rent for my apartment is very high.

make good money
- to earn a large amount of money
My friend makes good money at his new job.

make/spend/lose money hand over fist
- to make/spend/lose money fast and in large amounts
My cousin has been making money hand over fist with her business.
money burns a hole in (someone's) pocket
- someone spends money very quickly, someone is stimulated to spend money quickly
The money was burning a hole in my pocket so I went downtown to spend it.
money doesn't grow on trees
- money is valuable and you should not waste it
Money doesn't grow on trees and it is necessary to work hard and manage it well.

money is no object
- it does not matter how much something costs
Money is no object and I plan to stay in the best hotels during my holiday.
(one's) money is on (someone)
- you think that someone will win a competition/sports event etc.
My money is on the young horse that is racing for the first time today.

money is the root of all evil
- money causes most problems/wrongdoings in life
Many people believe that money is the root of all evil and that it causes people many problems.
money talks
- money gives one the power to get or do what he or she wants
Money talks and when I go to a restaurant with my rich uncle we always get a very good table.

nest egg
- the money that someone has saved up
I made a nest egg when I was working and I am now able to go to school.
nickel and dime (someone)
- to charge many small amounts of money (which eventually equal a large amount of money)
The small repairs on my car are beginning to nickel and dime me.

not for love nor money
- not for anything (no matter what the amount/price)
I will not meet with that woman for love nor money.

on a dime
- in a very small space
I had to turn my car on a dime when I entered the parking lot.
on a shoestring
- with little money to spend, on a very low budget
My cousin started his business on a shoestring but now it is very successful.
on credit
- to buy something using credit
I bought the new stereo on credit.

on sale
- for sale at a discounted price
The DVD's were on sale when I bought them.

on the house
- paid for by the owner of a business
We went to the restaurant and all of the drinks were on the house.

on the money
- exactly the right place/time/amount of something, exactly the right idea
Our supervisor's estimate of next year's budget is right on the money.

on the take
- to be accepting bribes
The agent at the border crossing seems to be on the take.

 

[Alina]

Money

out-of-pocket expenses
- the actual amount of money that someone spends for something
My out-of-pocket expenses for the business trip were very low.

pad the bill
- to add false expenses to a bill
The plumber who was fixing our plumbing system was padding the bill so we got a new plumber.

pass the buck
- to make another person decide something, to put the responsibility or blame on someone else
Our supervisor always passes the buck and he will never take responsibility for what he does.

pass the hat
- to collect money for something (sometimes by passing a hat around to put the money into)
We passed the hat to collect some money for the party.

pay a king's ransom (for something)
- to pay a great deal for something
I had to pay a king's ransom for a ticket to the final basketball game.

pay an arm and a leg for (something)
- to pay a high price for something
I paid an arm and a leg for my car but I am not very happy with it.
pay as you go
- to pay for things as they occur (rather than on credit)
I will have to pay as I go if I go to graduate school next year.

pay in advance
- to pay for something before you get/use it
I must pay in advance for the bus company to deliver my boxes.

pay off (someone)
- to pay someone a bribe for something
The owner of the store had to pay off the gang who were threatening him.

pay off (something)
- to pay the final payment for something
I paid off my student loan after one year of work.
pay one's own way
- to pay the costs for something yourself
The young girl paid her own way through college.

pay the piper
- to face the results of one's actions, to receive punishment for something
I was forced to pay the piper when I realized that I had been late with my university essay.

pay through the nose
- to pay a very high price, to pay too much
I paid through the nose when I had to buy gasoline in the small town.
pay up
- to pay now
I had to pay up my parking tickets or I would lose my driving license.

payoff
- a bribe
The mayor received a payoff and was forced to resign from his position.
pennies from heaven
- money that you do not expect to get
The money that I received from the government was like pennies from heaven and I was very happy.

penny for one`s thoughts
- a request to tell someone what he or she is thinking about
"I will give you a penny for your thoughts," I said to my friend who was looking out of the window.
a penny saved is a penny earned
- saving money by not spending it is the same as getting money from working
A penny saved is a penny earned and it is better to be thrifty sometimes than to only work more hours.

penny-wise and pound foolish
- to be careful or thrifty in small expenditures but careless or wasteful in large ones
My friend is penny-wise and pound foolish and she economizes on small things but wastes all of her money on big things.
pick up the tab/check
- to pay the bill for something
I picked up the tab for my sister and her three children at the restaurant.
piggy bank
- a small bank/container for saving money that is sometimes in the shape of a pig
The small boy saved much money in his piggy bank.
pinch pennies
- to be careful with money, to be thrifty
My grandmother always pinches pennies and never spends her money foolishly.
play the market
- to invest in the stock market
My father likes to play the market and he sometimes makes a lot of money.

pony up
- to pay
I had to pony up a lot of money to get my car repaired.
pour money down the drain
- to waste money
The man is pouring money down the drain by always repairing his old car.

put in one`s two cents (worth)
- to add one's comments or opinion to a discussion
I stood up in the meeting and put in my two cents worth before I was asked to sit down.
put one's money where one's mouth is
- to stop talking about something and do it, to stop talking and make a bet on something
I was forced to put my money where my mouth is and go to Europe or stop talking about it.

put the bite on (someone)
- to try to get money from someone
The boy often puts the bite on his father before the weekend.

quick buck
- some money earned quickly and easily
The small company is only interested in making a quick buck and is not interested in product quality.

quote a price
- to say in advance how much something will cost
I asked the salesman to quote a price for the new product.

rain check
- a promise to repeat an invitation at a later date
I decided to take a rain check and will go to the restaurant with my friend another time.
raise/up the ante
- to increase your demands or the amount that you spend for something (the ante is the amount of money each player puts on the table before starting a game of cards/poker)
The union raised the ante with the company when they said that they were going to go on strike.

rake in the money
- to make a lot of money
We have been raking in the money at our restaurant since it opened.
rake off (some money)
- to steal a portion of a payment/money
The cashiers were raking off some of the money from the store.

red cent
- a small sum of money
I would not give a red cent for my neighbor's car.
rolling in money
- to have lots of money
The man is rolling in money and he always has much money to spend.

salt away (money)
- to save money
My uncle salted away thousands of dollars before he died.
save up (for something)
- to save money in order to buy something
I am saving up for a new television set.

scrape (something) together
- to gather small amounts of money (usually with some difficulty) for something
We scraped together some money and bought a present for my mother.
scrimp and save
- to spend little money in order to save for something
The woman has been scrimping and saving to buy a new car.

see the color of (someone's) money
- to make sure that someone has enough money for something
I will not give the man the product until I see the color of his money.

set (someone) back
- to cost a certain amount of money
My friend asked me how much my new coat had set me back.
shake (someone) down
- to blackmail or extract money from someone
The gang tried to shake down the owner of the small store.

shell out (money)
- to pay money for something
My father shelled out a lot of money to get his house painted.
sitting on a goldmine
- to own something very valuable (and often not realize this)
My sister is sitting on a goldmine with her collection of antiques.

smart money is on (something)
- people who know about money or business think that something is a good idea
The smart money is on the government to introduce the new law this week.

sock away (some money)
- to save or store some money
I am trying to sock away some money for my holiday.

splurge on (something)
- to spend more money than one might ordinarily spend
We decided to splurge and go to a nice restaurant for dinner.
square accounts with (someone)
- to settle one's financial accounts with someone
I went to the small store to square accounts with the owner.

squirrel away (some money)
- to save or keep some money
I was able to squirrel away much money from my previous job.

stone broke
- to have no money, to be penniless
My friend is stone broke and will not be able to come to the movie with us.
strapped for cash
- to have little or no money available
I am strapped for cash at the moment so I will not be able to go with you on a holiday.
strike gold
- to find or do something that makes you rich
The company was able to strike gold with their new product.

strike it rich
- to suddenly become rich or successful
My grandfather struck it rich when he was young but when he died he had no money.

take a beating
- to lose much money
My friend took a beating on the stock market and has now stopped buying stocks.

take the money and run
- to accept what is offered to you before the offer is gone
I plan to take the money and run as I do not believe that I will get any more money for the settlement of my car accident.

take up a collection
- to collect money for something
We plan to take up a collection for the wife of the dead manager.

throw good money after bad
- to waste additional money after already wasting money on something
I do not want to throw good money after bad so I will not pay any more money to fix my car.

throw money around
- to spend a lot of money without worrying if you are wasting it
The government is throwing much money around as they prepare for the large exhibition.

throw money at (something)
- to spend a lot of money for a project or something without thinking about how the money should be spent
The city plans to throw a lot of money at the project to fix the stadium roof.

tidy sum of money
- a rather large amount of money
I was able to get a tidy sum of money from the sale of my business.

tighten one`s belt
- to live on less money than usual
We decided to tighten our belt and try to save up some money for a holiday.
tightfisted/closefisted (with money)
- to be very stingy with money
My uncle is very tightfisted with money and does not want to spend any at all.

time is money
- time is valuable so do not waste it
Time is money and I do not want to waste time talking to our supervisor because she always wants to argue with me.

turn on a dime
- to turn in a very tight turn, to change directions/circumstances in a short time
The small car is very flexible and is able to turn on a dime.

two bits
- twenty-five cents, a quarter of a dollar
The newspaper cost only two bits a copy.

two cents (worth)
- one's comments or opinion
I gave my two cents worth when my supervisor asked me for my opinion.

(not) worth a cent/dime/a red cent/a plugged nickel/two cents
- to be not worth anything, to be not of any value
The antique desk is not worth a dime although everyone thinks it is very valuable.

worth its weight in gold
- to be very valuable
The new secretary is very smart and she is worth her weight in gold.

worth one`s salt
- to be worth what one is paid
Our secretary is worth her salt and is a great asset to our company.



cash Idioms


cash-and-carry
- selling something for cash only and with no delivery
We were able to get a good price on a sofa in a cash-and-carry deal at the furniture store.
cash in (something)
- to exchange coupons or bonds for their value in money
I cashed in a large number of my savings bonds in order to get some money to buy a car.
cash in on (something)
- to make money from an opportunity
The former basketball player cashed in on his popularity to open a very successful restaurant.
cash in one`s chips
- to exchange or sell something to get some money (from the chips used in a poker game)
I decided to cash in my chips and go back to school.
cash on the barrelhead
- money paid in cash when something is bought
I gave the salesman cash on the barrelhead for the used car.

cold hard cash
- cash/coins/bills
I paid for the stereo in cold hard cash.

strapped for cash
- to have little or no money available
I am strapped for cash at the moment so I will not be able to go with you on a holiday.

check Idioms


cut (someone) a check
- to write a check (usually used for a company which automatically produces a check with a computer)
The company cut me a check to pay me for my extra work.

give (someone) a blank check
- to let someone act as they want or as they think is necessary (like a check that has the amount left blank)
The police department gave the new committee a blank check to try and solve the homeless problem.

honor (someone's) check
- to accept someone's personal check
The bank refused to honor my check for the apartment rent.

make a check out to (someone)
- to write a check with someone's name on it
I made a check out to the man who repaired my bathroom.

rain check
- a promise to repeat an invitation at a later date
I decided to take a rain check and will go to the restaurant with my friend another time.

dime Idioms


a dime a dozen
- easy to get and therefore of little value
Used computers are a dime a dozen and have very little value.

nickel and dime (someone)
- to charge many small amounts of money (which eventually equal a large amount of money)
The small repairs on my car are beginning to nickel and dime me.

on a dime
- in a very small space
I had to turn my car on a dime when I entered the parking lot.

turn on a dime
- to turn in a very tight turn, to change directions/circumstances in a short time
The small car is very flexible and is able to turn on a dime.

(not) worth a dime
- to be not worth anything, to be not of any value
The antique desk is not worth a dime although everyone thinks it is very valuable.


dollar Idioms


almighty dollar
- money when it is viewed as more important than anything else
The man spent most of his life chasing the almighty dollar.

as phony as a three-dollar bill
- phony, not genuine
The man who was asking for donations for the charity was as phony as a three-dollar bill.

as sound as a dollar
- very secure and dependable
The company president believes that his business is as sound as a dollar.

bet one`s bottom dollar
- to bet all that one has on something because you are sure that you will win
I would bet my bottom dollar that the accounting manager will be late again today.

bottom dollar
- one`s last dollar
The man spent his bottom dollar on some new clothes to wear for his job interview.

dollar for dollar
- considering the cost
Dollar for dollar the new hotel is the best bargain in this city for tourists.

feel like a million dollars/bucks
- to feel wonderful, to feel well and healthy
Although I have been sick for a few weeks I feel like a million dollars today.

look like a million dollars
- to look very good
The woman looked like a million dollars when she went to accept the award.

penny/cent Idioms


cost a pretty penny
- to cost a lot of money
It is going to cost a pretty penny to get my car fixed.

cut (someone) off without a penny
- to stop giving someone a regular amount of money, to leave someone no money in a will
The wealthy businessman cut his son off without a penny when the young man refused to work hard.

(not) have two cents to rub together
- to not have much money
My friend does not have two cents to rub together and he is usually broke.

pennies from heaven
- money that you do not expect to get
The money that I received from the government was like pennies from heaven and I was very happy.

penny for one`s thoughts
- a request to tell someone what he or she is thinking about
"I will give you a penny for your thoughts," I said to my friend who was looking out of the window.

a penny saved is a penny earned
- saving money by not spending it is the same as getting money from working
A penny saved is a penny earned and it is better to be thrifty sometimes than to only work more hours.

penny-wise and pound foolish
- to be careful or thrifty in small expenditures but careless or wasteful in large ones
My friend is penny-wise and pound foolish and she economizes on small things but wastes all of her money on big things.

pinch pennies
- to be careful with money, to be thrifty
My grandmother always pinches pennies and never spends her money foolishly.

put in one`s two cents (worth)
- to add one's comments or opinion to a discussion
I stood up in the meeting and put in my two cents worth before I was asked to sit down.

red cent
- a small sum of money
I would not give a red cent for my neighbor's car.

two cents (worth)
- one's comments or opinion
I gave my two cents worth when my supervisor asked me for my opinion.

(not) worth a cent/a red cent/two cents
- to be not worth anything, to be not of any value
The antique desk is not worth a dime although everyone thinks it is very valuable.

 

[Alina]

Mouth & Teeth Idioms

________________________________________

acquire a taste for (something)
- to develop a liking for a particular food/drink/or something
Recently my friend has acquired a taste for expensive neckties.

armed to the teeth
- to be fully armed, to have many weapons
The robbers were armed to the teeth when they robbed the bank.

as scarce as hen's teeth
- very scarce or nonexistent
Cheap apartment rentals are as scarce as hen's teeth in this city.

bad-mouth (someone or something)
- to say bad things about someone or something
The football player began to bad-mouth his coach.

bigmouth
- a noisy/boastful/foolish talker
The man is a bigmouth and he is always talking about what he is planning to do.

bite off more than one can chew
- to try to do more than you can deal with
I am trying not to bite off more than I can chew so that I do not overwork myself.

bite one's tongue
- to try hard not to say something that you want to say
I always bite my tongue when I am talking with my sister so that I do not say the wrong thing.

bite (someone's) head off
- to speak to someone in an angry way
My sister bit my head off when I asked her a question.

bitter pill to swallow
- an unpleasant fact that you must accept
It was a bitter pill to swallow but the fact is that we lost the legal case.

born with a silver spoon in one`s mouth
- to be born to wealth and comfort, to be born rich
The boy was born with a silver spoon in his mouth and he has never worked in his life.

button one`s lip
- to stop talking, to be quiet
"Please button your lip so we can hear what the speaker is saying."

by the skin of one`s teeth
- by a narrow margin, barely
We were able to catch the train but only by the skin of our teeth.

by word of mouth
- orally, from person to person by speaking
I learned about the holiday next week by word of mouth.

cat get`s one`s tongue
- one is not willing to talk because of shyness
The cat got the woman's tongue and she was not able to say anything.

cause tongues to wag
- to give people something to gossip or talk about
The actions of our boss are causing tongues to wag.

chew (someone) out
- to scold someone
The girl began to chew her boyfriend out in the supermarket.

chew the fat/rag
- to chat or talk informally with one's friends
I stopped to chew the fat with an old friend from high school.

clam up
- to close one's mouth, to shut up
The students clammed up when they saw the teacher.

cough (something) up
- to produce something (information/money) that someone is trying to force you to produce
We asked our friend to cough up some money for the restaurant meal.

cut one's eyeteeth on (something)
- to have much experience with something, to have done something since one was very young
My cousin cut his eyeteeth on fixing computers and now he is an expert at it.

cut one's (own) throat
- to experience certain failure
The man cut his own throat when he suddenly quit his job.

down in the mouth
- depressed and unhappy
My friend looked down in the mouth after he finished work yesterday.

down the hatch
- something is swallowed
The cough medicine went down the hatch as soon as I gave it to my little boy.

eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth
- a system of punishment where you punish someone in the same way that they hurt you
The citizens wanted an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth when they learned about the child's murder.

fight (someone or something) tooth and nail
- to fight against someone or something with great energy
The citizens fought the government tooth and nail over the government plans for the new airport.

find one's tongue
- to be able to talk
The man could not find his tongue when he was asked to speak at the banquet.

foam at the mouth
- to be very angry (a sick dog foams at the mouth)
The girl's father was so angry that he was almost foaming at the mouth.

force (something) down (someone's) throat
- to force someone to do or agree to something that he or she does not want
I wish that my friend would not force her ideas down my throat.

give one's eye teeth (to do something)
- to want to do something very much
The little boy would give his eye teeth to have a little puppy.

give (someone) a tongue-lashing
- to give someone a severe scolding
The mother gave her daughter a tongue-lashing when she got home from school.

give voice to (something)
- to speak out about something
The small organization gives voice to many of the poor people in the city.

gnash one's teeth
- to grind one's teeth
I often gnash my teeth when I am sleeping.

grit one's teeth
- to grind one's teeth together in anger or from stress or determination
I grit my teeth and began to clean up after the students' party.

guard one's tongue
- to be careful of what one says
I always have to guard my tongue when I am speaking with my friend's parents.

have a big mouth
- to be a person who gossips or tells secrets
The woman has a big mouth and can never keep a secret.

have a say/voice (in something)
- to have a part in making a decision
I want to have a say in the decision of whether or not we must begin to work in the evenings.

have a sweet tooth
- to like to eat sweet foods
The girl has a sweet tooth and she loves chocolate.

hold one`s tongue
- to be silent, to not talk
"Please hold your tongue," the teacher said to the young boy.

keep a civil tongue
- to speak decently and politely
I tried to keep a civil tongue during my argument with the store clerk.

keep a stiff upper lip
- to be brave, to face trouble bravely
We tried to keep a stiff upper lip when the company announced that they would close our office.

keep one`s mouth shut
- to be/stay silent
I tried hard to keep my mouth shut during the boring speech.

laugh out of the other side of one's mouth
- to change from being happy to being sad
The woman was laughing out of the other side of her mouth when she learned that she would not be promoted.

leave a bad taste in one`s mouth
- to leave a bad feeling or memory with someone
The way that the company treated us left a bad taste in our mouth.

lick one's chops
- to show one's eagerness to do something or eat something (by licking one's lips)
The salesman began to lick his chops when he saw the potential customers at the business convention.

lick one's lips
- to show eagerness to do something or eat something
The little boy began to lick his lips when he saw the candy in the window.

lie through one's teeth
- to lie in a bold manner
The man in the restaurant began to lie through his teeth during the criminal investigation.

like pulling teeth
- to be very difficult to do
It was like pulling teeth to try and get the boy to lend us his bicycle.

lips are sealed
- one will not tell a secret
My lips are sealed and I will not tell anybody the secret.

live from hand to mouth
- to live in poor circumstances, to have little money
The man has been living from hand to mouth for many years now.

long in the tooth
- old
The man was feeling a little long in the tooth and he did not have much energy.

loosen (someone's) tongue
- to relax someone and make them say something that they normally would not say
I went to the coffee shop with my friend where I tried to loosen his tongue.

loudmouth
- a noisy/boastful/foolish talker
My friend is a loudmouth and he is always making plans but he never does anything with them.

lower one's voice
- to speak more softly
The teacher asked the student to lower his voice.

make one`s mouth water
- to make someone want to eat or drink something that one sees or smells
The smell of the fish cooking in the restaurant made my mouth water.

melt in one`s mouth
- to taste very good, to be very tender (for meat)
The pasta served at the new restaurant melted in our mouths.

no skin off (someone's) teeth
- of no interest/concern/trouble to someone
It is no skin off my teeth whether my friend come's to the restaurant with us or not.

not open one's mouth
- to not say anything at all
The man in the movie theater was told not to open his mouth at all.

on everybody's lips
- many people are talking or thinking about the same thing
The wedding scandal with the famous actress is on everybody's lips.

on the tip of one`s tongue
- almost able to remember something that you have forgotten
My former teacher's name is on the tip of my tongue and I will soon remember it.

pay lip service to (someone or something)
- to support someone or something by words but not by actions
The politician paid lip service to the proposal to build a new subway system but he did not really want one.

pull (someone's) tooth out
- to take someone's tooth out (usually done by a dentist)
I went to the dentist so he could pull my tooth out.

put one`s foot in one`s mouth
- to get into trouble by saying something embarrassing or rude
My colleague put his foot in his mouth when he told everyone that he did not like the new manager.

put one's money where one's mouth is
- to stop saying that you will do something and actually do it
The man always talks about helping other people but he never does anything. We finally told him to put his money where his mouth is and do something.

put some teeth into (something)
- to increase the power of something
The government finally put some teeth into the new law.

put the bite on (someone)
- to try to get money from someone
I plan to put the bite on my friend in order to get some money for the weekend.

put words into (someone`s) mouth
- to speak for another person without permission
My boss put words into my mouth when he told me what he thought I wanted to do.

ram (something) down (someone's) throat
- to force someone to do or agree to something that they do not want
The lawyer rammed the settlement down my throat even though I was not happy with it.

read (someone's) lips
- to listen carefully and believe what someone is saying
The supervisor told everybody to read his lips and listen carefully to what he was saying.

run off at the mouth
- to talk excessively
The girl is always running off at the mouth when she is with her friends.

say a mouthful
- to say something of great importance or meaning, to say a lot
The little boy said a mouthful when he talked about the history material.

set one's teeth on edge
- to be unpleasant and to give one an uncomfortable feeling
The idea that we would have to leave our apartment immediately set my teeth on edge.

set tongues wagging
- to cause people to start gossiping
The things that the woman does during her free time always sets tongues wagging at the office.

a sharp tongue
- a way of talking/speaking to others that is unkind/bad/critical
The woman has a sharp tongue and she says some very unkind things to others.

shoot one's mouth off
- to talk too much, to boast, to tell someone's secrets
The young man began to shoot his mouth off in the supermarket.

shove (something) down (someone`s) throat
- to force someone to do or agree to something that is not wanted
I do not like him because he is always trying to shove his ideas down my throat.

show one's teeth
- to show one's anger or strength as a warning to someone not to argue or fight with you
Our supervisor showed his teeth when I began to argue with him about my job.

Shut your mouth!
- Please be quiet and close your mouth!
"Shut your mouth," I said to the man talking loudly in the library.

sink one`s teeth into (something)
- to have something real or solid to think about or struggle with, to take a bite from some kind of food
I was finally able to sink my teeth into the problem and find a solution.
I sank my teeth into the apple and took a bite.

slip of the tongue
- a mistake of saying something that one did not want to say, an error of speech
I made a slip of the tongue when I told the unpopular woman that we will have a party soon.

speak with a forked tongue
- to tell lies, to try to deceive someone
The man speaks with a forked tongue and you cannot believe what he says.

straight from the horse's mouth
- direct from a source that has authority and is dependable
I heard about the party straight from the horse's mouth.

take the words out of (someone`s) mouth
- to say what someone else was just going to say
My friend took the words out of my mouth when he said that he wanted to get something to eat.

teething problems
- difficulties and problems experienced in the early stages of a project/activity
The project has many teething problems that we must deal with.

throw one's voice
- to project one's voice so that it appears to be coming from some other place
The performer likes to throw his voice when he entertains children.

tongue in cheek
- jokingly, insincerely, mockingly, not really meaning something
The comment by our teacher was tongue in cheek and she did not mean it.

tooth and nail
- fiercely, (fighting) as hard as possible
We fought tooth and nail to build the new wing of the hospital.

watch one's mouth/tongue
- to not say something, to not be rude
The boy was told by his teacher to watch his tongue.

zip one's lip
- to not talk, to not tell a secret
I told my friend to zip his lip and stop arguing with me.