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ENGLISH LESSONS (Idiomatic Expressions)
PHRASES & IDIOMS
*Acid test : a decisive test to determine whether something is genuine or valid.
*Across the board : all or everything, or a total and complete achievement
*Sweep the board : win everything
*All singing ali dancing : full of features/ gimmicks,
*Amateur: non professional or unpaid.
*Alma mater : (my) university from the Latin, meaning ’fostering mother’,
*Apple of his eye/apple of your eye/apple of my eye: a person much adored or doted on, loved, held dearly.
*Take a back seat : have tittle or only obsessional involvement in something,
*Bring home the bacon : achieve a challenge,
*Barbarian :rough or wild person.
*Blood is thicker than water: family loyalties are greater than those between friends.
*Bolt from the blue : sudden shock or surprise.
*Give me a break/give him a break : make allowance tolerate, overlook a mistake.
*Bulls and bears, bull markets and bear markets : stock exchange and financial markets terminology
*Bury the hatchet : agree to stop arguing of feuding although pre-dated by a British verson now much less popular.
*By and large: generally/vaugely/one way or another one-of a number of maritime terms; by and large literally meant ’to the wind and off it'.
*Le the cat out of the bag : give away or
*Caught red-handed : caught in the act of doing something wrong, or immediately afterwards with evidence showing, so that denial is pointless.
*Charisma : Personal magnetism, charm,presence.
*Living in cloud cuckoo land : being unrealistic or in a fantasy state.
*Cloud nine/on cloud nine : extreme happiness or euphoria/being in a state of extreme happiness, not necessarily but potentially due to drugs or a alcohol.
*Cut to the chase : get to the point, get to the important or exciting part (of a story, explanation, presentation, etc).
*Cut the mustard : meet the challenge, do the job, pass the test
*Cut to the quick : offend a, person sharply and deeply.
*Devil's advocate : Someone posing a hypothetical argument against a logical proposition.
*Die hard : Stubbornly resistingchange or clinging to a seemingly hopeless/or outdated cause.
*Doldrums : depressed lazy state.
*Double cross : to behave duplicitously, to betray or cheat.
*At the drop of a hat: instantly.
*Eat humble pie : acknowledge one’s own mistake or adopt a subordinate position.
*Make ends meet : budget tightly or to have
*Egg on your face : to look stupid
*Eleventh hour : Just in time
*Make ends meets : budget tightly or to have just enough money to pay for the things that you need
*Etiquette : how to behave in polite society
*A feather in your cap : a- recognised achievement
*To end in fiasco : Complete failure
*Kick the bucket : to die
*Lame duck : person or thing no longer for purpose.
*End of the line : point at which further effort on a project or activity is not possible or futile
*Line your pockets : make a lot of money for yourself, perhaps not legitimately.
*Needle In a haystack : Impossible search for something relatively tiny.
*Dressed up to the nines/dressed to the nines: wearing very smart of elaborate clothes.
*In a nutshell : drastically reduced or summerised.
*Off-hand : surprising/unpleasant.
*Beyond the pale : behaviour outside normal accepted limits.
*Panacea : cure or solution for wide-ranging problem.
*Paraphernalia : personal belongings, or accessories, equipment associated with a trade or hobby.
*Peeping tom : someone who secretly looks at others in a private state of undress or
*Pick holes : determinedly find lots of faults:
*From pillar to post : having to go to lots of places, forced to keep moving from one place
*Pull your socks up : to make an effort to improve your work or behaviour because it is
*Quack : incompetent or fake doctor.
*Raining cats and dogs : torrential rainfall.
*Red-letter day : a special day.
*Red tape : bureaucracy, administrative obstruction, time-consuming offical processes.
*Scapegoat : a person blamed for a problem.
*Up to scratch : meets the required standard.
*Sea change : big significant change;
*Sold down the river : exploited or betrayed for profit'
*Sour grapes : when someone is critical of something unobtainable,
*Spick and span : completely clean and in a new condition.
*Spinster : Unmarried woman.
*Square the circle : attempt the impossible.
*Steal someone's thunder : to use the words or ideas of another person before they have a chance to, especially to gain the approval of a group or audience.
*Stereotype : a fixed image or representation of something.
*Stigma : a generally held poor or distasteful view associated with something.
*Strike a bargain : agree terms.
*Sycophant : a creepy, toady person who tries to win the approval of someone, usually in a senior position, through flattery or ingratiating.
*Bring nothing (or something) to the table: offer nothing (or something) of interest.
*Teetotaller : abstaining completely from alcohol -
*Through thick and thin : through good times and bad
*Threshold : the beginning of something, or a door-sil.
*Thunderbolt : imaginary strike from above, or a massive surprise.
*Tomboy : boyish girl.
*Touch and go : a dose decision or narrow Off your trolley/off his, or her trolley: insane,mad or behaving in a mad way.
*Have no truck with : not tolerate, not accept or ;not deal with
Typhoon: whirlwind storm meaning the 'great wind.
*Underhand : deceitful dishonest the word underhand.
*Utopia : is art ideal community or society possessing a perfect socio-polltico-legal system.
*Vandalism : deliberate damage to property.
*Volume : large book ancient books were written on sheets joined lengthways and rolled like a long scroll around a shaft.
*Win hands down : win irretrievably lost
*Spin a yarn : tell a fanciful tale or a tall story.
Idiomatic Expressions
*in apple pie order - Very neatly arranged Mrs. Menon keeps her house in apple pie order with everything in its right place.
*The apple of one's eye-A person or thing that is loved more than any other Tina is the apple of her father's eye.
*At arm's length - At a safe distance Some politicians keep the Press at arm's length.
*Turn one's back on- reject, ignore He turned his back on his relatives when he became rich.
*Half baked-Not properly planned It was just another half baked idea of his, it was never going to work.
*A bed of roses. Avery comfortable position Don't think that the post of Prime Minister a bed of roses, it is far from that.
*A bird's eye view-A general view from a high position From the helicopter I had a bird's eye view of the palmfringed city
*A bosom friend - Avery close friend Salim and John are bosom friends
*Rain cats and dogs - very heavy rain Don't go out now, it is raining cats and dogs.
*Forty winks - A short sleep
My grandmother usually has forty winks after lunch.
*Once in a blue moon - very rarely, never My brother, who is working abroad writes tone only once in a blue moon
*The black sheep - The One member who is a disgrace to the family or group They regard the eldest son as the black sheep of the family
*Let the cat out of the bag - Reveal a secret carelessly or by mistake I wanted my decision to go abroad to be a secret, but my wife let the cat out of the bag.
*A cock and bull story-An absurd and improbable story He told us some cock and bull story about
having lost all his money
*With flying colours -With great and obvious
Success Arun passed the entrance examination with flying colours.
*
Crocodile tears- Insincere expression of sorrow
He shed crocodile tears when he dismissed the minister from his cabinet.
*As the crow flies-In a straight line. It is five miles from here to my nate tour as the crow flies, but much longer by road.
*Day in, day out- Every day without exception Day in day Out irrespective of the weather he works ten hours.
*Between the devil and the deep sea-Between two equally great dangers
The police officer was between the devil and deep sea before the violent mob.
*At the eleventh hour -At the last possible moment. The prime Minister's visit was called off at the eleventh hour.
*
A feather in one's cap An achievement His winning the scholarship to pursure higher studies is a feather im his cap.
*Make both ends meet -Earn enough money With his meagre income, he finds it very difficult to make both ends meet.
*Go to glory - Die Many a patriot went to glory in the freedom struggle. *Hand in hand-Closely linked Hardwork and success go hand in hand
*Head over heels - Completely She is head over heels in love with him.
*In the seventh heaven - In the highest state of happiness or bliss He has won a fellowship to cambridge and simply in the seventh hea about it.
*Ups
and downs-
Times of prosperity and of
depression.He stuck by his master through the latter’s
ups
and downs
*Turn a deaf ear to - Refuse to pay attention The government turned a deaf ear to the pleas the of women against dowry system.
*on the tip of one's tongue -Almost Or just about to be remembered. The The girl's name is on the tip of my tongue, but I just can't think of it.
*Throw dust in Someone’s eyes-Mislead a person By hiding the real situation, the Government is throwing.
*
At a snail'space - Very slowly
He is recovering from his accident at a snail’s pace
*A snake in the grass-A deceitful person who pretends to be a friend. I trusted him very much, but he proved that he was a snake in the grass
*A skeleton in the cupboard-
Some secret,
shame or sorrow.My Neighbour is not ready to be friendly, it seems he has a skeleton in the cupboard
*As sharp as a needle- very intelligent and alert. Haris can solve complicated problems, he is as sharp as a needle.
PHRASES AND IDIOMS Questions
1.
'Add fuel to fire' means.(a)make one more angry
(b)adding fuel to fire
(c )make one happy
(d)burn something
2.
'At the eleventh hour' means(a)at eleven O'clock
(b)in time
(c )at the last moment
(d)in the beiginning
3.
The meaning of the idiom 'A bed of roses' means(a)a bed decorated with roses
(b)a pleasant or easy situation
(c )a bed with roses
(d)a hardsituation
4.
Herculian task means(a)a work requires great effort
(b)a work requires less effort
(c )a simple work
(d)an easy work
5.
Laughing - stock(a)a person who laughs without a pause
(b)a bundle
(c )a figure or object of ricficule and laughter
(d)a stock kept in a room
Ans: c
6.
Once in a blue moon means(a)often (b) regular
(c ) seldom (d) always
7.
Wild goose chase(a)catching a bird
(b)a foolish adventure not resulting anything
(c )chasing a bird
(d)an adventure related to birds
8.
'see eye to eye' means(a)disagree
(b) facing each other
(c)agree
(d) looking in one's eye
9.
The phrase ' crocodile tears' means(a) crocodiles tear
(b) fake tears
(c ) crying hard
(d) sobbing
10.
'At hand' means(a) within reach
(b) in one's own hand
(c )far
(d) at a distance
Answers
1.a 2.c 3.b 4.a 5.c
6.c 7.b 8.c 9.b 10.a
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