Idioms (U1)

To tell friend from foe

/fəʊ/

to differentiate a friend from and ENEMY

So to speak

=“this is one way to say it”

To snack on (sth)

to eat small amounts of something as a snack

To raise the alarm

to alert other people or animals about sth dangerous, risky, or troublesome

To come under fire

to be attacked (with guns)

To be heard above the clamor

/ˈklæm.ɚ/

to be able to communicate even when there is a lot of noise

To cope with sb/sth

/koʊp/

to deal successfully with a difficult situation or a person in a difficult situation

E.g.: Did the brain increase in size to cope with rising language ability?

E.g.: Her religious beliefs helped her to cope with the loss of her husband.

To widen out the boundaries of our being

An expression that would enable you to say that an experience or an emotion has pushed back the limits of your being

To give maps to one’s own self

An expression that means that a book can act as a compass in helping us orient ourselves internally

To feed the flames

To make a bad situation worse

To have your cake and eat it too

To want to have the best of both worlds without facing the necessary trade-offs or consequences.

Essentially, it means wanting to keep something while also using it up or enjoying its benefits, which is logically impossible.

E.g.: Someone who wants to maintain a comfortable lifestyle while also avoiding paying taxes.

Flock to sth/somewhere

To go to a place, event, etc., in large numbers

Turn sth in/off

to start or to stop showing a particular quality

Include sth/sb into sth

Exclude sth/sb out of sth

=Incluir / Excluir a alguien/algo en algo

He said, she said

an idiom that describes a situation where two people have different accounts of an event

To take sth with a pinch of salt

to not completely believe something that someone tells you

To ingratiate yourself (with sb)

to try to make people like you by doing things to please them

E.g.: Labels try to use slang to … with teenagers and seem cool, and therefore sell more.

Die the death

sth ending or failing completely and abruptly

To be wrapped up in sth/sb

To be deeply involved in sth, often to the point of neglecting other things

To peter out

to gradually stop or disappear

For my money

=in my opinion

To fall back (on)

To rely on sth or sb when other things have failed or are not available.

To catch (on)

To become fashionable or popular.

To splash out

To spend a lot of money on buying things, especially things which are pleasant to have but which you do not need.

Gain momentum

to keep developing or to happen more quickly

Fend sb off // Fend off sth

/fend/

E.g.: He managed to fend off his attackers with a stick.

E.g.: She spent the entire evening fending off unwanted admirers.

to push or send away an attacker or other unwanted person

Stave sth/sb off

/steɪv/

E.g.: We were hoping to stave off these difficult decisions until September.

to stop sth bad from happening, or to keep an unwanted situation or person away, usually temporarily

Perch (on) /pɝːtʃ/

to be in a high position or in a position near the edge of sth, or to put sth in this position:

The rise and fall of (a Midwest princess)

The phrase originates from the natural cycle of things increasing and then decreasing in level, status, or intensity.

The phrase is also a popular English "snowclone".