IDIOMS 1

Asleep at the switch

ASLEEP

inattentive, not doing one’s job

A babe in the woods

BABE

a naive, inexperienced person

Batten down the hatches

HATCHES

prepare for a difficult situation

Beat the band

BAND

to the greatest possible degree

Beat your swords into plowshares

PLOWSHARES

change to a peaceful way of life

Beware of Greeks bearing gifts

GREEKS

warn against trusting an enemy

A bleeding heart

BLEEDING

a kind, genereous person

Blind as a bat

BLIND

very blind

Busman's holiday

HOLIDAY

a holiday in which one still does their job

Busy as a beaver

BUSY

very busy

Button your lip

LIP

keep quiet

Call sb on the carpet

CARPET
scold, reprimand sb

Can't fight city hall

FIGHT
a small man cannot deal with a big organisation

Can't hit the side of a barn

BARN

have terrible aim

Be carved in stones

STONES

fixed

Carry the weight of the world on your shoulders

SHOULDERS

have a lot of things to feel worried about

Cast pearls before swine

PEARLS

offer sth valuable or good to sb who does not know its value

Cast the first stone

STONE

be the first person to start sth

Catch more flies with honey than vinegar

FLIES

you can persuade more ppl by friendly politics rather than agressive persuasion

To champ at the bit

CHAMP

cannot wait to do sth

Chew up the scenery

SCENERY

exaggerate

Chew your cud

CUD

reflect deeply, think deeply

(The chickens) come home to roost

ROOST

a problem causes problems at a later date, esp when this is expected or deserved

when the chips are down

CHIPS

when you are in a very difficult or dangerous situation, especially one that makes you understand the true value of people or things:

As clear as a bell

CLEAR

very clear

be climbing the walls (with boredom/anger/frustration)

WALLS

to suffer unpleasant feelings, such as worry, in an extreme way:

To get cold feet

FEET

to suddenly become too frightened to do something you had planned to do, especially something important such as getting married

(Go) cold turkey

TURKEY

the period of extreme suffering that comes immediately after a person has stopped taking a drug on which they depend:

suddenly and completely

Come apart at the seams

SEAMS

to be in a very bad state and about to fail

Come up smelling like a rose

ROSE

not lose face

Be cooking with gas

GAS

to be making very good progress or doing something very well:

To cry wolf

CRY

to keep asking for help when you do not need it, with the result that people think you do not need help when you really need it:

Cut the mustard

MUSTARD

be up to standard

Cut off your nose to spite your face

NOSE

embarrass yourself

To cut your eyeteeth on sth

EYETEETH

experience sth

A diamond in the rough / a rough diamond

DIAMOND

a person who is kinder and more pleasant than they seem to be from their appearance and manner

The dog days of summer

DAYS

the hot days of summer

Dont take any wooden nickles

NICKLES

not be fooled

(go) down to the wire

WIRE

until the last moment that it is possible to do something:

Be dressed to the nines

NINES

be dressed pretty

Drop sb/sth like a hot potato

POTATO

to quickly stop being involved with someone or something because you stop liking that person or thing or you think they will cause problems for you:

As dull as dishwater/ditchwater

DULL

be boring

Be (strictly) for the birds

BIRDS

stupid and not important

From soup to nuts

SOUP

from the beginning to the end

Full of hot air

AIR

filled with nonsense

Full steam ahead

STEAM

with all your energy and enthusiasm

Dyed-in-the-wool

WOOL

loyal

Eat your hat/I’ll eat my hat

HAT

say when you’re really sure about sth

Give sb the shirt off your back

SHIRT

give everything you have

Goody two-shoes

GOODY

a goody-goody person

Handle sth with kid gloves

GLOVES

treat sth carefully, gently

Hit below the belt

BELT

Hit in an unfair way

Old hat (n)

HAT

Not modern or exciting

Pass the hat

HAT

to ask a number of people to give money for something, esp. to help pay for something or reward someone

Pull a rabbit out of a hat

RABBIT

do sth unexpectedly to solve a problem

Stuffed shirt

SHIRT

A conceited, self-important person

Be tied to sb's apron strings

APRON

Depend on sb

Too big for your britches

BRITCHES

behaving as if you are more important than you really are

(Wait for) the other shoe (to drop)

SHOE

The next bad thing

As easy as rolling off a log

EASY

very easy

Eat crow

EAT

Admit that one was wrong/accept defeat

Eat your heart out + sb

HEART

you are joking that you are even better than that person

Everything but the kitchen sink

KITCHEN

almost all that you can imagine of something

Feast or famine

FEAST

Either too much or too little

Feel your oats

OATS

exuberant, energetic

Have feet of clay

CLAY

Have a bad quality that you keep hidden

Have a field day (doing sth)

FIELD

take advantage of an opportunity to do sth you enjoy

A fifth wheel

WHEEL

An unwanted person

Fill/fit the bill

BILL

Be exactly what is needed

Fish or cut bait

BAIT

used to tell someone to take action or to stop saying that they will:

Fix sb's wagon

WAGON

hurt sb in order to revenge/teach them a lesson

Flotsam and jetsam

FLOTSAM

odds and ends

Fly the coop

COOP

Leave suddenly, secretly

To foam at the mouth

FOAM

Lose control

To follow your nose

NOSE

go straight

Get a handle on sth

HANDLE

Start to understand sth

Get away with murder

MURDER

not be punished for sth

Get down to brass tacks

BRASS

Start talking about the most important

Get/be in on the ground floor

GROUND

become involved in sth from the start

Get the lead out of your feet

LEAD

Hurry up

Get the show on the road

SHOW

start an activity

Get-up-and-go

GET

the quality of being enthusiastic

Get your feet wet

WET

become used to a new situation

Give sb five

FIVE

dap tay

Give sb the third degree

DEGREE

Interrogate sb

Give up the ghost

GHOST

die

Give your eyeteeth for sth

EYETEETH

Yearn for sth

Go along for the ride

RIDE

join an activity without playing an important role

Go fly a kite

KITE

go away

Go for broke

BROKE

risk everything

Go to bat for sb

BAT

support sb

Go to the dogs

DOGS

deteriorate

Go to pot

POT

become worse bcs of lack of care

To grasp at straws

STRAWS

try to find a reason to be hopeful in a situation

Gravy train

TRAIN

An easy way of making money

Grease sb's palm

GREASE

bribe sb

To gum up the works

GUM

Interrupt, hinder a process

Hang out your shingle

SHINGLE

start running a business

Head honcho

HONCHO

the person in charge

Heart's in the right place

HEART

has good intentions