idiom 1

an overnight success

một người/vật thành công nhanh chóng,chớp nhoáng

Eg:The young talented musician became an overnight success after his debut album sold millions of copies globally

burning ambition

tham vọng,khát khao cháy bỏng

Ex:protecting the fragile local forests has always been her burning ambition since she was a little girl

jump at the chance

chớp lấy cơ hội ngay lập tức một cách háo hức

Ex:If the prestigious national orchestra invited him to preform,he would definitely jump at the chance without any hestitation.

rise to the challenge

vươn lên đối mặt và nỗ lực vượt qua thử thách khó khăn

Ex:The brave volunteers will always rise to the challenge when dealing with severe difficulties in poor rural areas.

leave nothing to chance

chuẩn bị chu đáo,không để điều gì xảy ra do may rủi

Ex:The careful engineers leave nothing to chance when designing the new robotic system to ensure absolute safety for everyone

change one’s tune

thay đổi thái độ,giọng điệu(thường là tiêu cực sang tích cực)

Ex:The strict manager will eventually change his tune and treat all female employees with much more respect soon.

change one’s ways

cải thiện cách cư xử,thay đổi thói quen xấu

Ex:The developing nation must change its ways to receive further financial support from the global economic committee

change the subject

đánh trống lảng

Ex:The lazy students always tries to change the subject whenever the strict teacher asks about his missing assignments

change sides

đổi phe,phản bội phe cũ sang phe đối lập

Ex:The corrupt politician decided to change sides and vote again the environmental protection laws during the meeting.

change places with sb

đổi chỗ cho ai

Ex:I would happily change places with you so that you can enjoy the beatiful moutain views outside

bear in mind

ghi nhớ,cân nhắc điều gì đó

Ex:You should always bear in mind that regular exercise is completely essential for maintaining a healthy physical body

cast doubt on

gieo rắc nghi ngờ,làm cho điều gì trở nên đáng ngờ

Ex:The recent scientific discoveries successfully cast doubt on the old theories regarding human psychological development across generations

get the hang of

học được cách làm gì,nắm bắt được cách sử dụng

Ex:Older citizens might need a long time to get the hang of using these complex smart home electronic devices

cross the line

đi quá giới hạn,cư xử không thể chấp nhận được

Ex:The aggressive diplomat really really crossed the line when he insulted the foreign representatives during the important regional summit.

point out a flaw

chỉ ra một lỗ hổng/sai sót trong lập luận

Ex:The brilliant scientist quickly pointed out a flaw in their argument regarding the exact causes of severe climate change

cover one’s back

bảo vệ,yểm trợ hoặc làm thay phần việc của ai để tránh rắc rối

Ex:The smart employees asked her trusted colleague to cover her back while she attended the vital conference

walk before you can run

phải làm việc cơ bản trước khi làm những việc phức tạp hơn

Ex:Young apprentices must learn basic skills because they need to walk before they can run in this demanding industry.

kick yourself

tự dằn vặt ,ân hận vì đã mắc sai lầm hoặc bỏ lỡ cơ hội

Ex:You will definitely kick yourself if you refuse this incredible job offer from the famous international corporation.

get one’s head down

tập trung cao độ vào công việc

Ex:To solve these complex poverty problems,the committee members must get their heads down and work extremely hard today

have the stomach for

có đủ can đảm,bản lĩnh để chịu đựng việc gì đó đáng sợ hoặc khó chịu

Ex:Sensitive individuals rarely have the stomach for witnessing the cruel destruction of natural habitats in deep tropical rainforests.

got on a house on fire

nhanh chóng trở nên cực kỳ thân thiết

Ex:The two legendary authors instantly got on a house on fire and became lifelong friends after their very first public meeting

put a strain on

tạo áp lực,làm căng thẳng một mối quan hệ hoặc tình huống

Ex:The severe language barriers unfortunately put a strain on ralationships diverse international students on campus.

put someone down

chê bai,hạ thấp,chỉ trích ai

Ex:The dedicated environmetalist never put down anyone who tries their best to recycle daily household plastic waste.

take to sth/sb

bắt đầu thích hoặc làm quen với điều gì/ai đó một cách dễ dàng

Ex:The friendly rural migrants quickly took to the busy urban lifestyle after moving to the modern city.

keep oneself to oneself

sống khép kín,tránh giao tiếp với người khác

Ex:Despite being highly successful,the senior manager always keeps himself to himself and avoids casual conservations with younger colleagues.

it’s the thought that counts

quan trọng ở tấm lòng,ý định tốt đẹp đằng sau món quà/hành động

Ex:Even though the unexpected gift was not exactly what I wanted.I truly know that it’s the thought that counts

lost in thought

chìm đắm,mải mê suy nghĩ đến mức ko chú ý đến mọi thứ xung quanh

Ex:He was so lost in thought that he completely failed to hear the environmentalist asking a difficul question.

school of thought

một luồng tư tưởng,một trường phái suy nghĩ

Ex:There is a growing school of thought that links excessive daily screen to poor musical learning abilities.

second thoughts

sự thay đổi quyết định sau khi suy nghĩ lại

Ex:I was going to buy the expensive car,but on second thoughts,I donated to local charity.

hold that thought

yêu cầu ai đó tạm dừng câu chuyện để mình xử lý việc gấp

Ex:Please hold that thought while I quickly answer this urgent phone call about the new technological robotic invention.

risk life and limb

liều mạng,mạo hiểm mạng sống

Ex:The brave female firefighter had to risk life and limb to rescue the trapped children from the burning building.

under the weather

cảm thấy không khỏe,ốm nhẹ

Ex:After eating the foreign seafood,the international diplomat was feeling a bit under the weather and stayed in bed.

seek out thrills

chủ động tìm kiếm những trài nghiệm mạo hiểm,cảm giác mạnh

Ex:Extreme sports enthusiasts often seek out thrills because they find normal classroom learning routine to be incredibly boring

live life on the edge

có một lối sống mạo hiểm,phiêu lưu,kề cận rủi ro

Ex:He used to live life on the edge as a young man,always participating in dangerous and illegal forests expeditions.

scare someone to death

làm ai đó sợ chết khiếp

Ex:The sudden loud explosion in the middle of the night terrified the ecotourists and scared them to death

live beyond one’s means

vung tay quá trán,tiêu xài vượt thu nhập

Ex:If you constantly buy expensive health supplements on credit,you are definitely living beyond your means without realizing it.

pay a small fortune

phải trả một khoản tiền rất lớn

Ex:The older generation had to pay a small fortune to repair the severe property damage caused by the winter storm.

give way to temptation

đầu hàng trước cám dỗ

Ex:When designing future cities,planners must be disciplined and never give way to temptation when offered cheap unsustainable building materials.

downplay

làm giảm nhẹ mức độ nghiệm trọng,xem nhẹ

The ASEAN tried to downplay the severity of the economic crisis to prevent unnecessary public panic

make the most of

tận dụng tối đa điều gì

Ex:Since we only have two short decades to stop global warming,we should definitely makr the most of our time

get on someone’s nerves

làm ai đó bực mình

Ex:The constant loud noise from the heritage constuction site next door is really starting to get on my nerves.

let off steam

xả hơi,giải tỏa năng lượng

Ex:After a stressful week of difficult school exams,she likes to go for a long run to let off steam

lose one’s temper

mổi giận,mất bình tĩnh

Ex:When the landlord was extremely rude,the usually calm independent young woman completely lost her temper.

get worked up

trở nên bực tức,kích động về một chuyện gì đó

Ex:You shouldn’t get worked up over such a minor social disagreement ,it can be fixed easily tomorrow morning.

throw a tantrum

nổi cơn tam bành,ăn vạ

Ex:The stubborn tourist would often throw a tantrum and scream loudly whenever the park ranger refused to allow feeding.

close to home

một lời nói đùa hay nhận xét động chạm đến nỗi đau,vấn đề cá nhân khiến người nghe tổn thương

Ex:His cruel jokes about sustainable lifestyles were too close to house for Mark,who strongly believed in green living.

on the house

dùng trong nhà hàng/quán bar nghĩa là miễn phí(được quán bao)

Ex:The generous urban restaurant owner told us that our delicious traditional dessert were completely on the house as an apology

bring down the house

khiến cả khán phòng nổ tung,nhận được sự vỗ tay nhiệt liệt

Ex:The comdian’s hilarious office jokes bring down the house,with the entire audience laughing loudly for several continuous minutes.

creature of habit

người sống theo thói quen

Ex:My grandfather is a creature of habit,always taking the exact same routine for his early morning walk.

come out of one’s shelf

trở nên dạn dĩ,cởi mở,đỡ nhút nhát hơn

Ex:After joining the university debate club,Mateo finally began to come out of his shell and speak confidently in public

have a chip on one’s shoulder

dễ nổi nóng,mặc cảm hoặc dễ bị tổn thương vỉ thất bại/bất công trong quá khứ

Ex:Ever since failing that prestigious examination,Silas seem to have a chip on his shoulder about his academic abilities

by the book

làm việc theo đúng quy tắc,luật lệ một cách nghiêm ngặt

Ex:The rigorous department manager,Asher,insists that all internal safety protocols must be followed strictly by the book.

a wet blanket

chỉ một người làm mất vui,phá hỏng tâm trạng của người khác bằng sự tiêu cực của mình

Ex:Don’t be such a wet blanket,let the young volunteers enjoy the charity festival without yout constant complaints

hands down

hoàn toàn,dễ dàng,không thể bàn cãi(thường dùng để nhấn mạnh sự vượt trội)

The guided tour through the ancient rainforest was hands down the most breathtaking experience of our entire holiday

in a split second

trong chốc lát,một khoảnh khắc cực ngắn

Ex:The autonomous vehicle calculated the impending collision and abruptly adjusted its route in a split second to avoid disaster.

time will tell

thời gian sẽ trả lời

Ex:Whether the newly implemented carbon tax will successfully reverse the damaging effects of global warming,only time will tell

don’t get me wrong

dùng để rào đón,đảm bảo người nghe không hiểu lầm ý của mình trước khi đưa ra một lời nhận xét trái chiều

don’t get me wrong,I appreciate the modern architectural design,but I still heavily prefer the historical aesthetic of our old neighbourhood

a likely story

được dùng để miêu tả thái độ mỉa mai,không tin tưởng vào một lời giải thích

Ex:The notorious journalist claimed that she obtained the confidential goverment documents completely by accident,which frankly sounds like a likely story.

from scratch

làm lại từ đầu

Ex:The brilliant software engineer,Amelia,decided to discard the heavily flawed code and rebuild the entire application from scratch

in the pipeline

đang trong quá trình chuẩn bị,lên kế hoạch và sẽ sớm hoàn thành

Ex:The ambitious mayor announced that sveral highly sustainable housing projects are currently in the pipeline for the expending downtown district.

teething problems

những trục trặc,khó khăn nhỏ ở giai đoạn đầu của một dự án hay hệ thống mới

The newly launched interactive learning platform experienced some annoying teething problems before finally running smoothly for all enrolled students.

a long shot

một nỗ lực hay suy đoán có xác suất thành công rất thấp nhưng vẫn đáng thử.

Ex:Getting the senior director position without any prior managerial experience is a long shot,but Evelyn shouls still definitely apply.