English idiom in use intermediate pt 0 31/03/25

drive sb round the bend

make sb angry and frustrated

kill two birds with one stone

produce two useful results by just doing one action

in the blink of an eye

in an extremely short time

a bone of contention

something which people argue and disagree over

as dry as a bone

very dry indeed

cool, calm and collected

relaxed, in control, not nervous

to cut a long story short

to tell the main points, but not all the fine details

pass the buck

blame someone else/refuse to accept responsibility

give me a hard/rough/tough time

don't make things difficult for me

by hook or by crook

at any cost, any way at all

at loggerheads

engaged in a dispute

pay through the nose

pay too much for something

have second thoughts

start having doubts about a decision you have made

be a bit difficult

polite way of saying that the person is quite difficult to deal with

as free as a bird

to be completely free

give sb a free hand

allow sb to do as they wish

well-to-do family

rich family

out of the blue

unexpectedly

put one's foot down

to insist

the cat among the pigeons

create a crisis or problematic situation

safe and sound

safely

lie through one's teeth

to lie boldly

let the cat out of the bag

reveal a secret

feel sth in one's bones

to believe something very strongly

pick up the bill

to pay the bill

come back down to earth with a bump

to stop behaving or living in a way that is not practical

stand one's ground

to not change one's opinion or position.

stick the knife in

do/say things which upset sb

bang one's head against a brick wall

to try in vain to get something

scare the living daylights out of sb

feel extremely scared

look a gift horse in the mouth

be ungrateful for what you are given

be on the brink of

(to be) on the edge

tie oneself up in knots

become very confused when you are trying to explain something

be man enough

mean that he has the necessary courage or ability to do it

a slime ball

a disgusting, despicable person

there's no peace for the wicked

evil-doers will face eternal punishment, popularly extended to mean that one's work never ceases.

from time immemorial

long ago; beyond memory or

recall

an apple a day keeps the doctor away

an apple each day can help to keep you healthy.

stuff one's faces

to eat a lot of food, especially quickly and in a short period of time

give sb pause for thought

to cause (someone) to stop and think about something carefully or to have doubts about something

thrilled to bits

extremely pleased

be/feel on top of the world

very happy indeed

on cloud nine

extremely happy

over the moon

very happy

in seventh heaven

extremely happy

get a real kick out of something

very much enjoy doing something

do something for kicks

do something because it's exciting, usually something dangerous

jump for joy

be very happy and excited about sth that has happened

be floating/walking on air

be very happy about something good that has happened

something makes one's day

something makes sb feel very happy

out of sorts

slightly unhappy or slightly ill

down in the dumps

(informal) feeling unhappy

it's not the end of the world

what has happened won't cause any serious problems

just grin and bear it

accept a situation you don't like because you can't change it

a misery guts

someone who complains all the time and is never happy

sour grapes

being jealous about sth you can't have

put a damper on

stop an occasion from being enjoyable

be fed up to the back teeth

to be extremely unhappy, disappointed

at my wits' end

to be fed up

have/throw a fit

go off the deep end

go spare

do one's nut

blow a fuse

to express extreme anger

one's blood is up

very angry and may react in a violent way

after one's blood

want to catch sb in order to hurt or punish them

out for blood

determined to find someone to attack them

drive someone up the wall/round the bend/twist

make someone very angry

rub someone up the wrong way

get/put someone's back up

ruffle someones' feathers

make someone annoyed

put/send the cat among the pigeons

do or say something that makes a lot of people angry or worried

not be on speaking terms

be so angry with each other that they refuse to speak to each other

give sb an earful

give sb a piece of one's mind

to tell sb for a long time how angry they are about sth

know sth inside out

knows every detail of it

know one's stuff

has a very good knowledge of sth

has a familiar ring to it

sounds familiar

ring a bell (commonly used with names)

have a vague memory of sb with that name, but can't remember exactly

don't have a clue/the faintest idea/the foggiest idea

don't know at all

can't for the life of me

can't remember at all

out of touch

used to know about them, but don't know the latest developments

put two and two together

concluded from the facts I knew

got hold of the wrong end of the stick

came to the wrong conclusion

put it down to experience

something bad has happened, but you decide to learn from it instead of being upset by it

know where I stand

you don't know what your position is or what your situation is with someone, and it's worrying you

give me food for thought

something happens or someone says something that makes you think very seriously about it

learn my lesson

something bad happens to you and you decide you will never let it happen again

teach sb a lesson

someone does something stupid which affects them in a way that they'll never want to do it again

got the message

sb finally becomes aware of a fact

set/put the record straight

tell the true facts to someone who has believed a different set of facts up to that moment

hear it on/through the grapevine

heard sth from sb who had heard it from sb else

a figment of one's imagination

sth you have imagined which is not true

lost sight of

forgotten a central, important fat or truth about sth

what beats me

what I cannot understand

the ins and outs of

the details of

makes all the difference to sth

has a very good effect on a situation or a thing

works/goes/runs like a dream

works/goes/runs very well indeed

works like magic

works immediately and very well indeed