Idioms first term test

to have absolute certainty about a piece of information.

to know sth for a fact

EXAMPLE: I know for a fact that my boyfriend is cheating on me.

a person's greatest talent, most conspicuous character trait, etc.

someone’s strong suit

EXAMPLE: Patience is my strong suit.

English could not be considered my strong suit.

uncertainty, confusion, or unanswered questions about something.

a mystery over

EXAMPLE: Police are trying to solve the mystery over the missing documents.

(a mystery over + noun/topic/event).

you do not need to be a formal expert, academic, or highly specialized professional to understand, appreciate, or do something.

not to be a schoolar of

EXAMPLE: You don't need to be a scholar of ancient history to appreciate the architecture of the Roman Colosseum.

to express your personal thoughts, feelings, or beliefs about a specific topic, rather than stating objective facts.

to give opinions on

to be extremely interested, captivated, or deeply drawn to it

to be fascinated by

EXAMPLE: I am fascinated by the complexity of the human brain.

the essential equipment, instruments, skills, or specialized knowledge a person needs to perform their specific job or profession properly

the tool of sb’s trade

EXAMPLE: The artist was surrounded by paints, brushes, and other tools of the trade.

means a situation, project, or event was progressing smoothly, satisfactorily, and meeting expectations up until a certain point.

X was going along well enough

EXAMPLE: The team's presentation was going along well enough until the projector suddenly lost its internet connection.

to deliver a spoken presentation, speech, or lecture to an audience.

to give a talk

EXAMPLE: He had been in the country to give a talk about UFOs and alleged conspiracies.

means a piece of writing or speech is weighed down by words that have been transformed into nouns (usually from verbs or adjectives), making the text overly dense, passive, and harder to read.

(to be) burdened with nominalized forms

something that you say when you tell someone about something surprising that happened.

lo and behold!

EXAMPLE: I was in Vienna sitting quietly in a café when, lo and behold, my cousin walked in.

to make an existing bad situation, conflict, or strong emotion worse.

to feed the flames

EXAMPLE: Instead of resolving the argument, he chose to feed the flames with his harsh words.