Idioms Flashcards
(24 cards)
To beat around the bush
To not tell the truth directly
Exp: Well, I am not going to beat around the bush here
To let the cat out of the bag
To give away a secret
Exp: He let the cat out of the bag, and the surprise part wasn’t a surprise after all
Salad days
A period of youth and inexperienced
Exp: A man who never lost the immature attitudes of his salad days
Dead as a doornail
Dead, unusable
Exp: After the midnight, the town is dead as a doornail
Knit your brows
To move your eyebrowns down
Exp: He knitted his brows in concentration
Does it ring any bells?
If we trying to point out something very obviously we might say
To vanish into thin air
To disappear without a trace
Exp: The bugger has vanished into thin air I can’t find him anywhere
To not budge an inch
To refuse to move (physically or metaphorically)
Exp: I got on the bus the other day and asked a gentleman to move into window seat but he didn’t budge an inch, so I had to push past him and sit on the inside
To be tongue tied
To be too shy or embarrassed to speak
Exp: When I see her I was totally tongue tied
To be hoodwinked
To be deceive or tricked
Exp: In the last report the judge has been accused of being hoodwinked, after being found to have takena bribe from the defendant
To be in a picke
To be in a troublesome situation
Exp: My car has broken and my phone has no battery so I am in a pickle
Fair play
Doing something according to rules
Exp: To ensure fair play, I have sealed the answer in an envelope
To laugh yourself into stitches
To laugh so hard your sides hurt
Exp: He is the funniest guys I’ve ever met. I laughed myself into stitches when he did an impression of our teacher
To have seen better days
To better in the past than today
Exp: This pub has seen better days
A foregone conclusion
A result that can be predicted with certainty
Exp: She asked me to go the latest romantic comedy with her. I told her I could tell her the story already. Boy meets girly, they fall in love, they fight and then get married. It’s a foregone conclusion
The long and the short of something
An expression meaning to summarise in general
Exp: I am not go into much detail. The long and short of something is that I am going to have to take a pay cut
Your own flesh and blood
People related to you by birth
Exp: You can borrow my car. You’re my own flesh and blood aren’t you? I wouldn’t lend it to a friend, but you are family
To lie low
To keep quite and try not to be noticed
Exp: The police are looking for you. If I were you I would lie low fo a while
Foul play
To cheat
Exp: I had to foul play him into leaving by telling him that I was going to see my family
To be an eye sore
To be very ugly. Used for something or places not people
Exp: I think it is an eye sore. It destroys London’s skyline
To be a laughing stock
Person or thing people laugh at and mock
Exp: I have never been such a laughing stock in my life
I know next to nothing about it
I havent the faintest idea
I dont know
What time do you make it?
What time is it in your watch?
The butt of the joke
Make fun of you
Take the mickey out of you
The reason for or aim of joke
Exp: He was the butt of every joke told evening
