Idioms & Phrases ..................often in use...............
Idioms & Phrases
1) To keep one’s word - to keep one’s promise
2) To play with fire – to engage in dangerous activities
3) Out of the frying pan into the fire – get out of a bad situation only to find oneself in a worse situation
4) To let the cat out of the bag – to reveal a secret
5) A white paper – a government report
6) Castles in the air – daydreams, thinking or dreaming about something unattainable
7) To catch red handed – to catch in the act of stealing/ committing the crime
8) A red carpet welcome – a respectable welcome
9) A white elephant – an expensive thing
10) Palmy days – prosperous days
11) The fair sex – women
12) A live wire – dynamic, active
13) Sharp tongue – in the habit of using abusive language
14) The sixth sense – intuition
15) A vicious circle – a series of unwanted/unhappy/evil incidents
16) The zero hour – an important part of time for launching something
17) A feather in one’s cap – a symbol of honour and achievement
18) Pros & cons – for and against
19) To be in poor supply – scarcity
20) Hard words – harsh language
21) Alpha and omega – the beginning and the end
22) An iron will – a strong will
23) High life – aristocratic, rich life
24) A rope of sand – a promise easily broken
25) The golden rule – the best principle
26) An apple of discord – a cause of quarrel
27) A dead language – a language which is not spoken now
28) To be dead against – to oppose staunchly, strongly
29) Come to a bad end – to become a criminal
30) Big words – boasting
31) Dutch courage – courage shown by a drunken person
32) Hot news – new or sensational news
33) A rainy day – a time of financial difficulty
34) An open secret – a secret known to all
35) A bull in a china shop – a clumsy person, someone who upsets other people's plans
36) Bread and butter – food for livelihood
37) Kith and kin – close relatives, family
38) A big shot – an important person
39) A shortcut – easier/shorter way
40) A herculean task – an extremely difficult task
41) To pay homage to – to pay respects to
42) Plunge into – to fall into
43) Short and sweet – brief and impressive
44) The salt of the earth – those of great worth and reliability
45) Bag and baggage – with all belongings
46) Way and means – methods
47) By word of mouth – orally
48) One foot in grave – almost dead
49) Gift of the gab – ability to speak in a persuasive and interesting way
50) Null and void – legally invalid
Part 2.............................
1) Keep one’s head above water – to be free from debt
2) Go out of one’s head – go mad, act unpredictably
3) Throw one’s hat in the ring – to accept a challenge
4) Jack of all trades – one who knows something of everything
5) Black and white – simple, clear and understandable
6) To be well off – to be rich
7) The fourth estate – the press
8) A fool’s paradise – an illusionary world
9) To break the ice – to break the silence
10) A yeoman’s service – helping or serving
11) Between Scylla and charybdis – to choose between 2 unattractive choices/perils
12) To turn over a new leaf – change for the better
13) Hand and glove – intimate
14) At sixes and sevens – in disorder
15) At the eleventh hour – at the last moment
16) To make a slip of the tongue – an accidental and usually trivial mistake in speaking
17) To smell a rat – to suspect
18) To pick holes – to find fault with
19) To keep the ball rolling – to cause something that is in progress to continue
20) To fall a prey – to become a victim to
21) A storm in a tea-cup – much discussion about some unimportant thing
22) To bring to book – to punish
23) A cool head – being calm, composed
24) A child’s play – something easy
25) Chicken hearted – lacking courage
26) Dance to one’s tunes – follow blindly, to always do what someone tells you to do,
whether you agree with it or not
27) A dead letter – a law no longer in use
28) Rain cats and dogs – to rain heavily
29) Not fit to hold candle to – person much inferior to or not to be compared with another
30) Burn the midnight oil – to study late in the night
31) Burn candle at both ends – to regularly stay awake late and get up early
32) Burn one’s fingers – to get oneself into unexpected trouble due to rashness
33) Miss the bus – lose an opportunity
34) Keep body and soul together – remain alive
35) Blow hot and cold – to be enthusiastic one moment and not interested the next
36) Once in a blue moon – very rarely
37) Between the devil and deep sea – in an inescapable position
38) To make the best of a bad bargain – adapt as well as possible to a bad situation
39) Apple of one’s eyes – the favourite object of one’s love or affection
40) Lead to the altar – to marry
41) Like hot cakes – in much demand
42) A cake walk – an easy task
43) Birds of a feather – people of like character
44) The afternoon of life – beyond middle age
45) Achilles’ heel – a weak spot, a fatal weakness in spite of overall strength, actually or potentially leading to downfall
46) With all of one’s heart – sincerely
47) To break the news – to announce
48) Come off with flying colours – win credit, being successful
49) Cut coat according to cloth – adapt expenditure to income
50) A cock and bull story – fictious story
Part 3................
1) A skeleton in the cupboard – a dark or embarrassing secret of the past
2) A snake in the grass – a person who pretends to be friendly, a deceitful or treacherous person
3) The life and soul – essence, the most important part of
4) By fair means or foul means – by good or evil methods
5) A fly in the ointment – a cause for trouble, a small but irritating flaw that spoils the whole thing
6) A wet blanket – one who dampens the atmosphere, tries to spoil others’ fun
7) To have clean hands – to be innocent
8) To hold one’s head high – to be proud of
9) An eye opener – revealing, enlightening, informative
10) To be on the last legs – at the end of one's strength or resources; ready to collapse, fail, or die
11) To pull the leg of – to tease
12) An utopian scheme – excellent and ideal but impracticable
13) The bill of fare – the menu
14) By hook or crook – by any means, fair or unfair
15) To turn a deaf ear to – to ignore
16) A fish out of water – in strange circumstances, to feel out of place in a new place
17) To jeer at – to make fun of
18) A man of letters – someone who writes well
19) To die before one’s time – to die young
20) To put two and two together – to guess the truth about a situation from pieces of information
21) To be born with a silver spoon in one’s mouth – to be born rich
22) To have an axe to grind – have a dispute to take up with someone or, to have an ulterior motive
23) To nip in the bud – put an end to something at an early stage
24) Cry over spilt milk – cry or complain about something that has already happened
25) By leaps and bounds – to grow larger very quickly, rapidly
26) A turning point – a crucial point
27) To read between the lines – to perceive or detect an obscure or unexpressed meaning
28) Spare the rod – not beating a young child, student
29) Own flesh and blood – to be related
30) To show the white feather – to show cowardice
31) To beat black & blue – to beat severely
32) To be in the pink – to be in perfect health
33) A turning point – a crucial point
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