Idiom of the Day
🔰can't see the forest for the trees
🇺🇸American English
Ⓜ️eaning: If you can't see the forest for the trees, you can't see the whole situation clearly because you're looking too closely at small details, or because you're too closely involved.
►For example:
🔺I don't think we can see the forest for the trees at this stage, so let's get an outsider to take a look at the project and give us a progress report.
🔺Mark is so focused on product details that he can't see the forest for the trees when it comes to the overall needs of the company.
💥Note: The British and Australian equivalent is "can't see the wood for the trees".
👁🗨Variety: This idiom is typically used in American English but may be used in other varieties of English too.
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Idiom of the Day
🔰I owe you one!
❗️INFORMAL
Ⓜ️eaning: You can say "I owe you one!" when someone has done something for you and you'd be happy to return the favour one day.
►For example:
🔺Thanks for helping me out, Bob. I owe you one!
🔺"I owe you one!" said Malik after I'd told him to sell his shares just before the market collapsed.
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Idiom of the Day
◾️hit the nail on the head
Ⓜ️eaning: If you hit the nail on the head, you describe the exact nature of something such as a problem, a solution, or a situation.
〰For example:
🔺Bernie hit the nail on the head when he said the team's problem is that the players don't have confidence in one another.
🔺You really hit the nail on the head when you said that Gina needs to stop worrying about making mistakes when she speaks English.
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Idiom of the Day
💥hot under the collar
Ⓜ️eaning: If you are hot under the collar, you feel angry or annoyed about something.
❕For example:
🔺The coach was getting hot under the collar because he thought the referee was making unfair decisions against his players.
🔺We could see Matt was getting hot under the collar because of what Ken was saying, so we changed the subject.
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Idiom of the Day
💥a one-track mind
Ⓜ️eaning: If someone has a one-track mind, they spend most of their time thinking about one subject.
✨For example:
🔺Brian's had a one-track mind since he started his own company. All he thinks about now is business and making money.
🔺Mark's upset because Jenny said he's got a one-track mind and he's always thinking about sex.
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Word of the Day
📌stupefy /ˈstuːpəˌfaɪ/ verb
stupefies; stupefied; stupefying
Learner's definition of STUPEFY
[+ object]
☑️: to shock or surprise (someone) very much : to cause (someone) to become confused or unable to think clearly — usually used as (be) stupefied
▪️I was stupefied by their decision.
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The baby was stupefied by the kiss.
Slang of the Day
💥sickie
British and Australian English
Ⓜ️eaning: a day taken off work after calling in sick when one is actually well
🌀For example:
🔺Paul throws a sickie at least once a month. I wonder if his boss has noticed that he's always "sick" when the weather is beautiful?
🔺Robbo reckons the surf's awesome today, so I'm chuckin' a sickie and headin' down the coast.
🗨Variety: This slang term is typically used in British and Australian English but may be used in other varieties of English too.
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Slang of the Day
💥rubbish
🇬🇧British English
Ⓜ️eaning: to make very negative comments, to strongly criticise
🌀For example:
▪️British newspapers nearly always rubbish local sports teams when they don't do well in international competitions.
▪️Why does that guitarist in Oasis always rubbish other bands? I don't think I've ever heard him say anything nice about another band, except for The Beatles.
🔍Variety: This slang term is typically used in British English but may be used in other varieties of English too.
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Slang of the Day
💥jittery
Ⓜ️eaning: very nervous
❕For example:
▪️Sir Elton has been singing his songs on stage for over forty years, but he says he still gets jittery before a concert.
▪️Police at the airport closely observe people entering the country, and if anyone seems jittery they stop them and search them for drugs.
💢Note:
see also "the jitters"
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Slang of the Day
🅿️ack heat
Ⓜ️eaning: to carry a gun
✔️For example:
🔺Someone in the crowd who was packing heat has been taken away by the Secret Service guys.
🔺Can you believe that some of these kids come to school packing heat? Where do they get the guns from?
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Slang of the Day
®at
Ⓜ️eaning: a horrible, nasty person
❕For example:
🔺That guy's such a rat. He'd sell his own mother if it'd help him get what he wants.
🔺When Debbie married her husband he was a nice guy, but he turned into a rat when he started drinking too much.
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Slang of the Day
🔰cuppa
British and Australian English
Ⓜ️eaning: a hot drink, cup of tea, cup of coffee
🌀For example:
🔺As soon as I get home, I'm going to have a nice hot cuppa.
🔺Would you like to come in for a cuppa?
👁🗨Variety: This slang term is typically used in British and Australian English but may be used in other varieties of English too.
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Slang of the Day
💥toff
🇬🇧British English
☑️Meaning: a wealthy, upper-class person
❕For example:
🔺If you want to see a lot of toffs drinking champagne and eating caviar, go to the Royal Meeting at Ascot Racecourse.
🔺Lisa's new boyfriend is a real toff. His family's incredibly rich, and his dad's the Duke of Errey.
🎯Variety: This is typically used in British English but may be used in other varieties of English too.
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Slang of the Day
💥quid
▫️British and Australian English
☑️Meaning: one pound sterling
❕For example:
🔺We paid him five hundred quid to fix the roof.
🔺I lost ten quid on that horse Ted said was gonna win for sure.
✨Variety: This slang term is typically used in British and Australian English but may be used in other varieties of English too.
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Slang of the Day
💥rehab
☑️Meaning: place for treating addiction
❕For example:
▪️We really think it's time you went into rehab and dealt with your addiction. The longer you take drugs, the longer it takes to recover.
▪️When asked if she was going to rehab, Amy said, "No, no, no!"
✨Origin: short for "rehabilitation"
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Slang of the Day
📌hoops
🇺🇸American English
Ⓜ️eaning: the game of basketball
►For example:
🔺Every day after work I hook up with my friends down at the court and we shoot some hoops.
🔺My little bro' practices hoops every day after school. He wants to be an NBA star.
👁🗨Variety: This slang term is typically used in American English but may be used in other varieties of English too.
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Slang of the Day
🔰dork
🇺🇸American English Offensive
Ⓜ️eaning: a socially awkward person
〽️For example:
🔺My son is upset because some kids at school called him a dork.
🔺You call my little brother a dork again and I'll beat the crap out of you! You got that?
☑️Note: This word is usually used among young people, and has a similar meaning to "geek", "dweeb", "nerd", etc.
👁🗨Variety: This slang term is typically used in American English but may be used in other varieties of English too.
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Slang of the Day
💥bottom
Offensive
Ⓜ️eaning: a man who takes the passive role in gay or homosexual sex
❗️For example:
🔺Joey made a page about himself on a gay community website and it said he preferred bottoms aged 20 to 40.
🔺When Pedro was in a gay bar he met a guy he really liked, but it soon became clear that they were both bottoms.
🗨Note: This is a common gay slang term and it means a man who prefers to be "on the bottom", or to take the passive role, in gay sex. A man who prefers to be "on top", or to take the active role, is called a "top".
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Slang of the Day
💥Yikes!
Ⓜ️eaning: interjection expressing surprise or shock
✨For example:
🔺When Sally saw her phone bill, she said, "Yikes! How could it be that much?"
🔺While Bill was driving home, he nearly hit a car that pulled out in front of him. "Yikes! That was close!"
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Slang of the Day
🌀hip
Ⓜ️eaning: trendy, stylish, fashionable among young people
➰For example:
🔺It's hip for young guys to look cute and a bit "fem" these days, so many are taking good care of their skin and spending a lot on clothes and haircuts.
🔺When we were young smoking was hip, but these days it's not so hip to smell of cigarettes and damage your lungs.
🛡Origin: Many etymologists believe that the terms hip, hep and hepcat (e.g., jazz musicians' now cliched "hip cat") derive from the west African Wolof language word hepicat, which means "one who has his eyes open". (from Wikipedia)
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Idiom of the Day
💥on the back burner
☑️Meaning: If a plan or a project is on the back burner, it isn't being worked on at present, but it might be completed in the future.
🔺For example:
▪️Plans for the new factory have been put on the back burner until the economy improves.
▪️It's a great idea, but we're too busy to look into it now so we'll put it on the back burner for a while.
🌀Origin: Probably metaphorical, from cooking and the fact that most stoves have front and back burners. Front burners are used for things that need attention now, while back burners are for things that don't need much attention just now.
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Idiom of the Day
💥kick the habit
Ⓜ️eaning: If you kick the habit, you manage to stop doing something that has become a bad habit.
🌀For example:
🔺I wish I could stop smoking cigarettes but I just can't kick the habit.
🔺Rashid used to bite his fingernails but his girlfriend made him kick the habit.
✔️Note: "Kick a habit" can be used when talking about habits in general, as in "Kicking a habit isn't easy."
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Idiom of the Day
👍🏻yes-man
Ⓜ️eaning: If someone's a yes-man, they'll say they agree with someone, or say "yes" to them, in order to please them.
🌀For example:
▪️Do you think Larry's just a yes-man, or will he tell the president what he really thinks?
▪️I don't want a yes-man. I want someone who'll tell me the truth.
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Idiom of the Day
💥have a soft spot for
Ⓜ️aning: If you have a soft spot for someone or something, you feel a warm affection for them.
〽️For example:
🔺I don't know why, but I've always had a soft spot for Uncle George.
🔺Margaret can't see a stray cat without taking it home. She has a real soft spot for them.
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Idiom of the Day
💥rags to riches
Ⓜ️eaning: If you go from rags to riches, you start out very poor and you become very rich.
🌀For example:
▪️My grandfather went from rags to riches when his dishwashing liquid became very popular. He started out making it at home, but in less than a year he had his own factory.
▪️Most of these young guys in professional basketball came from poor neighbourhoods and they all have the same rags-to-riches story.
☑️Note: If used as a modifier before a noun or a noun phrase, hyphens must be added, as in "a rags-to-riches story".
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Idiom of the Day
💥an ivory tower
Ⓜ️eaning: You can say someone's in an ivory tower if they're in a place that separates them from everyday life, such as a university.
❕For example:
▪️People often complain that academics stuck in their ivory towers don't really understand the problems of the average person.
▪️Peter's dream is to get tenure in a university and spend the rest of his life hidden away in an ivory tower.
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Idiom of the Day
💥put the brakes on
☑️Meaning: If you put the brakes on something, you stop it or slow it down.
🔺For example:
▪️Many companies are putting the brakes on new investment until the economy improves.
▪️The government has to put the brakes on the water treatment project until the corruption enquiry is over.
✔️Origin: This metaphorical idiom is based on the fact that if you're driving a car and you "put the brakes on", the car slows down and stops.
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Idiom of the Day
📚𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐆𝐔𝐄𝐒𝐒 𝐈𝐒 𝐀𝐒 𝐆𝐎𝐎𝐃 𝐀𝐒 𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐄.
𝐌𝐄𝐀𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆: You can say "your guess is as good as mine" when you don't know the answer to a question.
𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐄𝐗𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐋𝐄:
⭕️Tom: "Who's going to win the World Cup?" Jerry: "Your guess is as good as mine."
⭕️I asked Jenny when the new office would be ready and she said, "Your guess is as good as mine."
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Idiom of the Day
💥x-factor
☑️Meaning: If someone has the x-factor, they have a certain charismatic appeal and magnetic quality.
❕For example:
🔺He's not a great singer but people can't take their eyes off him, so he must have the x-factor.
🔺You can't teach anyone the x-factor; they've either got it or they haven't.
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Idiom of the Day
💥nip it in the bud
☑️Meaning: If you nip something in the bud, you stop a problem from becoming serious by dealing with it as soon as you notice it.
〽️For example:
🔺Alan has a serious weight problem. Now he wishes he'd nipped it in the bud by eating less and exercising more when he was first starting to put on weight.
🔺I was starting to drink too much alcohol, so I nipped it in the bud and stopped drinking altogether before it became a serious problem.
🎯Origin: This is a metaphorical idiom based on the fact that if you want to stop a plant from growing bigger, you can cut off the new leaf buds or flower buds, or "nip the buds".
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