🔹Example sentences from the web:
✳️I don’t know, and I don’t care, because he just got every single one of us off the hook.
✳️I guess she thought she could use your file and pathetic past to get you off the hook.
✳️He counted on his friends to get him off the hook.
💥A bit much
🔹If something is excessive or annoying, it is a bit much.
💥A chain is no stronger than its weakest link
🔹This means that processes, organisations, etc, are vulnerable because the
weakest person or part can always damage or break them.
💥A day late and a dollar short
🔹(USA) If something is a day late and a dollar short, it is too little, too late.
💥A fool and his money are soon parted
🔹This idiom means that people who aren't careful with their money spend it quickly. 'A fool and his money are easily parted' is an alternative form of the idiom.
@IDIOMSLAND
#A
⭕️sell like hot cakes
🔹Things that sell like hot cakes sell quickly or in large quantities.
▶️"She's a very successful author. Her books always sell like hot cakes."
@IDIOMSLAND
#C
✳️about turn/about face
☑️This term refers to a complete change of opinion or policy.
💥"The ambassador's recent declarations indicate an about turn in foreign policy."
🔘make a killing
☑️Meaning: If you make a killing, you make a lot of money from a sale or a deal of some sort.
🔹For example:
💥My aunt made a killing when she bought some shares in a company as soon as they were issued, and sold them a few weeks later for three times what she paid.
💥Lots of people made a killing when property values went so high back in the nineties.
@IdiomsLand
#M
📕a mixed blessing
✅Meaning: You can say something is a mixed blessing if it seems to be good, but in fact has bad effects as well as good effects.
🔹For example:
✳️Many scientists said discovering the power of the atom was a mixed blessing as it led to nuclear power, but it also made nuclear weapons possible.
✳️Getting the promotion was a mixed blessing because it means I spend less time with my family.
@IdiomsLand
#M
🔘a matter of life and death
☑️Meaning: If something is a matter of life and death, it's extremely important and it could involve someone's survival.
🔹For example:
💥Education about HIV and AIDS is a matter of life and death. If people aren't told to protect themselves with condoms, they could die from the disease.
💥Getting someone to hospital quickly after an accident or a heart attack is a matter of life and death. Just a few minutes can make all the difference.
@IdiomsLand
#M
🔘accidentally on purpose
✅If you do something intentionally, but pretend it was an accident, you do it accidentally on purpose.
✳️"I accidentally-on-purpose erased his email address so I couldn't contact him again."
⭕️to the best of one's ability
☑️When someone does something to the best of their ability, they do it as well as they possibly can.
💥"I felt nervous all through the interview, but I replied to the best of my ability."
🔘upset the applecart
☑️Meaning: If you upset the applecart, you do something that causes trouble or upsets someone's plans.
For example:
💥The Stones upset the applecart by pulling out of the music festival. They were going to be the main act.
💥Kelly's sister really upset the applecart when she told Kelly that she'd seen her husband waiting for someone in a hotel lobby when he was supposed to be in New York.
@IDIOMSLAND
#U
🔘under the table
🇺🇸American English
☑️Meaning: If something is done under the table, it's done secretly, usually because it's illegal or unethical.
For example:
💥If I do any overtime, can you pay me under the table so I won't have pay tax on it.
💥If you make under-the-table payments to customs officials, you can get goods through the port without having them inspected.
🔴Note: If this idiom is used to qualify a noun or a noun phrase, hyphens must be used, as in "under-the-table payments".
🎯Origin: Probably related to the fact that if a package or an envelope is passed under a table, other people cannot easily see what's going on.
⭕️Variety: This idiom is typically used in American English but may be used in other varieties of English too.
@IDIOMSLAND
#U
⭕️um and ah⭕️
🇬🇧British English
☑️Meaning: If you "um and ah" you're having trouble deciding what to say, or you're having trouble telling somebody something.
For example:
✳️Stop umming and ahing and just tell me what happened!
✳️James ummed and ahed for a while, but he eventually agreed to help us get the deal.
🎯Variety: This idiom is typically used in British English but may be used in other varieties of English too.
@IDIOMSLAND
#U
🔘behind the times🔘
☑️Meaning: If someone is behind the times, they are old-fashioned and their ideas are out of date.
For example:
🔴How can we be a successful company if our executives are so behind the times that they don't know what people want these days?
🔴Neil is really behind the times. He doesn't even know what rap music sounds like!
@IDIOMSLAND
#B
✅beat around the bush | beat about the bush
☑️Meaning: If you beat around the bush, or beat about the bush, you don't say something directly, usually because you don't want to upset the person you're talking to.
For example:
💥I had trouble telling Pedro he'd lost his job. I started beating around the bush and talking about one door closing and another door opening.
💥Stop beating about the bush. Just tell me what's happened!
@IDIOMSLAND
#B
🔘backed into a corner🔘
☑️Meaning: If you're backed into a corner, you're in a difficult situation that will be hard to get out of.
For example:
💥When his business failed, Gerry felt he'd been backed into a corner and he didn't know what he could do.
💥Jimmy's drug addiction had backed him into a corner and his only way out was to go into rehab and kick the habit.
@IDIOMSLAND
#B
✳️calculated risk
☑️A calculated risk is a risk taken with full knowledge of the dangers involved.
💥"The company took a calculated risk when they hired Sean straight out of college."
@IDIOMSLAND
#C
⭕️in cahoots with someone
☑️If one person is in cahoots with another, they are working in close partnership, usually conspiring to do something dishonest.
💥"There was a rumour that the Mayor was in cahoots with a chain of supermarkets"
@IDIOMSLAND
#C
A big cheese- an important or a powerful person in a group or family
A bird's eye view- a view from a very high place which allows you to see a large area
A bone of contention- something that people argue for a long time
A cock and a bull story- a story or an explanation which is obviously not true.
At the crack of the dawn- very early in morning
A cuckoo in the nest- someone in a group of people but not liked by them.
A litmus test- a method which clearly proves something
@IdiomsLand
#A
Idioms Group:
send your good idioms here👇
https://t.me/joinchat/AAAAAD6Z911r_4pOriDvng
🔘made of money
☑️Meaning: If you are made of money, you have lots of money.
🔹For example:
✳️When I was in poor countries, everyone thought I was made of money because I could afford to take time off work and travel so far to their country.
✳️That guy Howard acts as if he's made of money, but I know for a fact that he's actually quite poor.
@IdiomsLand
#M
🔘a means to an end
☑️Meaning: You can say something is a means to an end if it's the way to reach a goal, or the way to achieve something.
🔹For example:
⭕️Rupert plays golf, but he doesn't really enjoy it. It's just a means to an end for him because so much business is done on the golf course these days.
⭕️The medical school interviews all candidates and tries to weed out people for whom becoming a doctor is just a means to an end. They don't want people whose real goal is making money.
@IdiomsLand
#M
🔘hold all the aces
✔️A person who holds all the aces is in a very strong position because they have more advantages than anyone else.
🔹"Given the high unemployment figures in some countries, employers hold all the aces."
⭕️above and beyond the call of duty
☑️If a person does something which is above and beyond the call of duty, they show a greater degree of courage or effort than is usually required or expected in their job.
💥"The fire-fighter received a medal for his action which went above and beyond the call of duty."
⭕️jog your memory
☑️Meaning: If something jogs your memory, it helps you to remember something.
For example:
✳️The song really jogged my memory and I could clearly picture the scene thirty years ago when my friends and I first heard it.
✳️The police had a sketch of the suspect drawn and showed it to people in the area in the hope of jogging their memories.
@IDIOMSLAND
#J
🔘up for grabs
❎INFORMAL
☑️Meaning: If something is up for grabs, it's available for anyone who wants to try to get it.
For example:
💥Do you remember when all the best website URLs were still up for grabs? Anyone could get one just by being the first person to claim it.
💥There are some great prizes up for grabs in their latest competition.
🎯Origin: Possibly related to the idea of someone throwing a lot of banknotes into the air, and many people reaching up trying to grab them. As such, the banknotes are "up for grabs".
@IDIOMSLAND
#U
🔘under lock and key
☑️Meaning: If something is under lock and key, it is kept in a very secure place.
For example:
🔴Make sure these documents are under lock and key until we need them.
🔴Poor Josie. Her parents were very strict and they kept her under lock and key throughout her childhood, so she never learned about life's dangers.
@IDIOMSLAND
#U
🔘the upper crust
☑️Meaning: If you are one of the upper crust, you are a member of society's highest class.
For example:
💥If Laura was really part of the upper crust, she wouldn't need to borrow money all the time, would she?
💥Marge does a great imitation of an upper-crust "society queen". It's really funny, and her upper-crust accent is perfect.
🔴Note: If used to modify a noun or a noun phrase, a hyphen should be added, as in "upper-crust party"
@IDIOMSLAND
#U
⭕️beat the rap⭕️
🔹American English INFORMAL
☑️Meaning: If someone beats the rap, they avoid being found guilty of a crime.
For example:
💥Everyone knows that Jimmy the Snitch did the robbery in Green St., but he beat the rap because he's in with the cops.
💥Henry was charged with drunk driving, but his lawyer helped him beat the rap on some technical detail.
🎯Variety: This idiom is typically used in American English but may be used in other varieties of English too.
@IDIOMSLAND
#B
✅bear the brunt✅
☑️Meaning: If you bear the brunt of something, you suffer the worst of its impact or its effects.
For example:
✳️The driver bore the brunt of the crash because he was right at the front of the bus.
✳️The team's coach bore the brunt of the criticism because he'd selected the players who'd performed so badly.
@IDIOMSLAND
#B
🔘off the top of your head🔘
🔴INFORMAL
✅Meaning: If you give someone information off the top of your head, you do so from memory, without checking beforehand.
For example:
💥I can't tell you Maxine's phone number off the top of my head. I'll have to check.
💥I don't know for sure, but off the top of my head I'd say that renting a two-bedroom apartment would cost about a thousand dollars a week.
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#O