ن : رامین شیخ زاده
butter up
MEANING: flatter someone to try to get their favor or friendship
EXAMPLE:
He spends most of his free time trying to butter up his boss so that he won’t have to work so hard.
carrot and stick
MEANING: promising to reward or punish someone at the same time
EXAMPLE:
The government took a carrot and stick approach to the people who were illegally protesting against the construction of the dam.
cool as a cucumber
MEANING: calm, not nervous or anxious
EXAMPLE:
He is always as cool as a cucumber and never worries about anything.
couch potato
MEANING: a very lazy person
EXAMPLE:
He is a real couch potato and just sits around watching TV and staying indoors all day.
cream of the crop
MEANING: best of a group, the top choice
EXAMPLE:
The company is well-known as a good place to work and is always able to hire the cream of the crop of university graduates.
cry over spilt milk
MEANING: cry or complain about something that has already happened
EXAMPLE:
Don’t cry over spilt milk. The past is past and you can’t do anything to change it.
cup of tea
MEANING: something one enjoys or does well
EXAMPLE:
Going to art galleries is not my cup of tea so I think that I will stay home this evening and not go with you.
eat crow
MEANING: admit one is mistaken or defeated, take back a mistaken statement
EXAMPLE:
I was forced to eat crow and had to apologize for the mistake that I made about the restructuring of our company.
eat dirt
MEANING: act humble, accept another’s insult or bad treatment
EXAMPLE:
We made him eat dirt after he accused us of lying about the salary cut.
eat humble pie
MEANING: be humbled, admit one’s error and apologize
EXAMPLE:
Our boss was forced to eat humble pie after everyone realized that he had made the wrong budget estimate for next year.
eat one’s cake and have it too
MEANING: use or spend something and still keep it
EXAMPLE:
He refuses to give up anything and always wants to eat his cake and have it too.
eat one’s words
MEANING: take back something one has said, admit something is not true
EXAMPLE:
I told my boss that I would be leaving but later I had to eat my words and tell him that I wanted to stay.
egg on
MEANING: urge someone on
EXAMPLE:
Many people at the soccer game were egged on by the drunken fans.
finger in the pie
MEANING: participate in something that is happening
EXAMPLE:
He always tries to keep his finger in the pie so that he can control everything.
full of beans
MEANING: feel energetic, in high spirits
EXAMPLE:
She is full of beans tonight and doesn’t want to stop talking.
gravy train
MEANING: a job or work that pays more than it is worth
EXAMPLE:
For many years his job was a real gravy train but now the company has become very strict and will not pay overtime.
half-baked
MEANING: not thought out or studied carefully
EXAMPLE:
He has a half-baked idea about starting a new business but most of us think that it will fail.
hand to someone on a silver platter
MEANING: give a person something that has not been earned
EXAMPLE:
His education was handed to him on a silver platter and now he is very spoiled and selfish.
hard nut to crack
MEANING: something or someone difficult to understand or do
EXAMPLE:
He is a very serious person and is a very hard nut to crack.
(get or) have egg on one’s face
MEANING: be embarrassed
EXAMPLE:
He has egg on his face because everyone knows that he was sick at the party.
hit the sauce
MEANING: drink alcohol - usually regularly
EXAMPLE:
I think that she has begun to hit the sauce since her husband lost his job.
hot potato
MEANING: a question or argument that is controversial and difficult to settle
EXAMPLE:
The issue of building the nuclear power plant is a real hot potato for the local town council.
in a nutshell
MEANING: briefly, in a few words
EXAMPLE:
We went to the meeting and they told us in a nutshell what would be happening to everyone next year.
in the soup
MEANING: in serious trouble, in disorder
EXAMPLE:
She is really in the soup now. She told her boss that she was sick but he saw her downtown shopping.
make one’s mouth water
MEANING: look or smell very good, want to eat or drink very much
EXAMPLE:
The restaurant is supposed to be wonderful and every time that I see the menu it makes my mouth water.
nutty as a fruitcake
MEANING: crazy
EXAMPLE:
He is a very nice man but he acts strange sometimes and I often think that he is as nutty as a fruitcake.
out of the frying pan and into the fire
MEANING: go from something bad to something worse
EXAMPLE:
She quit the job because of some small problems but she has jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire because now her problems are much worse.
out to lunch
MEANING: crazy, mad
EXAMPLE:
She is totally out to lunch and you should never believe what she tells you.
piece of cake
MEANING: a task that is easily accomplished
EXAMPLE:
It was a piece of cake. I had everything done before lunch this morning.
polish the apple
MEANING: flatter someone
EXAMPLE:
Nobody likes her because she is always trying to polish the apple with her teacher.
souped up
MEANING: change something to make it faster or more powerful by changing or adding something
EXAMPLE:
The new car that his neighbor bought is a souped up model of the one that he had last year.
salt away
MEANING: save money
EXAMPLE:
He has been working there for seven years and has been able to salt away quite a lot of money.
sell like hotcakes
MEANING: sell quickly or rapidly
EXAMPLE:
The new CD has only been released for about a week but already it is selling like hotcakes.
spill the beans
MEANING: tell a secret to someone who is not supposed to know about it
EXAMPLE:
Please don’t spill the beans about my plans to quit working and go back to school next year.
stew in one’s own juice
MEANING: suffer from something that one has caused to happen
EXAMPLE:
He is the one who caused the problem for himself and is now being forced to stew in his own juice.
take with a grain of salt
MEANING: accept or believe only part of something
EXAMPLE:
You should take everything that he says with a grain of salt as everyone knows that he likes to exaggerate things when he is speaking.
upset the applecart
MEANING: ruin a plan or event by surprise or accident
EXAMPLE:
Everything was going well at the company until he came along and upset the apple cart.
worth one’s salt
MEANING: being a good worker, worth what one is paid
EXAMPLE:
He has only been working here for a month but over and over he has proved that he is worth his salt.
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