Off-color Not in the usual form To commit to memory To learn by heart Too many cooks spoil the broth Where there are more workers than necessary Crocodile tears Hypocritical Tears Cut and dried Readymade Up to date Recent Evil days A period of misfortune Halcyon Days A time when there are peace and happiness in the land Go to the devil Be off Give a dog a bad name and hang him Once a person loses his reputation Every dog has his day Sooner or later, everyone has his share of good fortune A white elephant A useless possession which is extremely expensive to keep To set the Thames on fire To do something sensational or remarkable A burnt child dreads the fire One who has had previous unpleasant experience is always scared of situations where such experiences are likely to be repeated A fish out of water Anyone in an awkward Foul play Cheating To jump from a frying pan into fire To come out of one trouble and get into a worse All that glitters are not gold Things are not always as attractive as they appear Make hay while the sun shines Take advantage of all opportunities Lock, stock and barrel The whole of everything A miss is as good as a mile Comes nowhere near it.
If someone narrowly misses the target it still is treated as a missed one or failure. To move heaven and earth To exert all efforts If wishes were horses, beggars might ride If wishing could make things happen, then even the most destitute people would have everything they wanted Yellow press Newspapers publish sensational and unscrupulous stories and exaggerate the news to attract readers.
A ballpark figure A general financial figure To balance the books To make certain that the amount of money spent is not more than the amount of money received. A cash cow A product or service that makes a lot of money for a company You could not do it professionally. To cook the books To modify financial statements To get the sack To be dismissed from your job To be snowed under To be very busy To work your fingers to the bone or to sweat blood To work really hard Hear it on the grapevine To hear rumors In the heat of the moment Overwhelmed by what is happening at the moment Not a spark of decency No Manners Speak of the devil!
This expression is used when the person you have just been talking about arrives Whole nine yards Everything. All of it Your guess is as good as mine To have no idea about anything. Join Our Social Media. Please enter your comment! Please enter your name here. You have entered an incorrect email address! November 22, September 22, Useful For. Format Type. Total No of Questions. Penny for your thoughts. Asking someone what is on their minds. Beat around the bush. Burn the midnight oil.
Work or labor late into the night. Judge a book by its cover. Rely on outward appearances. Takes two to tango. Kill two birds with one stone. Accomplish two things with the same effort. A piece of cake. Whole nine yards. The entire thing, all of something. A dime a dozen.
Bite off more than you can chew. Try to take on a task too big for oneself. Cry over spilled milk. Hit the road. Once in a blue moon. Once in awhile, infrequently. Have a blast. To enjoy oneself, have a good time. Rank and File. Ordinary People. By fits and starts. In short periods, not regularly. A wee bit. A little. Out of the wood. Free from difficulties and dangers. Under his thumb. Under his control.
In a state where one does not know what to do. Between the devil and the deep sea. Between two dangers. Work or study hard. Call a spade a spade. Speak frankly and directly. Come off with flying colors.
Be highly successful. Hoping against hope. Without hope. Hit the nail on the head. Do or say the exact thing. An axe to grind. A personal interest in the matter. To get rid of. Dispose of. At daggers drawn. Bitterly hostile. To play ducks and drakes. To act foolishly or inconsistently. To take the bull by the horns. To tackle a problem in a bold and direct fashion.
Rain cats and dogs. Rain heavily. To move heaven and earth. To make a supreme effort. No avail. Without any result. Bark up the wrong tree. Accuse or denounce the wrong person. Keep one at bay. Keep one at a distance. Make a clean breast of it.
Confess — especially when a person has done a wrong thing. Have a secret plan in reserve. Like a cat on hot bricks. Very nervous. Cat and dog life. Life full of quarrels.
Cock and bull story. Made up story that one should not believe. Cry for the moon. Ask for the impossible. The pros and cons. The various aspects of a matter in detail. Be in a tight corner. In a very difficult situation. To keep at a distance. Out of the question. Out of the way. Show a clean pair of heals. Run away. The anxiety in which you hope that nothing will upset your plans. In the nick of time. Just at the last moment. Sitting on the fence. Hesitate between two decisions.
Spread like wild fire. Spread quickly. The gift of the gab. Talent for speaking. By hook or by crook. By fair or foul means.
Make money unfairly. Throw out of gear. Disturb the work. Tooth and nail. Die in harness. Die while in service. Imitate one.
Leave no stone unturned. Use all available means. A man of straw. A man of no substance. Read between the lines. Understand the hidden meaning. In cold blood. Deliberately and without emotion. A thorn in the flesh.
A constant source of annoyance. Smell a rat. Suspect something foul. Harp on the same string. Dwell on the same subject. Bury the hatchet. End the quarrel and make peace. Leave one in the lurch. Desert one in difficulties; leave one in a helpless condition. Like a fish out of water. In a strange situation. To make both ends meet.
In hot water. In trouble. Nip in the bud. Destroy in the early stage. Remain faithful to the cause. To eat humble pie. To apologize humbly and to yield under humiliating circumstances. In high spirits. Very happy. Put the cart before the horse. Put or do things in the wrong order. To all names. To abuse. On tenterhooks. In a state of suspense and anxiety. Discuss unpleasant in public-private matters before strangers. To bell the cat. To face the risk. A hard nut to crack. A difficult problem.
Let the cat out of the bag. Reveal a secret. A big gun. An important person. To achieve two results with one effort. Take one to task. Gain ground. Become Popular. A bosom friend. A very close friend.
A brown study. Turn a deaf ear. A close shave. Narrow escape. Turn over a new leaf. Change for the better. In the long run. Eventually; ultimately.
Bring to light. Pay off old scores. Take revenge. Hard and fast rules. Strict rules. At the eleventh hour. At the last moment. To cut a sorry figure. To make a poor show. With a high hand. Laugh heartily. Chew the cud. Ponder over something. Play second fiddle. Take an unimportant part. Above board. Honest and open. Through thick and thin.
Under all conditions. At sixes and sevens. At home. Alpha and omega. The beginning and the end. At sea. Confused and lost. By leaps and bounds. Go back on a decision.
To beat about the bush. Talk irrelevantly. To burn candle at both ends. To waste lavishly. A bone of contention. A source of quarrel. Add fuel to the fire. To aggravate the situation. An acid test. A critical test. Very slowly. A bolt from the blue. Something unexpected.
To build castles in the air. Make imaginary schemes. Something that happens very rarely. Beating around the bush. Avoiding the main topic. Complaining about a loss or failure from the past. Chip on your shoulder. When someone is upset about something that happened a while ago. Piece of cake. Something that is easy to understand or do. Golden handshake. Spill the beans.
To disclose a secret. Blessing in disguise. Something good and useful that did not initially seem that way. Mean business. Being Serious or Dedicated. Come hell or high water.
Possible obstacles in your path. Being cherished. Not able to complete a task due to lack of ability. The best of both worlds. The benefits of widely differing situations enjoyed at the same time. Feeling a bit under the weather.
Feeling slightly ill. The icing on the cake. Something that turns good into great. Cost an arm and a leg. Be very expensive. Jump the bandwagon. To join a popular activity or trend. The ball is in your court. When it is up to you to make the next decision or step. To be in the doldrums. To be in low spirits. To sit on the fence. To remain neutral. Break the ice. To initiate a social conversation or interaction. Hear it on grapevine. To hear rumors about something or someone.
Cannot judge something primarily on appearance. It takes two to tango. Actions or communications need more than one person. To reveal the secret carelessly or by mistake. Black and blue. Full of Bruises. Be on cloud nine. Be very happy. Last straw. The final problem in a series of problems. A view from a very high place that allows you to see a very large area. A litmus Test. A method that helps to know if something is correct.
At the drop of a hat. Willingness to do something instantly. To become easily frightened. A house of cards. A poor plan. False sense of happiness. Get a raw deal. To not be treated as well as other people. Give cold shoulder. To ignore. Hand to mouth. Live on only basic necessities. Make a face. To show dislike or disappointment through facial expressions. Something that is not understandable. To pour oil on troubled waters.
To make peace. Do not put all your resources in one basket in one place or thing. To put in a nutshell. To say in a few words or to make something concise. Back out. To withdraw from a promise or contract.
Blow up. To explode. To support and sustain. Back Upon. To be relevant. Break Down. Failure in something. Break off. To end or discontinue. Break Up. Bring up. To rear. Call forth. To provoke. Call out. To shout. Call upon. To order. Carry on. To continue. To throw aside. Catch up with. To overtake. Come off. To take place. Cry Down. To make little of. Cry out against.
To complain loudly against. Cut out. Designed for. To Visit Casually. Drop out. To fall. Fall back. To Recede; To Retreat. Fall down. From a higher position to a lower one.
Fall off. To Withdraw; To Drop Off. Fall under. To come under. Get along. Get on with. Get into. To be involved in. Give in. To Surrender; To Yield. Give over. Not to do any longer. Go after. To Follow; To Pursue. Go Down. To be accepted. Go without. To remain without. Go by. To follow. Hang about. To Loiter near a place. Hang upon. To depend upon. Hold out. Hold to. Abide By.
Keep off. To ward off. Keep up with. To keep pace with. Knock out. To win by hitting another one. Both people involved in a bad situation are responsible for it.
Keep something at bay. Keep something away. To solve two problems at a time with just one action. Let sleeping dogs lie. Leave something alone if it might cause trouble. Open the floodgates. Release something that was previously under control. Out of the blue. Happen unexpectedly. Out on a limb. Do something risky. Over the Top. Totally excessive and not suitable for the occasion.
The pen is mightier than the sword. Words and communication have a greater effect than war. Trying to obtain more than what one has. Reap the harvest. Benefit or suffer as a direct result of past actions. Roll-up sleeves. To get yourself prepared. See eye to eye. To be in agreement with. Shot in the dark. A complete guess. Sink your teeth into. Do something with a lot of energy and enthusiasm. To doubt the accuracy of information. Skating on thin ice. Do or say something risky.
Tight spot. A difficult situation. Strike while the iron is hot. To act at the right time. Take the plunge. Take a nosedive. Rapid drop or decrease in value.
Think the world of. Admire someone very much. Stand in a good stead. To be useful or be of good service to someone. Not all the idioms are used in your conversations, but still better than having a simple talk to someone.
The book contains American English idioms each of which comes with a short translation to plain English, illustrative cartoon and a sample passage mostly dialogues.
I like the cartoons which make the learning fun and help visualizing the meaning. While being useful for English learners to some extent, the book is not carefully written: - There is no clear criterion in selecting the idioms for the book.
The selection contains some colloquial words fishy, lemon and some lengthy old saying Another book from the author that explored the world of idioms in English language and their meaning. In this book, there will be no history or origin of the idioms but just a comical pictures on each idioms with definition and short conversation where the idioms will be likely used are perfect for nonnative to learn English idioms and to actually use in a correct manner in everyday life.
I used this book with my ESL students lower intermediate to advanced and they loved it! There are one-page illustrations for each idiom and a short dialogue to expand on the usage. The audio CD is helpful in reinforcing the phrases and students can put it in their Ipod for the morning commute. I read this book and other books of the series in one month during my compulsory military service. This book helped me to get a new insight into English language American idioms accompanied by comic illustrations.
It was an awesome reading. As an ESL student and future english teacher, it did help me understand some things that were not very clear to me. By the way, I loved the illustrations, they were cute hahaha. Loved the illustrations, made it so much easier to remember the idioms. I can say that Americans use a plethora of idioms and a significant number are in this book. Highly recommend it to foreign language folks. A cute little book.
I learned a few things despite being a native english speaker.
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