Know beans about something – Well
informed and intelligent
Rub up the wrong way – to annoy or
bother someone
On the same page – thinking in a similar
way
All might and main – with as much effort
as possible
Know the ropes – to understand the
procedures and processes
In the loop – to be informed or
connected
In the swim – be involved in an activity
Cut and dry method – already decided
and unlikely to be changed
Stand/Hold your ground – to continue
in your beliefs in an argument
In Dutch – In problem
Nine day’s wonder – Something that
generates interest for a limited time and
is then abandoned
Other fish to fry – to have something
more important to do
An about turn – a change of direction
To the letter – completely or exactly
Around the clock – Day and night
Cool about working – Not tense about
working
A close-fisted person – A miser
To carve out a niche (small hole or space
in a wall) – to successfully create or get
something
Balloon goes up – a situation suddenly
becomes very serious or unpleasant
Salad days – the time of youth,
innocence and inexperience
A black sheep – a person who has done
something bad
Watching grass grow – Very boring
All ears – to be waiting eagerly to hear
about something
To gather roses only – To seek all
enjoyments of life
Make a mockery of –
to make something seem stupid or with
out value
Stir (mix food/liquid/substance) up a
Hornet’s nest – To cause a situation that
makes people very angry
Tall tales – A fanciful story
Cock and bull story – a story or
explanation which is obviously not true
Take the bull by the horns – to deal with
a difficult situation in a very direct way
Eat like a horse – Eat a lot
Second thoughts – Resulting from a
revised opinion or change of mind
Give and take – The exchange of mutual
compromise or concession
Giving a piece of one’s mind – to scold or
criticize someone strongly
Wet one’s whistle – To have a drink
Donkey’s year – a very long time
Get down to business – to start talking
about the subject to be discussed
To make things done – To manage
Picking up holes in – to point out the
faults in an argument
Pick on – to harass or bother someone
Show the white flag – to give up, to
surrender
Turn up one’s nose at – to refuse to
accept something
To cast a die – an event has happened or
a decision has been taken
Plain sailing – to be easy and without
problems
Pin money – A small amount
Down in the dumps – unhappy
Cordon (circle) off – restrict access to a
particular area by using a rope
To get into hot water – to get in trouble
Gerrymandering way – To divide into
voting districts in a way that gives one
party an unfair advantage in elections
The Alpha and Omega – from the
beginning to the end
Dot one’s I’s and cross one T’s – Complete
the job paying attention to the details
Teething problems – problems that you
experience in the early stages of an
activity
A cut above – someone who is of a
higher social class
Bring the house down – make an
audience cheer loudly and excitedly
All moonshine – Total lies
Nail one’s colours to the mast – to refuse
to admit defeat
At a stretch – Continuously
Black out – Lost consciousness
Pull no punch – Speaks frankly
Swan song – A final gesture or
performance given before dying or
retirement
Big draw – great attraction
Barking up the wrong tree – make the
wrong choice
In the air – to be undecided
By the skin of teeth – Narrowly; barely
Red herrings – something might be
wrong, Clues intended to distract or
mislead
Sit in judgement – the right to judge
someone
Beat about the bush – discuss a matter
without coming to the point
Pull up – criticize someone about
something they are not doing well enough /
if a vehicle or driver pulls up, they stop
Carrot and stick – rewards and
punishments that influence someone’s
behavior
Bird’s eye view – A view looking down at
an object or area from height
To explore every avenue – To investigate
or pursue every possible means to find
a solution
Pot luck dinner – a gathering where each
guest contributes a different and unique
dish of food
Close the book – A person or thing that
cannot be easily understood
Bring about – To cause something to
happen.
At one’s beck and call – ready to obey
someone’s orders instantly
To bring to light – disclose something
previously hidden or secret
To miss the bus – to miss an opportunity
Status quo – the current situation
To shed crocodile tears – show sadness
that is not sincere, fake cry
To call spade a spade – to speak the
brutal honest truth
Take cue from – to be strongly influenced
by something or someone
Too fond of one’s own voice – To like
talking himself/Very selfish.
Call for – demand something
Ins and outs – Full details
Out of the question – beyond
consideration; unthinkable or impossible
Put across – to make something clear to
someone
To feel like a fish out of water –
feel awkward or uncomfortable
Spread like fire – spread with great speed
To foam at one’s mouth – extremely angry
Through thick and thin – through difficult
times and situations
Dropping like flies – Falling down ill or
dead in large numbers
See eye to eye – to agree fully with
someone
Send packing – dismiss or send one away
rudely.
kick up a fuss/row/stink – to show great
anger about something, especially when
this does not seem necessary
Come to grief – suffer a problem or
setback.
Had better – Be obliged to
End in smoke – to burned, to be
destroyed or ruined, to come to nothing.
No hard and fast rules – No rules or
guidelines that are binding, adhered to,
clearly defined.
To put an end to – to cause something to
stop existing or happening
Carry weight – Be important
To hail from – to have been born in a
particular place, to come from
Lame excuse – Unacceptable lies
In a nutshell (using as few words as
possible) – to reduce a large,
complicated amount of information into
a much smaller
Water under the bridge – past events that
are not important anymore
Slip off – escape or depart for some
location quietly or in secret / remove an
item of clothing easily or casually.
Stick to guns – continue to have your
beliefs even if other people disagree
with you
Get on well – to have a good relationship
Cut coat according to one’s cloth – make
sure one’s plans are appropriate to
one’s resources / To shop or act in
accordance with one’s financial
limitations.
Allow a free hand – unrestricted freedom
or authority
In a pickle – to be in a difficult situation
Weal (a mark on the skin) and woe
(feeling of sadness) – Good and bad days
Has a bee in one’s bonnet – be obsessed
with something / to keep talking about
something again and again because
you think it is very important
Break up – to separate people who are
fighting
Rack and ruin – a very bad condition
because no one has looked after it
For better or worse – you accept the bad
results of the action as well as the good
ones.
Bull in a China shop – they are very
careless in the way that they move or
behave
Rides the high horse – Feel superior /
behave arrogantly.
Sweep under the carpet – to hide
something embarrassing
Change colours – To get frightened
Take hat off – Encourage
Let the grass grow under the feet – to wait
before doing something
Not fit to hold candle – Not so good as
somebody
A cakewalk – surprisingly easy task
Spick and span – spotlessly clean and
neat
To toe the line – follow the rules and
regulations
Fish in troubled water – in a difficulty
Jumping down one’s throat – to react
angrily to something or someone
Egg someone on – encourage someone
to do something
Cut the Gordian knot – to find a quick ,
bold solution for a perplexing problem
Out of wits – to make someone very
frightened
Take a leap (move suddenly and quickly)
in the dark – To take risk
Man of straw – someone who has a
weak character
Live-wire – A person who is lively or
energetic
Born with a silver spoon – Born in a rich
family
Achilles’ heel – Weak spot
Go about – to go from person to person
Ice braking – to start a conversation or
relationship
Rule the roost – to be the person who
makes the decisions
Pour cats and dogs – Rain heavily
Let sleeping dogs lie –
Leave something alone if it might cause
trouble
Feel blue – Be depressed or sad
A closed book – A mystery
Time and again –
Again and again; repeatedly
Chicken out – decide not to do something
because you are too frightened
break down and cry – emotions and cry
breakdown (nervous) – a physical and
mental collapse brought on by great
anxiety over a period of time
break down – collapse, especially as a result
of force or pressure
break it down – explain something in steps
break someone down – force someone to
give up and tell secrets or agree to do
something
Feel one’s pulse – Try to determine the
intentions of a person
To get wind – to hear a piece of information
that someone else was trying to keep
secret
In black and white – In writing
Part and parcel – a basic or essential part
To pass away – Die
Live from hand to mouth – to have just
enough money to live on and nothing extra
Give a hand with – To help with
Die hard – disappear or change very slowly
Fall flat – To produce no effect
On the horns of dilemma – Faced with two
equally undesirable alternatives
Strike a bargain – to reach an agreement
Take exception – Disagree with
Turn down – Reject
Send packing – To tell somebody firmly or
rudely to go away
Hard nut to crack – tough task
Bury the hatchet – To make peace
Eat anyone’s salt – To be anyone’s guest
A damp squib (a type of firework) – an
event which people think will be exciting
but which is disappointing when it
happens
Soft option – the easiest of two or more
possible choices
Cope with – to manage to deal with
someone
To make one’s blood boil – to
make someone very angry
Hand in glove – Closed relationship
At the eleventh hour – At a last stage, At
the last movement
Pore over – to look at and study
something
Maiden speech – a person’s first speech
Grease anybody’s palm – to bribe
someone
Cool as cucumber – be very calm, with no
worries
On the brink of – On the point of
Run down – Criticise
In high spirits – in a very good mood
Go down the drain – disappearing
Stole the show – get the applause for
something
In the red – spending more money than
you earn
At sixes and seven – Frazzled or
disorganized
Cry over spilt milk – to be upset about
things that have already been done
Dark horse – unexpectedly successful
In lieu of – in place of something
Cold Comfort – something that is good for
a situation but does not make someone
happy
Soft option – the easiest of two or more
possible choices
Wear and tear – Damage
Bear with – To be patient with some body
or something
To move heaven and earth – to try
everything possible
To take to one’s heel – To run away
Stand on own feet – to be able to provide
all of the things you need for living
without help
Gift of the gab – Ability to speak well
To take to hearts – take seriously
To keep the wolf from the door – Escape
hunger
To call it a day – to stop what you are
doing because you do not want to do
any more
To have not a leg to stand on – [for an
argument or a case] to have no support
By fits and starts – Irregularly
Strom in a tea cup – a lot of unnecessary
anger and worry
Red letter day – Happy and significant day
Put up with – to accept an unpleasant
situation
Set one’s face against – Oppose strongly
Fall through – To fail
End in a fiasco (planned that goes wrong) –
To end with a failure
Fight to the bitter end – To fight a losing
battle
Sweeping Statement – Thoughtless
statement
A white elephant – Costly or troublesome
possession
Off and on – Occasionally
Take after – Resembles
Give the game away – to spoil a surprise
or a joke by telling someone
To fight tooth and nail – to try very hard
to get something you want
Lay out – Spend
Went to the winds – Spending too much
time and money on physical pleasures
Sowing wild oats (a type of grass) – to do
wild and foolish things in one’s youth
Dropping names – talking about famous
people that you have met
To beat a retreat – To run away in fear
Helter-Skelter – In a hurry and without
planning or organization
To take someone to task – To scold
someone
Playing to the gallery – to behave in a
way intended to make people admire or
support you
Give vent to – To express anger
Maiden speech – First speech
Pore over – Go through, examine, study, or
read with intense, careful attention.
To pay off old scores – To pay off a debt,
whether of money or revenge
Caught red handed – At the time of
committing crime.
In high spirits – Cheerful
At sixes and seven – in a confused, badly
organized, or difficult situation
Man of letters – a man of great learning;
scholar
To feather (thin soft hairs on each side
that cover a bird’s body) one’s nest –
enrich oneself by taking advantage of one’s
position
To lose ground – To become less popular
To make a mountain of a molehill – to
make a big problem out of something
that’s actually really small
Standstill – a condition in which all
movement or activity has stopped
Scapegoats – a person who is blamed for
something that someone else has done
Lose head – to become confused or overly
emotional
Doctor the accounts – To manipulate the
accounts
Leave in the lurch – Abandon or desert
someone in difficult straits
To hit below the belt – To say something
that is often too personal, and always
unfair
To cut teeth – learn early in life
Sought after – much in demand; generally
desired.
To hit the jackpot – have great or
unexpected success
Build castle in the air – Dreams about
future success
To burn candle at both ends – Extreme
effort without time to rest
Birds of same feather – Persons of same
character
Rat race – a way of life in modern society
Wet behind the ears – novice person
To burn one’s fingers – to harm oneself
To talk someone over – To convince over
Once in a blue moon – very rarely
Hold your tongue – To be silent
Turn up – to arrive or appear somewhere