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Break the ice |
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Our Eskimo in
the illustration doesn't seem to understand that to
break the ice doesn't mean to knock someone's house down. It
means to do something friendly in order to overcome
shyness or to ease tension in a social
situation. "To break the ice, let's invite our new neighbors to
lunch." |
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Call it a day |
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"Let's
call it a day and go home," Teddy said.
Because the person he's addressing doesn't understand the expression, it's up to
me to explain that when we call it a day, we stop
whatever we are doing, regardless of the time. "After twenty years as
a postman, Mr Burr called it a day and retired." |
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Do
things by halves |
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I
don't know what's wrong with Mr. Long. He's either lazy or disorganized
for he always does things by halves.
That is, he does things in a careless and
incomplete way. "When I read a book, I do it by halves. I never
finish it." Mr. Long said. " I guess I've decorated my house by halves
too." |
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Put someone in their place |
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George made the
mistake of criticizing his boss. His boss responded by
putting him in his place. When we put someone in their place we
punish them, often by telling them in an angry way that
their thoughts or opinions are of little importance. "Having been
put in his place, I doubt that George will ever criticize the boss again." |
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On the cheap |
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Things that are cheap are inexpensive. To do something
on the cheap is to do it
without spending much money. Last
summer, for instance, Felix joined a tour to Europe and that it discovered
was done on the cheap as the hotels were inexpensive and lunches were from
hot dog stands. |
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Make a splash |
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For several years
Gilbert has been studying acting. At last he's ready to appear in a play and
make a splash as an actor. When we make a
splash, we do something that attracts attention.
"Did you see Gilbert in the play last night? He made quite a splash playing
Macbeth." |
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Hands are tied |
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Angela and Bruce
would like to be free to do as they wish. Unfortunately they can't for their
hands are tied ! When people's hands are tied
they are unable to do as they would like.
"I'd like to go shopping with you but my hands are tied for I have to stay at
the office today," father said. |
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Go Dutch |
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It takes at least
two people to go Dutch for the simple reason
that when we go Dutch we share the cost of something,
each person paying his or her own expenses. "Hans invited Gretchen to
join him for lunch. Knowing he hasn't much money, Gretchen has insisted that
they go Dutch." |
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Cost an arm and a leg |
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Whatever is said
to cost an arm and a leg is
very expensive. "It cost me an arm and a leg
to get my car repaired." "George flew to Austria to go skiing. He said that the
trip cost him an arm and a leg." |
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Catch-22 |
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This expression
comes from the title of a book. Situations referred to as
catch-22 are unreasonable and unfair in which a person has
no chance of winning or succeeding. "If I
study medicine, I'll be unhappy. If I study art, my parents will be unhappy. I'm
in a catch-22 situation." |
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Burn the midnight oil |
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Mr. Wilcox works all day and attends school at night. When he goes home he
burns the midnight oil by studying
until dawn. If you are like Mr. Wilcox and work
or study long hours at night, you too can say that you burn the
midnight oil. |
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A big hand |
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Last night, Fiona was
given a big hand at the end of her wonderful
performance. Fiona was overjoyed, of course, for a big hand refers to
loud and enthusiastic applause. The
newspapers say that Fiona performed very well and received a big hand for her
role in the play. |
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Chew the fat |
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After a hard day,
Nanook and his friend like nothing better than to sit around a nice warm fire
chewing the fat. "Normally we are so
busyhunting and fishing that we don't have much time to get together to chew the
fat, " Nanook noted. To chew the fat is to have a
casual chat or a nice little talk. "Our wives have just gone to one
of their friend's igloo to chew the fat", Nanook smiled. |
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At each other's throats |
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Ian and Alfonso have never gotten along
together. As Long as I can remember they've been at each other's throats. That
is to say they have always been quarrelling,
arguing and - on occasion -
fighting. ''We've been at each other's throats so long we've forgotten why we're
mad at each other,'' Alfonso said.
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Child's play |
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Jaime truly
enjoys his new job. It's so easy that he has been able to make
child's play of it. Any job or task can be
called child's play if the person doing it finds it almost
too easy to do or to perform. "Jaime's new job seems like child's
play." Helen smiled. "He makes it look so easy." |
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All keyed up |
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Teddy has
had a terrible day. It began when he overslept and was late getting to
school. Then it rained and he got all wet coming home from school. Not
only that he forgot to study for a history quiz! "Now you know why I
returned home all keyed up," he
explained. To be (all) keyed up is to be
nervous, tense or excited. "That's exactly how I feel," he
nodded. |
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Come clean |
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"We have
ways to make you talk," Officer Mutt grinned. "If you don't tell us the
truth, I will find a way to make you come clean." Officer Mutt's dog
ground his teeth together and agreed. To come clean is to
confess or
reveal all the facts about something - expecially after telling lies or
hiding the truth. "I'll come clean if you keep your dog away from me,"
the criminal cried out. |
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Give someone the cold shoulder |
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The snowman
in this illustration is happy to allow a bird to rest on its cold shoulder
... but that's not what this idiom means. To give
someone the cold shoulder is to be
unfriendly, usually by ignoring them. "I'm going to give donald
the cold shoulder for not inviting me to his party." |
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Gut feeling |
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Until
recently it was considered somewhat vulgar to use the word "gut" when
referring to the human abdomen. Gut feeling
isn't vulgar, though. It refers to a feeling or
an impression that comes from one's innermost self. "I have a
gut feeling I shouldn't be here." Wilbur said to himself. |
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Get to grips with |
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Kenneth had
difficulty adjusting to his new job but he soon
got to grips with it. He was uncomfortable living in a strange
city but he came to grips with that too. To get/come to grips with (
something ) is to deal satisfactorily with a
problem or a situation that initailly proved difficult or confusing. |
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Tie the knot |
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Colloquially, when two people get married
they tie the ( marriage ) knot. "Peter
and Elizabeth have decided to tie the knot. They make a lovely couple,
don't they ?" Also, the person performing the wedding ceremony ties the (
marriage ) knot. The priest at St Teresa's tied the marriage knot for
Peter and Elizabeth. |
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Get hitched |
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Trevor and
Janet have known each other since they were children. "You love me and I
love you." Janet said one day. "Isn't it time we
got hitched ?" Trevor resisted a little, but in the end he and
Janet did gt hitched. When people get hitched, they
get married. |
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Drink like a fish |
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I don't
know if people are aware of it but Tim drinks
like a fish. When a person is described as drinking like a
fish, he drinks great quantitles of alcoholic
beverages. Not water or cola or lemonade, mind you, but beer,
whiskey, wine and other alcoholic drinks ... such as Tim is doing now? |
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Top off / up |
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Bob and Tim
are celebrating. With a bottle in one hand, Tim asks: "May I top your
glass up!".
"Certainly,
old pal, top it off," Bob said. Glug,
glug, glug went the bottle as his glass was topped up, for this expression
means to fill a partly full container - a glass,
a tank, etc. - to the very top with liquid.
"Thanks,"
Bob smiled. "My pleasure," Tim replied.
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A lame duck |
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A person
described as being a lame duck is
helpless. If he is in a position of
authority, he lacks power. " Shirley is such a lame duck. She can't do
anything without ebing supervised. " ( Helpless ). "Harry's term of office
ends next year. meanwhile, he's a lame duck president and none of his
plans stands a chance of ebing acted up. " (
Powerless ) |
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Answer the call of nature |
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Teddy was
on a walk in the forest when suddenly -- and without warning -- he had to
answer the call of nature. "I really
must obey the call of nature." he whispered. Fortunately for Teddy, there
was a WC nearby for to answer/obey the call of nature is to
go to the bathroom. |
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Brush up on |
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Professor
Oxbridge has been invited to give a talk on the history of his school. He
hasn't read anything about it for so long that he'll have to
brush up on it. That is, he'll have to
refresh his knowledge of it. "There, I've
brushed up on the subject." Professor exbridge smiled. |
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To be on the safe side |
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Those who
take extra precautions to reduce or
eliminate the possibility of a mistake, an error or even danger are taking
measures to be on the safe side. "To
be on the safe side Felix always makes certain his valuables are kept in a
secure place." |
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Daylight robbery |
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One day
Malcolm went shopping. He was so shocked at the cost of things that he got
angry. "These prices are absurd !" he shouted. "It's
daylight robbery to change such prices !"
What Malcolm was saying was that in his opinion,
the prices were so high that shopkeepers seemed to be robbing people of
their money. |
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Deliver the goods |
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The goods
referred to in this idiom mean an expected -- or hoped for -- result.
"Deliver" means to come forth with. "Now that I've had my car repaired
it's running fine and delivering the goods."
( Hoped-for results ) "I knew Sam
would deliver the goods once he understood his job. That's why I promoted
him." the boss said. ( Expected results
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Double talk |
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"I thought
I understood you, but now I'm not sure." Patrick complained. "You're
speaking double talk!" Double-talk is
written or spoken langauge
that seems
clear and meaningful but, on close examination, proves to be
ambiguous and nonsense. Sometimes, but
not always, this is done in a deliberate attempt to confuse or mislead
people. |
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In black and white |
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In this
idiom, black refers to words and white refers to the paper that they are
written on. Very simply, then, when something is
in black and white it is written or
printed on paper. "Inever sign a contract without first looking
carefuly at the conditions in black and white." Leon said. |
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Whistle in the dark |
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To whistle in the dark means (1)
to guess wildly about something or (2)
to keep up your courage. "I don't know when the last bus
leaves the terminal," Douglas said, " so I'd be whistling in the dark if I
said it was at midnight.
During the
terrible storm, we sat inside the house whistling in the dark hoping it
would quickly pass." |
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A walking encyclopedia |
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An
encyclopedia is a book or a series of books containing a wide range of
information about many subjects. A person who is a walking encyclopedia is
someone who has a wide rage of information about many subjects. "By the
time I finish college, I suspect I will be a walking encyclopedia, "Melissa said as she returned to her studies. |
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Turn night into day |
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Robert
certainly has strange working habits! But being a genius isn't easy, so
when he is in a creative mood he turns night into
day. You don't really have to be a genius to turn night into
day, though, for this idiom means to stay up at
night working or playing, and sleeping during the day. "You
just reverse the order of doing things, "Robert explained. "I work all
night and sleep until noon." |
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The telephone is ringing off the
hook |
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Alexander
Graham Bell invented the telephone, but it was the users of telephones who
invented this remark. The hook is the cradle on which the receiver rests,
and this remark refers to a telephone that is
constantly ringing. " Steve won the swimming championship, and
ever since his name appeared in the newspapers his
telephone has been ringing off the hook. |
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Toy with the idea |
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Teddy is
toying with the idea of studying to be
an engineer. That, of course, will be a few years away so he may change
his mind between now and then. To toy with an idea is to
think of one in an easy, light and speculative
manner. "I don't know. I may or may not want to be an
engineer," Teddy said. "I'm just tyoing with the idea." |
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Run up an account |
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Instead of
paying cash each time he shops, Mr. Long finds it more convenient to
run up an account at the stores where
he makes his purchases. To run up an account is to
increase the money you owe. You can also run up a bill or a
debt, which means the same as run up an account. Mr. Long does this ( very
easily, I might add!) by using credit cards. |
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Get up someone's nose |
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Hubert is
unhappy. He's annoyed, too. The cause of it all is Franklin who has
got up his nose. That means that
Franklin is making a nuisance of himself .... and that's
annoying ! "Go away," Hubert shouted.
"You're getting up my nose today," he growled. This is a British
expression. |
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Go over someone's head |
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Poor
Penelope, Mathematics has never been one of her favorite subjects. she
simply isn't able to comprehend it. She often complains that most of what
her teacher says goes over her head.
As Penelope knows, things that are said to go over our heads are
too difficult for us to understand. |
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Look daggers at someone |
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A dagger is
a weapon with a short, pointed blade. In fact, daggers look exactly like
those things coming from this mother bird's eyes. She is
looking daggers
at a cat who is threatening her young. To look daggers at someone is to
glare at him or her with mean, hostile, angry eyes. |
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On pins and needles |
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When people
are on pins and needles they are
either very excited or very anxious.
"The children are on pins and needles thinking about their trip to the zoo
tomorrow." ( Very excited ) "Mr Singh is on pins and needles wondering if
the noise he heard is from his pet cobra which escaped. (
Very anxious ) |
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A peeping Tom |
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When a
little boy peeps through fences or windows he is probably just being
curious. When a man does the same thing it's often because he has indecent
intentions. A man who snoops like that
is called a peeping Tom. "The
neighbors are convinced that we have a peeping Tom in the area." |
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No picnic |
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This outing
is turning out to be no picnic, "Teddy declared. To say that something - a
job or an examination, for example is a picnic is to say it is enjoyeable
or easy. If it is unpleasant or difficult, it is described as being no
picnic. "It was a picnic getting here," Angela said, " but trying to eat
with all these ants around has been no picnic!" |
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