Idioms 3

pretty much/well
He's pretty much living on the breadline

on the breadline
Most families of the unemployed are on the breadline.

fork sth out (on sth)

I forked out ten quid for/on the ticket.

to be better off / to be worse off
Obviously we're better off now that we're both working.

to fall back on

The organization has no income and no reserves to fall back on.

get/lay my hands on
As soon as I lay hands on the book, I'll call you,

pay sth off

We should be able to pay off the debt within two years.

pay one's own way
wanted to go to Florida this spring, but my parents say I have to pay my own way.

bail someone out
I was going to be late with my report, but my roommate lent a hand and bailed me out at the last minute.

land sb in sth

Revealing confidential information to a rival company could land you in serious trouble with your boss.

do sth off your own bat

I didn't ask her to buy them a present - she did it off her own bat.

err on the side of caution

25 people have replied to the invitation, but I've erred on the side of caution and put out 30 chairs.

have money/time to play with
If you inveting it means that you have money to play with

as time goes by
These relationships are constantly evolving and improving as time goes by

put someone off

I was put off by his appearance.
The experience put me off politics.

put off something

The meeting has been put off for a week.

hold on to something

Hold on to the instructions in case you have any problems.

add sth on (to sth)

We’ve added on a couple of rooms to the house.

come to sth

That comes to £25.

bear fruit

Eventually her efforts bore fruit and she got the job she wanted.

with your open eyes

I went into this marriage with my eyes open.

have more money than sense

He celebrated the birth of the baby by buying a sports car. He's got more money than sense!

living life in the fast lane
Ashmead decided that life in the fast lane wasn't much fun anymore, he turned his attention to another kind of business.

think nothing of sth

When I was younger, I thought nothing of riding my bike 50 miles in a day.

not come cheap
If you want a qualified accountant, their services don't come cheap.

splash out (on sth)

They splashed out £3,000 on a holiday.

cost and arm and a leg

The repair work cost an arm and a leg.

set foot in/on/inside sth

He refuses to set foot in an art gallery.

money is no object
.Please show me your finest automobile. Money is no object.

in the lap of luxury
I live ...

live beyond your means
He'd been living beyond his means

live (from) hand to mouth
​

My father earned very little and there were four kids, so we lived from hand to mouth.

going cheap

They’ve got a load of furniture going cheap.

put sth aside

Let’s put aside our differences.

put down a deposit
He might be able to put down a deposit

Teh last I heard

The last I heard, she was expecting her second child.

to say the least
​
It's going to be awkward, to say the least.

it's the same old story

It's the same old story - the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.

in arrears with

I'm paid a week in arrears.

your normal/usual self

Did she seem her normal self?

off-colour
under the weather
I noticed that the cat was looking a little under the weather.

feel / look like death warmed up

He shouldn't be working when he's so ill - he looks like death warmed up!

throw up

I spent all night throwing up.

keel over

He finished the bottle, stood up to leave, and keeled over.

pass out

I was hit on the head and passed out.

wear off
Most patients find that the numbness from the injection wears off after about an hour.

come down with

I think I'm coming down with flu.

go (a)round

He caught a nasty flu virus that’s been going around.

pick sth up
you could have picked up a bug anywhere

take things /it easy

I wasn't feeling too good, so I thought I'd take it easy for a couple of days.

on the mend

She's still in the hospital, but she's definitely on the mend.

take a turn for the worse/better

The patient took a turn for the worse.
Business should take a turn for the better next month.

go downhill
After his wife died, his health started to go downhill.

it is touch-and-go (whether)
precarious; delicate: major surgery followed by a touch-and-go recovery.

pull through sth
They said the operation had been successful and they expected his wife to pull through.

feel/be out of sorts

I've been feeling tired and headachy and generally out of sorts.

swell up (part of the body)
The toothache made her face swell up.

come out in sth

This heat has made me come out in an itchy red rash.

go away
It was weeks before the bruises went away.

check sth out

Their story just didn’t check out.

touch wood
People sometimes touch something made of wood when they say this
Ben’s making a good recovery, touch wood.

better safe than sorry
to be on the safe side
It may be time-consuming to check the oil in your car every time you buy gasoline, but better safe than sorry.

to block sb/sth in
Another car had parked behind me and blocked me in.

cut in (on sth/sb)
You're in steady stream of traffic, but there's always someone trying to cut in in front of you

flag sb down

I managed to flag down a passing police car.

pull over

Just pull over here, and I'll get out and walk the rest of the way.

get from A to B

What’s the cheapest way of getting our products from A to B?

as the crow flies
We’re only 10 miles away as the crow flies, but it’s an hour’s drive by road.

be murder

It's murder finding a parking space in town.

drop sb off

We dropped our luggage off at the hotel and went sightseeing.

cut it/things fine

He left the hotel at 9 am, which was cutting it fine for his 9.15 meeting.

at a snail's pace

The roads were full of traffic and we were travelling at a snail's pace for two hours.

miles from anywhere/nowhere

They live miles from nowhere, in the middle of the countryside.

step/move up a gear

After a disappointing first half, United moved up a gear and took control of the game.

down the road

Lots of things will have changed a few years down the road

give (sb/sth) the green light

The project has finally been given the green light.

put sth/sb on the map

The governor has managed to put this sleepy state on the map.

the end of the road/line

We've struggled on for as long as we could, but now we're at the end of the line.

tick over
How's business?” “Oh, just ticking over.

run out of steam

The peace talks seem to have run out of steam.

go off the rails

He went off the rails in his first year at university.

go down that road

I’ve tried being reasonable with him and I don’t want to go down that road again.

grab a bit to eat
We don't have a lot of time, so let's just grab a quick bite to eat before the movie starts.

be full up
"want another beer bro?"
"nah...i"m full up man."

pick at sth
Charles picked at his food in a bored fashion.

make your mouth water
The smell of that bacon cooking is making my mouth water.

leftovers

some leftover chicken from last night's meal

polish sth off

He polished off the whole pie.

by word of mouth

All the orders were given by word of mouth so that no written evidence could be discovered later.

settle up with sb

I must settle up with Jim for the bike I bought for him. Bob paid the whole restaurant bill and we all settled up with him later.

burn sth to a crisp/cinder
The cook burned the meat to a crisp.

I could eat a horse
I've had nothing but a sandwich all day - I could eat a horse.

the best thing since sliced bread
This new phone is the ...

have sb eating out of your hand

Within two minutes of walking into the classroom, she had the kids eating out of her hand.

have egg on your face

This latest scandal has left the government with egg on its face.

out of the frying pan, into the fire

My last job was hard enough, but this one is awful. It's out of the frying pan, into the fire.

couch potato
This boy is a real couch potato

bite off more than you can chew

We bit off more than we could chew in our original reform proposals.

butter wouldn't melt in her mouth

Tommy looked as if butter wouldn't melt in his mouth.

have a finger in every pie
He's one of these businessmen who's got a finger in every pie.

cry over spilt milk

Yes, we made a mistake, but there’s no point in crying over spilled milk.

full of beans

I've never known anyone be so full of beans before breakfast.

it is not for lack/lack of trying

If we lose this match, it won’t be for want of trying.

night after night

The howling of wild animals kept him awake night after night.
​

show signs of

The animals showed no signs of being upset.
The economy was beginning to show signs of recovery.

next to nothing
After the company closed, investors were left with next to nothing.

have nothing/somenthing/little/a lot to show for sth
I worked for two weeks, and $50 was all I had to show for it.
I've been trying to write this essay all day and I have nothing to show for it.

turn over a new leaf

Apparently he's turned over a new leaf and he's not smoking any more.

apply yourself

You can solve any problem if you apply yourself.

with flying colours
I'm pleased to say I've just passed my university with flying colours

scrape through sth

He managed to scrape through his final exams.

tell sb off

The teacher told me off for swearing.

as a matter of routine/course

Safety precautions are observed as a matter of course.

cut sth out

mark down sb
They’ll mark you down for poor spelling.

two weeks / three years / four times running

come on

His French has really come on since last year.

in/by leaps and bounds

The company is growing by leaps and bounds this year.

can't make head nor tail of sth

I can't make head nor tail of these instructions on the packet.

get your foot/toe in the door
She got her foot in the door working as a researcher on a TV show.

go over your head
I tried to take in what he was saying about nuclear fusion, but most of it went over my head.

take sth in your stride

Somehow the kids took all the confusion in stride.

pin your hopes on sb/sth
Don't pin your hopes on others.

go it alone
Do you need help, or will you go it alone? I think I need a little more experience before I

put all your eggs in one basket

I'm applying for several jobs because I don't really want to put all my eggs in one basket.

keep in with sb

I like to keep in with my ex-employer, you never know when you might need a reference.

keep your ear to the ground
John had his ear to the ground, hoping to find out about new ideas in computers. His boss told him to keep his ear to the ground so that he'd be the first to know of a new idea.

on the grapevine

I heard through the grapevine that he was leaving - is it true?

make name for yourself

He's made a name for himself as a talented journalist.

keep you feet on the ground

close on
He's close on 60

part of the furniture

sb's face doesn't fit
He'd always wanted to star in action movies but his face just didn't fit.

take sb under your wing

I was a little bit lonely at the time and she took me under her wing.

the tricks of the trade
Journalists have to learn the tricks of the trade quickly if they want to get the good stories.

pass sth on (to sb)

That's good news – I'll pass it on to the rest of the team.

dead-end job

The companies that take care of these outsourced tasks provide lots of "dead-end" jobs.

take some doing

It will take some doing to finish this before five o’clock.

throw your weight around/about
The bosses don't throw their weight around with me

I got the push /boot/ elbow

shore sth up

The new public relations manager has the difficult task of shoring up the company's troubled image.

management buyout / buy sth out
The group yesterday confirmed it was still in talks which could lead to a management buyout.

fall through

We found a buyer for our house, but then the sale fell through.

at the eleventh hour

We only received the signatures at the eleventh hour.

thanks to sb/ sth

It's thanks to Sandy that I heard about the job.

bailout

Three years of huge losses forced the bank to seek a government bailout.

hang in the balance

The game hung in the balance until the last minute.

on the verge of (doing) sth

on the verge of collapse/success/tears/death/disaster/war

pull out of sth

They’ll be pulling the rest of the troops out by next spring.

stand aside

It's time he stood aside and let a more qualified person do the job.
​

go to the wall

After nine months of massive losses the company finally went to the wall.
​

catch sb on the hop

I'm afraid you've caught me on the hop - I wasn't expecting you until next week.

make a comeback/stage a comeback.

After years in mediocre movies, she made a comeback on Broadway

do sth up

I'd like to buy a run-down house and do it up.

bring sb in

We need to bring in an expert to deal with this problem.

fall off

Sales have been falling off recently.

be in the doldrums

Her career was in the doldrums during those years.
​

buck the trend

This company is the only one to have bucked the trend of a declining industry.

branch out (into sth)

This designer has recently branched out into children's wear.

win sb/sth back

The telecoms giant cut prices in a move to win back customers from competitors.

slim down
The firm had to slim down

be eating into

The high cost of living in London is eating into my savings.

the going rate

the going rate for sth The going rate for a skilled architect in India is about $50,000 per year.

play sb/sth off against sb/sth

Management policy seemed to be to play one department off against another.

cut out the middleman

Why don’t you cut out the middleman and tell him what you think yourself?

be in the right place at the right moment

The key to success is to be in the right place at the right time.

pay off

All her hard work paid off in the end, and she finally passed the exam.

a roaring success

The party was a roaring success.

in/within a short space of time

In a short space of time he was promoted from sales rep to area manager.

rest on your laurels

Just because you've got your degree doesn't mean you can rest on your laurels.

plough sth back (into sth)

All the profits are being ploughed back into the company.

be going strong

After fifty years, the town's theatre is still going strong.

in retrospect

In retrospect, I think my marriage was doomed from the beginning.

keep/stay one step/jump ahead of sb/sth
. Al kept one step ahead of Detective Rogers. Try to keep one step ahead of the investigators.

miss the boat
There were tickets available last week, but he missed the boat by waiting till today to try to buy some.

delude yourself
The President was deluding himself if he thought he was safe from such action...

flood the market

Cheap imported goods are flooding the market.

cut corners
When things got difficult we tried cutting corners

false economy
When things got difficult we tried cutting corners it proved a false economy

be in deep water

The Democrats are in deep water over their plans for tax increases.

sell up

cut your losses
The U.S. Government eventually decided to cut its losses with regard to the Vietnam War, and by the early 1970s withdrew all of its military forces from Southeast Asia.

top-heavy
Looking back, I think our staff structure was top-heavy

keep an eye on

Will you keep your eye on my suitcase while I go to get the tickets?

put/set sth up

We have a little area set up for serving food.

roll up

They rolled up at the party two hours late and rather drunk.

make do (with sth)

Can you make do with $5 for now and I’ll give you the rest tomorrow?

leave sth /sb behind

I think I must have left my keys behind.

Come in handy/useful

Keep it, it might come in useful.
The money will come in handy when I want to travel.

take the easy way out

​As soon as things got difficult he took the easy way out.

wear yourself/sb out

She was worn out from looking after her elderly mother.
You need a holiday or you’ll wear yourself out.

go easy on sth

The doctor told me to go easy on the spicy food for a while.

have your doubts about sth

He might be telling the truth, but I have my doubts.

tip down

We have a football match scheduled for tomorrow, but if it keeps tipping down like it is today,

be/get soaked to the skin
I forgot my umbrella and got soaked to the skin when I had to go out this afternoon.

hold off
the rain holds off.

kick off / opp. wind up
We like to kick off the summer by having friends over for a barbecue.

stumble across/on/upon something

We stumbled across him in the library.

pull out of sth
I pulled the arrow out of the injured soldier and tried to stop the bleeding. I pulled out the arrow.

put sth on

She put on a wonderful meal for us.