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05 March 2017 11:27

✳️Back to the drawing board
☑️When an attempt fails and it's time to start all over.

✳️Ball is in your court
☑️It is up to you to make the next decision or step

✳️Barking up the wrong tree
☑️Looking in the wrong place. Accusing the wrong person

✳️Be glad to see the back of
☑️Be happy when a person leaves.

✳️Beat around the bush
☑️Avoiding the main topic. Not speaking directly about the issue.

✳️Best of both worlds
☑️Meaning: All the advantages.

✳️Best thing since sliced bread
☑️A good invention or innovation. A good idea or plan.

✳️Bite off more than you can chew
☑️To take on a task that is way to big.

✳️Blessing in disguise
☑️Something good that isn't recognized at first.

✳️Burn the midnight oil
☑️To work late into the night, alluding to the time before electric lighting.

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03 March 2017 08:33

🔹Example sentences from the web:

✳️He loved his garden and maintained it with great care. It was a real labour of love and it was a pleasure watching him work in the garden.
✳️To establish a field site and balance research with family life was a labor of love: my wife, Claudia Valeggia, a biological anthropologist as well, was beginning her field research on the reproductive ecology of the Toba-Qom indigenous communities of northern Argentina.

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03 March 2017 08:31

🔹Example sentences from the web:

✳️I don’t know, and I don’t care, because he just got every single one of us off the hook.
✳️I guess she thought she could use your file and pathetic past to get you off the hook.
✳️He counted on his friends to get him off the hook.

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27 February 2017 19:48

💥A bit much
🔹If something is excessive or annoying, it is a bit much.

💥A chain is no stronger than its weakest link
🔹This means that processes, organisations, etc, are vulnerable because the
weakest person or part can always damage or break them.

💥A day late and a dollar short
🔹(USA) If something is a day late and a dollar short, it is too little, too late.

💥A fool and his money are soon parted
🔹This idiom means that people who aren't careful with their money spend it quickly. 'A fool and his money are easily parted' is an alternative form of the idiom.

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27 February 2017 16:00

⭕️sell like hot cakes
🔹Things that sell like hot cakes sell quickly or in large quantities.

▶️"She's a very successful author. Her books always sell like hot cakes."

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27 February 2017 15:57

✳️about turn/about face

☑️This term refers to a complete change of opinion or policy.

💥"The ambassador's recent declarations indicate an about turn in foreign policy."

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25 February 2017 11:32

🔘make a killing

☑️Meaning: If you make a killing, you make a lot of money from a sale or a deal of some sort.

🔹For example:

💥My aunt made a killing when she bought some shares in a company as soon as they were issued, and sold them a few weeks later for three times what she paid.

💥Lots of people made a killing when property values went so high back in the nineties.

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25 February 2017 11:31

📕a mixed blessing

✅Meaning: You can say something is a mixed blessing if it seems to be good, but in fact has bad effects as well as good effects.

🔹For example:

✳️Many scientists said discovering the power of the atom was a mixed blessing as it led to nuclear power, but it also made nuclear weapons possible.

✳️Getting the promotion was a mixed blessing because it means I spend less time with my family.

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25 February 2017 11:29

🔘a matter of life and death

☑️Meaning: If something is a matter of life and death, it's extremely important and it could involve someone's survival.

🔹For example:

💥Education about HIV and AIDS is a matter of life and death. If people aren't told to protect themselves with condoms, they could die from the disease.

💥Getting someone to hospital quickly after an accident or a heart attack is a matter of life and death. Just a few minutes can make all the difference.

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25 February 2017 11:25

🔘accidentally on purpose

✅If you do something intentionally, but pretend it was an accident, you do it accidentally on purpose.

✳️"I accidentally-on-purpose erased his email address so I couldn't contact him again."

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25 February 2017 11:23

⭕️to the best of one's ability

☑️When someone does something to the best of their ability, they do it as well as they possibly can.

💥"I felt nervous all through the interview, but I replied to the best of my ability."

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22 February 2017 04:36

🔘upset the applecart

☑️Meaning: If you upset the applecart, you do something that causes trouble or upsets someone's plans.

For example:

💥The Stones upset the applecart by pulling out of the music festival. They were going to be the main act.

💥Kelly's sister really upset the applecart when she told Kelly that she'd seen her husband waiting for someone in a hotel lobby when he was supposed to be in New York.

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22 February 2017 04:34

🔘under the table

🇺🇸American English
☑️Meaning: If something is done under the table, it's done secretly, usually because it's illegal or unethical.

For example:

💥If I do any overtime, can you pay me under the table so I won't have pay tax on it.

💥If you make under-the-table payments to customs officials, you can get goods through the port without having them inspected.

🔴Note: If this idiom is used to qualify a noun or a noun phrase, hyphens must be used, as in "under-the-table payments".
🎯Origin: Probably related to the fact that if a package or an envelope is passed under a table, other people cannot easily see what's going on.

⭕️Variety: This idiom is typically used in American English but may be used in other varieties of English too.

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22 February 2017 04:32

⭕️um and ah⭕️

🇬🇧British English
☑️Meaning: If you "um and ah" you're having trouble deciding what to say, or you're having trouble telling somebody something.

For example:

✳️Stop umming and ahing and just tell me what happened!

✳️James ummed and ahed for a while, but he eventually agreed to help us get the deal.

🎯Variety: This idiom is typically used in British English but may be used in other varieties of English too.

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20 February 2017 22:55

🔘behind the times🔘

☑️Meaning: If someone is behind the times, they are old-fashioned and their ideas are out of date.

For example:

🔴How can we be a successful company if our executives are so behind the times that they don't know what people want these days?

🔴Neil is really behind the times. He doesn't even know what rap music sounds like!

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05 March 2017 11:24

💥A hot potato
✅Speak of an issue which many people are talking about and which is usually disputed

💥A penny for your thoughts
✅A way of asking what someone is thinking

💥Actions speak louder than words
✅People's intentions can be judged better by what they do than what they say.

💥Add insult to injury
✅To further a loss with mockery or indignity; to worsen an unfavorable situation.

💥An arm and a leg
✅Very expensive or costly. A large amount of money.

💥At the drop of a hat
✅Meaning: without any hesitation; instantly.

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03 March 2017 08:32

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03 March 2017 08:30

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27 February 2017 16:00

✳️calculated risk
☑️A calculated risk is a risk taken with full knowledge of the dangers involved.

💥"The company took a calculated risk when they hired Sean straight out of college."

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27 February 2017 15:58

⭕️in cahoots with someone

☑️If one person is in cahoots with another, they are working in close partnership, usually conspiring to do something dishonest.

💥"There was a rumour that the Mayor was in cahoots with a chain of supermarkets"

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25 February 2017 20:48

A big cheese- an important or a powerful person in a group or family

A bird's eye view- a view from a very high place which allows you to see a large area

A bone of contention- something that people argue for a long time

A cock and a bull story- a story or an explanation which is obviously not true.

At the crack of the dawn- very early in morning

A cuckoo in the nest- someone in a group of people but not liked by them.

A litmus test- a method which clearly proves something

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25 February 2017 11:32

🔘made of money

☑️Meaning: If you are made of money, you have lots of money.

🔹For example:

✳️When I was in poor countries, everyone thought I was made of money because I could afford to take time off work and travel so far to their country.

✳️That guy Howard acts as if he's made of money, but I know for a fact that he's actually quite poor.

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25 February 2017 11:30

🔘a means to an end

☑️Meaning: You can say something is a means to an end if it's the way to reach a goal, or the way to achieve something.

🔹For example:

⭕️Rupert plays golf, but he doesn't really enjoy it. It's just a means to an end for him because so much business is done on the golf course these days.

⭕️The medical school interviews all candidates and tries to weed out people for whom becoming a doctor is just a means to an end. They don't want people whose real goal is making money.

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25 February 2017 11:26

🔘hold all the aces

✔️A person who holds all the aces is in a very strong position because they have more advantages than anyone else.

🔹"Given the high unemployment figures in some countries, employers hold all the aces."

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25 February 2017 11:24

⭕️above and beyond the call of duty

☑️If a person does something which is above and beyond the call of duty, they show a greater degree of courage or effort than is usually required or expected in their job.

💥"The fire-fighter received a medal for his action which went above and beyond the call of duty."

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22 February 2017 04:37

⭕️jog your memory

☑️Meaning: If something jogs your memory, it helps you to remember something.

For example:

✳️The song really jogged my memory and I could clearly picture the scene thirty years ago when my friends and I first heard it.

✳️The police had a sketch of the suspect drawn and showed it to people in the area in the hope of jogging their memories.

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22 February 2017 04:35

🔘up for grabs

❎INFORMAL
☑️Meaning: If something is up for grabs, it's available for anyone who wants to try to get it.

For example:

💥Do you remember when all the best website URLs were still up for grabs? Anyone could get one just by being the first person to claim it.

💥There are some great prizes up for grabs in their latest competition.

🎯Origin: Possibly related to the idea of someone throwing a lot of banknotes into the air, and many people reaching up trying to grab them. As such, the banknotes are "up for grabs".

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22 February 2017 04:33

🔘under lock and key

☑️Meaning: If something is under lock and key, it is kept in a very secure place.

For example:

🔴Make sure these documents are under lock and key until we need them.

🔴Poor Josie. Her parents were very strict and they kept her under lock and key throughout her childhood, so she never learned about life's dangers.

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22 February 2017 04:30

🔘the upper crust

☑️Meaning: If you are one of the upper crust, you are a member of society's highest class.

For example:

💥If Laura was really part of the upper crust, she wouldn't need to borrow money all the time, would she?

💥Marge does a great imitation of an upper-crust "society queen". It's really funny, and her upper-crust accent is perfect.

🔴Note: If used to modify a noun or a noun phrase, a hyphen should be added, as in "upper-crust party"

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20 February 2017 22:53

⭕️beat the rap⭕️

🔹American English INFORMAL
☑️Meaning: If someone beats the rap, they avoid being found guilty of a crime.

For example:

💥Everyone knows that Jimmy the Snitch did the robbery in Green St., but he beat the rap because he's in with the cops.

💥Henry was charged with drunk driving, but his lawyer helped him beat the rap on some technical detail.

🎯Variety: This idiom is typically used in American English but may be used in other varieties of English too.

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