📔 stir the pot
📋Meaning
To deliberately try to make a situation or people more tense and upset.
To unnecessarily create trouble or drama, often to get a reaction from someone.
🤔For example ⬇️
🗣 My old girlfriend was always trying to stir the pot and I really hated the drama.
🗣 I look fat in these jeans? Wow, you're really trying to stir the pot.
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📔 Stab someone in the back
📋Meaning
to hurt someone who was close to us and trusted us by betraying them secretly and breaking their trust. We call the person who does this a back stabber.
🤔For example ⬇️
🗣 “Did you hear that Sarah stabbed Kate in the back last week?”
“No! I thought they were best friends, what did she do?”
“She told their boss that Kate wasn’t interested in a promotion at work and Sarah got it instead.”
“Wow, that’s the ultimate betrayal! No wonder they’re not friends anymore.”
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📔 Ring a bell
📋Meaning
the idiom means that somebody has mentioned something that sounds familiar to you, perhaps you’ve heard it before. In other words, when someone says something that you believe you’ve heard in the past, alarm bells start ringing and you try to remember how or why that name or place sounds familiar.
🤔For example ⬇️
🗣 “You’ve met my friend Amy Adams, right?”
“Hmmm, I’m not sure, but that name rings a bell. Was she the one who went to Paris last year?”
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📔 Sail close to the wind
📋Meaning
To act just within the limits of what’s legal or socially acceptable, to push boundaries.
🤔For example ⬇️
🗣 “They fired their accountant because he sailed too close to the wind.”
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📔 picturesque
📋Meaning
visually attractive, especially in a quaint or pretty style.
🤔For example ⬇️
🗣 the picturesque covered bridges of New England
🗣 the picturesque narrow street s of the old city.
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📔 with you back against the wall
📋Meaning
in a difficult situation without many options
🤔For example ⬇️
🗣 I wish I could help you, but my back is against the wall because I don’t get paid for two more weeks.
🗣 After failing three quizzes, my son's back is against the wall and he's got to pass all of the rest of them.
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📔 Rain or shine
📋Meaning
Used to indicate that something will happen no matter what. This is one of the rare idioms that’s also often used literally, for outdoor events that’ll take place whether it rains or not.
🤔For example ⬇️
🗣 “I’ll see you at the airport, rain or shine.”
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📔 bear fruit
📋Meaning
to yield a positive result
to produce a desired result
🤔For example ⬇️
🗣 You've been going to the library everyday for the past two months so I really hope your studying bears fruit this semester.
🗣 We were pleased to see that our management training program bore fruit when staff retention and productivity both increased by more than 50% over the past year.
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📔 In hot water
📋Meaning
When someone is in hot water, they’re in a bad situation or serious trouble.
🤔For example ⬇️
🗣 “My brother is in hot water for failing all his college classes.”
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📔 Pour oil on troubled waters
📋Meaning
To try to make people feel better and become friendly again after an argument.
🤔For example ⬇️
🗣 “She hated seeing her two best friends arguing, so she got them together and poured oil on troubled waters.”
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📔 Gain ground
📋Meaning
To become popular, to make progress, to advance.
🤔For example ⬇️
🗣 “As Airbnb gains ground in many cities all over the world, many locals complain that they can no longer find a place to live. Landlords would rather rent their places out to tourists and earn more money.”
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📔 To be closefisted
📋Meaning
Someone who doesn’t want to spend money. Similar to being stingy.
🤔For example ⬇️
🗣 “Carl is so closefisted, he won’t even buy snacks for the Christmas party.”
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📔 Midas touch
📋Meaning
To be able to make money easily. This idiom comes from the story of King Midas , who turned everything he touched into gold.
🤔For example ⬇️
🗣 “Jane really has the Midas touch. Every business she starts becomes very successful.”
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📔 wear the pants
📋Meaning
to be the person who makes all of the decisions or is the dominant partner in a relationship
🤔For example ⬇️
🗣 My grandma was a tiny little lady but she definitely wore the pants in her marriage.
🗣 Everyone thinks the director's so tough but his secretary wears the pants in their work relationship.
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📔 Drink like a fish
📋Meaning
to drink too much alcohol at one time.
🤔For example ⬇️
🗣 I'm worried about Paul—he's been drinking like a fish again.
🗣 I hate going to fraternity parties—it's not very fun when I'm sober and everyone else is drinking like a fish.
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📔 a free bit of advice
📋Meaning
A suggestion, opinion, or piece of advice that was unrequested or unsolicited by the recipient.
🤔For example ⬇️
🗣Allow me to give you a free bit of advice, my friend: don't say something you'll end up regretting later.
🗣I know you're worried about your kids, but here's a free bit of advice—you can't protect them from every little thing.
🗣Hey, here's a free bit of advice for you during your internship—always be kind and polite. People remember if you treat them well.
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📔 freak of nature
📋Meaning
Something or someone that is unusual, rare, or abnormal in some way; beyond or outside the natural world.
🤔For example ⬇️
🗣The goat they have at the circus sideshow is a real freak of nature, it was born with two heads!
🗣He can lift over 500 pounds in the gym, he's like some freak of nature.
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📔 a cut below
📋Meaning
Of lower quality than or inferior to someone or something else, especially that of the expected norm.
🤔For example ⬇️
🗣This waiter is really a cut below what I would expect from this restaurant.
🗣Your essay was a cut below, honestly. That's why it didn't win the contest.
🗣I haven't been that impressed with any of the candidates for the sales position—they've just been a cut below.
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📔 a cut above the rest
📋Meaning
Better in quality than most others.
🤔For example ⬇️
🗣This new restaurant is a cut above the rest.
🗣Trust me, Johannes is a cut above the rest. If you want the best legal advice money can buy, he's your man.
🗣An entrant's essay must be a cut above the rest for it to win our top prize.
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📔 a cut above the rest
📋Meaning
Better in quality than most others.
🤔For example ⬇️
🗣This new restaurant is a cut above the rest.
🗣Trust me, Johannes is a cut above the rest. If you want the best legal advice money can buy, he's your man.
🗣An entrant's essay must be a cut above the rest for it to win our top prize.
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📔 cushy job
📋Meaning
A job that is easy, stress-free, and/or very well paid.
🤔For example ⬇️
🗣Since I got this cushy job managing a toy store, I've gotten to sit around playing with toys all day.
🗣Since Sarah got that cushy job with the bank, she has been driving a sports car and is buying a second home!
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📔 crushing blow
📋Meaning
A major defeat or setback that is devastating to the goals of a person, group, or organization.
🤔For example ⬇️
🗣The team's loss last Sunday was a crushing blow to their chances for a championship.
🗣Failing that test was a crushing blow to my hopes for an honors degree.
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📔 slanging match
📋Meaning
A bitter argument or dispute in which each side hurls numerous insults, accusations, or verbal abuse at one another. Primarily heard in UK.
🤔For example ⬇️
🗣At first, I thought we were just going through a rough patch in our relationship, but lately, it seems like every night Janet and I get into a slanging match with each other. It might be time to end things.
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📔 case of the dropsy
📋Meaning
A fictitious "condition" characterized by continually dropping things from one's hands. It is a play on the term "dropsy," which was formerly used to denote the condition now known as edema (or oedema).
🤔For example ⬇️
🗣I've broken four or five plates since I started work. I guess I've got a bad case of the dropsy today.
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📔 soaked to the bone
📋Meaning
Extremely or completely wet, especially through one's clothing.
🤔For example ⬇️
🗣I can't believe you pushed me into the pool! Now I have to walk home soaked to the bone!
🗣The kids let themselves get soaked to the bone out in the rain, and now one of them is coming down with a cold!
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📔 banker's hours
📋Meaning
A limited work schedule (as banks were once known for having short work days and being closed on holidays and weekends).
🤔For example ⬇️
🗣You won't be able to reach her on a Saturday—she keeps banker's hours.
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📔 rolling in dough
📋Meaning
Exceptionally wealthy; having large amounts of money to spend.
🤔For example ⬇️
🗣I hear her father is rolling in dough, so I wouldn't be too worried about her future.
🗣Once we get this plan underway, we'll be rolling in dough in no time!
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📔 bad omen
📋Meaning
A sign, either real or imagined, of ill fortune or catastrophe in the future.
🤔For example ⬇️
🗣It was a bad omen when my girlfriend broke up with me the day before my final exams.
🗣All of the recent natural disasters are a bad omen for the future of the planet.
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📔 backslider
📋Meaning
One who reverts or relapses into bad habits, unethical or immoral behavior, or criminal activity.
🤔For example ⬇️
🗣We've tried to help her quit smoking, but she's a bit of a backslider.
🗣Jimmy's too much of a backslider to stay true to the practices of the church.
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📔 living on the edge
📋Meaning
To have an adventurous or perilous lifestyle; to behave in a manner which creates risks for oneself.
🤔For example ⬇️
🗣 Despite the apparent respectability, he was a man who liked to live on the edge.
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