Idioms Flashcards
As often as not / more often than not
usually; in a way that is typical of someone or something
• More often than not, I come home very late.
• Whenever it’s our break time, I read a book as often as not.
• More often than not, I reject invitations from people I have such profound scorn or people that I’ve hated since childhood.
Every so often
occasionally; sometimes
I attend the meeting every so often.
Be that as it may
despite that
• It may look perfect and amazing; be that as it may, in the perspective of a professional pianist he made lots of subtle errors.
• It’s actually a good phone but, be that as it may, it always acts up whenever I play games. So, yeah, it’s not a good phone.
• I have so many things to do; I’ve been preoccupied with tasks and stresses. Be that as it may, as soon as I see my gorgeous, loveable wife, all of it wither away.
Pave the way (for something/somebody)
to create a situation in which someone will be able to do something or something to happen
Having good friends could pave the way for a person to cultivate high self-esteem and confidence.
Give something/somebody a wide berth
to not go near something or someone; to avoid
• They gave the man who is potentially armed a wide berth.
• If you see a bear on your way, give it a wide berth or you can simply go back here.
• That tank looks manned; let’s give it a wide berth in case it shoots at us.
For the time being
for a short period of time but not permanently
• She’s going to leave the program for the time being.
• We’re staying at this place just for the time being.
• They postponed the schedule for the time being.
Lose your touch
lose a skill you once had
• I lose my touch in programming so I have to learn it all over again from the start.
• He was excellent at playing guitar, but now he lost his touch on it.
• I lost my touch in drawing. Sad.
Sit tight
wait patiently
• Sit tight, I just have to pee.
• Sit tight, sir, I’ll check on him if he’s ready.
• Let’s just sit tight here ‘til he arrives.
Cut to the chase
use to tell someone to get to the point already and to not talk too much
• I’m sorry but I don’t have much time. Would you please cut to the chase?
• I’ll cut to the chase because I’m in a rush.
• You talk too much; just cut to the chase, brother!
Blow off steam
to do something to get rid of the stress or strong feelings and need to calm down
• You look very upset. Go, blow off some steam.
• She usually goes outside when nervous to blow off steam.
• He has a tendency to bite his nail when anxious to blow off steam.
Up in the air
means that a situation is uncertain or unsure
• It’s still up in the air when the next update will be.
• The place where his birthday will be held is up in the air until he says so.
• The features of the next invention are up in the air; we need to liaise with them to know more details.
On the ball
means that you’re very quick to understand things or quickly and correctly react to a situation
• What? You’ve already completed the battle pass? You’re on the ball!
• How come you understand what he said while he talked too fast? You’re really on the ball.
• We almost lost the game but fortunately he was there and carried us to win. He’s on the ball.
Over the hill
not as physically or socially active as you used to be due to old age
• I’m not socially active but that doesn’t mean I’m over the hill yet; I just want to be alone most of the time.
• He’s not a very social person and now he suffers from an injury that makes him seem over the hill.
• I’m over the hill. I can’t do that anymore.
Off the chain
means that something is exciting or impressive usually in a good way
• Your performance was off the chain!
• Dude, you did great in the match. You’re off the chain!
• That movie was off the chain.
Stoop so low
Stoop so low (as to do something)
to drop your moral standard far enough to do something bad or unpleasant
• I can’t believe some people would stoop so low as to defend the war criminal.
• The man stoops so low as to hurt his own family.
• He’ll never stoop so low again.
Be taken aback
be taken aback (by somebody/something)
to be shocked or surprised by someone or something
• Everybody was taken aback by the boy’s ingenuity and skills in painting at a very young age. Holy crap!
• People were taken aback by the news about the celebrities who practice euthanasia.
• Dmitry was taken aback that his rival will attend the gathering.
Keep/stay abreast of something
to make sure that you know all the recent facts about a subject
• As an IT student, I feel the need to stay abreast of the news about technologies.
• Although I keep abreast of what is currently happening in the world, these goobers think they know everything in detail about what they think really happened in the past week through gossip.
• To be a better citizen of a country, the least thing you can do is to keep abreast of what’s taking place around you and if there’s an important event afoot.
A bit of a pickle
tricky and difficult problem
- That question is a bit of a pickle, so I may need more time to solve it.
- To compare the two is a bit of a pickle. You might have to find a smart person for that.
- Dude, your drawing is a bit of a pickle so there’s no way we could’ve guessed that.
Rude awakening
unexpected and unpleasant discovery or realization, forcing someone to face reality
- He had a rude awakening that he has a brain of a psychopath.
- After doing things at whim and being cavalier about his future, he had a rude awakening that he’s getting older and he needs to find a job.
- He has a rude awakening when he found out that the person he was looking up to is a narcissist.
Give/pay heed
Take heed
to pay careful attention to someone or something
give/pay heed (to somebody/something)
Take heed (of somebody/something)
- He felt pain in his back, but he gave no heed to it.
- Tourists have to pay heed to the rules of the place.
- Barely everyone take heed of the warnings put up on the wall.
To hell and back
difficult or unpleasant experience
- Having relationship with her was like going to hell and back.
- I feel like I’ve been to hell and back after working my thesis alone.
- When I was learning japanese language, it felt like I had gone to hell and back.
