Idioms Flashcards
Back to the drawing board
When an attempt to do sth fails and it’s time to start all over again using different methods
برگشتن سر خونه اول- روز از نو روزی از نو
The Ball is in your court
Your turn to make a decision
توپ تو زمین توعه
Cost an arm and a leg
Very expensive
خیلی گرونه
Over the moon
Extreamly happy
خیلی خوشحال
Jumping the gun
Start sth too early
خیلی عجله کردن
Once in a blue moon
Very rarely. Almost never
خیلی به ندرت
chip on one’s shoulder?
Feeling inferior or having a grievance about sth
شکایت داشتن- حس ناخوشی داشتن
A peice of cake
Very easy
خیلی راحت
A drop in the ocean
A very small part of sth much bigger
یه قطره از اقیانوس
Blessing in disguise
sth positive that isn’t recognized until later
بدون حکمت نیست- توفیق اجباری
Bite your tongue
stop yourself from saying sth
زبونتو گاز بگیر
Don’t putt all your eggs in one bascket
Putting all of one’s resources into one possibility
همه شانساتو یه جا خرج نکن
Every cloud has a silver lining
Believing that every bad situation has a pissitive side/eventually leads to sth good
پایان شب سیه سپید است
Find my feet
To become comfortable in what you are doing
راحت بودن با انجام کاری
Fixed in your ways
Not wanting to change from a normal ways of doing sth
نخوای که روش کارتو عوض کنی- دگم- مقاوم به تغییر
Got up on the wrong side of the bed
To refer to someone who is having a bad day
مود خوب نبودن از دنده چپ بلند شدن
Hit the nail on the head
Say exactly the right thing
به هدف زدن- درست انجام دادن
In the heat of the moment
Saying or doing sth suddenly withou thinking about it
وقتی عصبی ای و چیزی میگی- بدون فکر حرف ردن
Let sleeping dogs lie
Avoid a conflict
صدا سگشو درنیار
Actions speak louder than words
It’s better to actually do sth rather than just talking about it
عمل از حرف بهتره
It’s a small world
Meeting someone you would not have expected to
دنیای کوچیکیه انتظار نداشتم ببینمت
Stuck/caught between a rock and a hard place
Having two very bad choices
بین بد و‌بدتر موندن
Cut to the chase
Leave out all the unnecessary details and just get to the point
برو سر اصل مطلب
Go the extra mile
Doing much more than is required when doing sth
شورشو دراوردن
If it’s not one thing, it’s the other
When everything seems to be going wrong
از زمین و هوا میباره
Keep an eye on him
Watch someoneor sth carefully
حواست باشه بهش
Kicked the bucket
Died
مرد
Let the cat out of the bag
Tell someone sth that you were not supposed to
لو دادن
Bite the hand that feeds you
Hurt or upset someone who is helping you
نمک خوردن نمکدان شکستن
Sitting in the fence
Not making a firm decision between different choices
مردد بودن
Over the top
Excessive
افراطی
Practice makes perfect
Continousely doing sth to improve
کار نیکو کردن از پر کردن است
Pulling leg
Joking
شوخلوخ
Take a rain check
To decline an offer that you will take up later
بذا برم فکرامو بکنم بهت خبر میدم
Rule of thumb
Principalthat is strictly adheared
قطعی مسلم
Smell a rat
To sense that sth is not right
کاسه‌ای زیر نیم کاسه بودن
The spitting image
A chip of old block
Take after someone
To look axactly like someone
خیلی شبیه کسی بودن
Untill the cows come home
For a very long time
تا دیروقت
Tongue in cheek
Sth said in humour rather than seriously
شوخیس بابا
Under the weather
Unwell
حالش خوب نیس
Water under the bridge
Things from the past that are not imp any more
گذشته‌ها کذشته
You are what you eat
Good food good mood
شما چیزی هستید که میخورید
Judge a book by it’s cover
Outside never reveals the inside
کتابو از جلدش قضاوت نکن
Working against the clock
Not having enough time to do sth
ضرب‌العجل کار کردن
Flogging a dead horse
Attepmting to continue with sth that is finished
آب در هاونگ کوبیدن
Bend over backwards
Doing all you can do to help someone
برای کسی جر خوردن
Break a leg
Good luck
موفق باشی
Playing devil’s advocate
To put forward a side in an argument that may not be your own in order to show the counter argument
نقش مخالفو بازی کردن
Hold your horses
Be patient
صبوری کن
Driving me up the wall
Annoying sb
کلوچه شدن
A hot potato
Speek of an issue which many peopleare talking about
بحث داغ
Caught between two stools
When someone finds it difficult to choose between two alternatives
سر دوراهی موندن
A penny for your thoughts
What’s on your mind?
بگو‌پولشو میدیم. چی تو فکرت میگذره
Cross the bridge when you come to it
Not worry about a possible problem until it actually happens
اول به حموم برس بعد لخت شو
Add insult to injury
To do or say something that makes a bad situation even worse for someone
نمک به زخم پاشیدن
At the drop of a hat
without any hesitation، instantly
فورا
barking up the wrong tree
Looking in the wrong place. Accausing the wrong person
سر گور اشتباه گریه کردن
Beat around the bush
avoiding the main topic, not speaking directly about the issue.
طفره رفتن
Be glad to see the back of
be happy when a person leaves
با یه خدافظی خوشحالمون کن
Best of both worlds
all the advantages
بهترین دو عالم
Best thing since sliced bread
A good invention or innovation . a good idea or plan
بهترین ایده و خلاقیت
bite off more than you can chew
to take on a task that is way too big
لقمه بزرگتر از دهن برداشتن
burn the midnight oil
to work late into the night alluding to the time before electric lighting
دود چراغ خوردن
cry over spilt milk
when you complain about a loss from the past
کار بیهوده کردن
Curiosity killed the cat
being inquisitive can lead you into an unpleasant situation
فوضولیش به تو نیومده
Cut corners
when something is done badly to save money
از سرته کار زدن برای صرفه جویی
Cut the mustard
to succeed; to come up to expectations; adequate enough to compete or participate
موفق شدن
Don’t count your chickens before the eggs have hatched
this idiom is used to express don’t make plans for something that might not happen
جوجه رو اخر پاییز میشمرن
Don’t give up the day job
you are not very good at something you could definitely not do it professionally
ازین شاخه به اون شاخه نپر میرینی
drastic times call for drastic measures
When you are extremely desperate, you need to take drastic actions
گاو نر میخواهد و مرد کهن
Elvis has left the building
to show has come to an end ,it’s all over.
دیر رسیدی
far cry from
Very different from
فرقش زمین تا اسمونه
Give the benefit of the doubt
Believe someone’s statement without proof
ایشالا که خیره
here it on the grapevine
this idiom means to hear rumors about something or someone
شایعه بودن
hit the sack,sheets, hay
To go to bed
خوابیدن
it takes two to tango
Actions or communications need more than one person
یه دس صدا نداره
Jump on the bandwagon
Join a popular trend or activity
همرنگ جماعت- جنگ شادی
Keep something at Bay
Keep something away
فاصله را حفظ کردن
Kill two birds with one stone
To accomplish two different things at the same time
با به تیر دو نشون زدن
Last straw
The final problem in a series of problems
اخرین حد تحمل. سنگ اخر
Make a long story short
come to the point leave out details
برو سر اصل مطلب
method to my madness
And assertion that despite one’s approach seeming random, there actually is structure to it.
اینم روش منه
miss the boat
This idiom is used to say that someone missed his or her chance
دیر کردی
not a spark of decency
No manners
ذره‌ای ادب نداره
Not playing with a full deck
someone who lacks intelligence
با تمام توانمندیش کار نمیکنه. خنگه
Off one’s rocker
Crazy, demented, out of one’s mind, in a confused or befuddled state of mind senile.
قاطی کرده
On the ball
when someone understands the situation well
خیلی مسلطه
Picture paints 1000 words
A visual presentation is far more descriptive than words
شنیدن کی بود مانند دیدن
put wool over other people’s eyes
This means to deceive someone into thinking well of them
فریب دادن
See eye to eye
When to or more people agree on something
توافق
speak of the devil
This expression is used when the person you have just been talking about arrives
موشو اتیش زدن
Steal someone’s thunder
to take the credit for something someone else did
مریت کار کسی رو به نفع خود تمام کردن
Take it with a grain of salt
this means not to take what someone says too seriously
زیاد جدیش نگیر
taste of your own medicine
Means that something happens to you or is done to you that you have done to someone else
تلافی کردن
to hear something straight from the horse’s mouth
To hear something from the authoritative source.
خبر موثق
Whole 9 yards
Everything all of it
کل ماجرا
Wouldn’t be caught dead
would never like to do something
مگه از جنازم رد بشی
Your guess is as good as mine
to have no idea, do not know the answer to a question
توام که اندازه من هیچی حالیت نیس
