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Lucy’s B2 Program > Idioms > Flashcards

Idioms Flashcards

1
Q

Through thick and thin

A

To support sb. Through good times and times
—
Maria has been there for me though thick and thin

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2
Q

Though a spanner in the works

A

To cause smth to not go as you had planned
—
[us analogue] monkey wrench
—

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3
Q

To be (as) thick as thieves

A

To be very friendly with each other, may look like you got a secret
—
Jacob and Greg are as thick as thieves

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4
Q

Fair-weather friends

A

A friend who is only there for you when things are going well.

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5
Q

To be joined at the hip

A

To spend a lot of time together
—
Chloe and charlotte have been joined at the hip recently.

—
“hip” joints leg and the body

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6
Q

To know someone inside out

A

To know someone very well

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7
Q

Shoulder to cry on

A

A persons who comforts you when you’re sad
—
Paulo has always been a shoulder to cry on for me. I alway go to thin when I’am feeling low.

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8
Q

To move in the same circles

A

To socialize with someone who has the same lifestyle, background and friends as you
—
Kate and I move in the same circles, so I know her quite well

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9
Q

To hit (it) off

A

To get on well immediately
—
Abdula and Clara really hit it off last night! They instantly got on with each other

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10
Q

To see eye to eye with someone

A

To agree with someone
—
I see eye to eye with Chris about almost everything.

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11
Q

To bury /‘beri/ the hatchet

A

To end an argument and be a friends again
—
Oscar and I agreed to bury the hatchet
—
Hatchet = small axe. Not is use in modern English.

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12
Q

To clear the air

A

To get rid of bad feeling between people, often with a discussion
—
Please come to my house later for a chat. We need to clear the air.

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13
Q

To let bygones (байгонс) be bygones

A

To forgive someone or forget about something bad someone did
—
I want to let bygones be bygones and be friends again.
—
Bygones — прошлое
—
Old fashion idiom, mostly used in books. The modern is ‘forgive and forget’

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14
Q

cup of tea

A

What is interested or is liked
—
An evening in the opera isn’t everyone’s cup of tea

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15
Q

To not take rubbish

A

To defend oneself when being teased or bullied by others
—
I’m not going to take any more of your rubbish

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16
Q

To go down the path

A

To choose particular direction in the life
—
After learning to play the guitar, he decided to go down the live music path.

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17
Q

To be behind someone in life

A

When another person seems to be at more advanced stage in their life despite being the same age or from the same background
—
Jack never really cared much about his studies, and now he is behind most of his friends in life.

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18
Q

To find my feet

A

To become able to act independently and with confidence
—
I only recently started working here, so I’m still finding my feet

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19
Q

To put a face on

A

To make up on
—
Carrie spent a few minutes putting her face on every morning

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20
Q

Drop-dead gorgeous

A

[ˈgɔːʤəs]

Absolutely and totally beautiful
—
She looked drop-dead gorgeous last night

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21
Q

Not a hair out of place

A

Someone who is dressed perfectly and looks very neat [niːt] аккуратный
—
She looked amazing on her wedding day. Not a hair out of place.
—
Negative tone: too concerned with their appearance.

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22
Q

Dressed [up] to the nines

A

Dressed in your best clothes or in formal clothes, often for a special occasion
—
Everyone was dressed up to the nines!

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23
Q

Dressed to kill

A

To wear really attractive clothes because you want to be noticed and admired, usually used to talk about woman
—
Ellie was dressed to kill last night

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24
Q

To be decked out

A

To be dressed in a very fancy way, often for a special occasion
—
Leo and I got all decked out for the party

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25
Q

Mutton dressed as lamb

A

An older woman dressed in a way that would better suit younger woman
—
Mutton — баран.

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26
Q

To look a sight / fright

A

To look very untidy or ridiculous in some way
—
It was blowing a gale and we looked a sight when we arrived at the pub.

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27
Q

To look like sth. the cat dragged in

A

To look untidy, dirty, disheveled [dɪˈʃevld]
—
Ben had been working on the farm and and he looked like something the cat dragged in

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28
Q

Skin and bone

A

So skinny that can see their bones
—
She was all skin and bone after her illness

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29
Q

Down-at-heel

A

To wear old clothes (because don’t have much money)
—
She looked very down-at-heel
—
Noel was a receptionist in a down-at-heel hotel.

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30
Q

Easy on the eye

A

Good looking

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31
Q

A face only a mother could love

A

Ugly (offensive)

32
Q

Hard and fast

A

That cannot be changed
—
There are no hard and fast rules about this

33
Q

Look out the place

A

A person wears sth. that strange, perhaps it is out of fashion, or not suitable for the occasion
—
He looked out of place at the weeding in a T-shirt.

34
Q

To be off the market

A

To no longer be single or dating
—
Is your sister still looking for a date or is she off the market now?

35
Q

To die for

A

To like something very much
—
The chocolate cake at Bertucho’s is to die for.

36
Q

To go off without a hitch

A

To go as planned without any problems
—
Our recent marketing effort have gone off without a hitch! We have doubled our sales.
—
Hitch — заминка, помеха

37
Q

To perk up

A

To become more lovely or active
—
Paula is napping right now to perk up for her football game later.

38
Q

To hit the sack / hay

A

Sack — мешок: hay — сено
—
To go to sleep
—
I couldn’t wait to hit the sack after my 12 hours travel day

39
Q

[fall] Head over heels

A

Completely in love with your significant other
—
I don’t know what she saw in him, but she was head over heels.

40
Q

A match made in heaven

A

A couple that is perfect for each other, so perfect in fact that a higher power must have brought them together

41
Q

Other/better half

A

An affectionate way to refer to your partner

42
Q

To tie the knot

A

To get married

43
Q

The rest is history

A

Used when telling a story to say you do not need to tell end of it (because everyone knows it already)
—
And so I agreed to meet him, and the rest is history.

44
Q

To play it cool

A

To deal with situation in a calm way and not show what you are really feeling
—
I decided to play it cool and act like I had actually forgotten all about it.

45
Q

To chuck it down

A

To rain heavily
—
When I went outside, it was chucking it down out there

46
Q

Each to their own

A

Everyone has right to have their own ideas or choices in life
—
I’am not personally a fan of model trains, but each to their own

47
Q

To beat around the bush

A

To talk about something for a long time without coming to the main point
—
Stop beating around the bush and tell me what you want

48
Q

To take trip/stroll/walk down memory lane

A

Erica saw her best friend from primary school yesterday; I’m sure they had a nice stroll down memory lane

49
Q

To be wet behind the ears

A

We thought we knew what we were doing, but we were behind the ears

50
Q

Babe in the woods

A

I felt like a and in the woods when I started secondary school but I quickly got over it.

51
Q

A blast from the past

A

Is it spice girls? What a blast from the past!

52
Q

To take something for granted

A

To be so used to something that you do not recognize it’s true value or not show that you are granted

When we were young, we just took it for granted

53
Q

To make do

A

To use or accept something that is not really good enough

We were in hurry so we had to make do a quick snack

manage with the limited or inadequate means available.
“Dad would have to make do with an old car”

54
Q

To take notice of

A

Pay attention to

When she fell over, no one took a notice of it

55
Q

On a shoestring

A

Using very little money

My parents were quite poor, so we had to live on shoestring budget

56
Q

To have the better things in life

A

Be in a financial position to afford things that someone with lower income might not be able to

Now that your dad has got a promotion, we might be able to have the better things in life

57
Q

To work to a budget

A

Be careful about how much money you spend as money is limited

When I was in uni, I had to work too a really rough budget

58
Q

To get the cane
To get hit with a ruler

A

Cane — палка, трость, прут

To be beaten with a stick as punishment for doing something wrong

59
Q

To go off the rails

A

To start behaving in a way that is strange or unacceptable, for example drinking or taking drugs

She went completely off the rails after her sister died

60
Q

Nooks and crannies

A

Hidden parts of a room where things get lost, eg the corners and small holes or openings

The Castle was fascinating; there were endless nooks and crannies to discover

61
Q

Up for something

A

To be considered for something

The dogs which are up for adoption are on the web site

62
Q

to be like a bull in a china shop

A

to be very careless in a delicate situation
can be used in direct or figurative context
‘china’ here isn’t a country (otherwise it should starts with capital C), china is a fragile dinnerware
Watch Matthew around your car, he’s like a bull in a china shop

63
Q

Pipe dream

A

A dream that isn’t practical or unattainable

This isn’t some pipe dream; we re going build the biggest clothing brand on the planet

64
Q

To push the boat out

A

To spent a lot of money

You guys really pushed the boat out on this weeding

65
Q

by all accounts

A

according to what people say

By all accounts, Rome is spectacular in the autumn.

66
Q

In full swing

A

Used to describe an event or activity when it reaches a very lively or productive level

We arrived at 9 send the peaty was at the full swing.

67
Q

Across the board

A

All-encompassing and inclusive of every one involved

The government to increase the minimum wage across the board

68
Q

The second wind

A

To have renewed energy and continue doing something we had been a bit tired of doing

I was not enjoying the hike, but after stopping at the stream, I got a second wind

69
Q

To get the ball rolling

A

To make something start to happen

What should we do for New Year’ Even? We need to get the ball rolling.

70
Q

To knock oneself out

A

To become exhausted from making an excessive [ɪkˈsesɪv] (чрезмерный) effort at somethibg

Jeff is so busy looking after us all, I’m worried he’ll knock himself out.

71
Q

No sweat [swet]

A

No problem

We’ll find a new flat by May, no sweat

72
Q

To be on the ball

A

To be very attentive and quick thinking

She is only six, but she is really on the ball.

73
Q

The ball is in your court

A

To let someone know they can make the next move

I emailed Chris and now the ball is in his court.

74
Q

To win hands down

A

To win extremely easily

The reds were miles better and won the game hands down

75
Q

To make a fuss [meɪk ɑ fʌs]

A

To complain, to be difficult (can’t be used only to a person, not a thing)

I do wish you would stop making a fuss and continue with your work.

76
Q

To make a fuss of
to fuss over

A

To give someone a lot of care and attention

We’ve stayed in quite a few hotels recently where the staff made too much fuss of us.

My dog loves to be made a fussed over.

Lucy’s B2 Program (3 decks)

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