Idioms Flashcards
a bear with a sore hand
Irritated/bad mood
a bit of a dark horse
person with hidden abilities
a bitter pill to swallow
a difficult fact to accept
a different kettle of fish
a totally different situation from the one you just mentioned
a dog’s life
a difficult, hard life
a fish out of water
Sb who feels uncomfortable
a long shot
a wild guess/a risk
a memory like a sieve
a poor memory
a night owl
person who enjoys staying up late
a pain in the neck
Annoying person/thing
a piece of cake
smth very easy to do
a red rag to a bull
action, comment, etc. liable to provoke smb
a red-letter day
a very important day
a sitting duck
an easy target
a storm in a teacup
a lot of fuss about smth that is not important
a wild-goose chase
a hopeless search
above board
honest
Achilles heel
Weakest point of smb’s character
Against all odds
Despite the difficulties
Agree to disagree
Stop arguing because there is no chance of agreement
All along
From the beginning until now
All but
Nearly, almost
All in
Exhausted
All in all
When everything is considered
All the same
Yet, however
All told
Altogether; in total
An old wives’ tale
False belief
An unknown quantity
Person or thing that one has no experience of
As a last resort
When all else has failed
As the crow flies
In a direct line / by a direct route
At close quarters
At a short distance
At large
Free, not caught
At the cutting edge
At the forefront of
Bark up the wrong tree
Have a false idea about smth
Be ahead of one’s time
Have modern ideas
Be all at sea
Be in a state of confusion
Be all fingers and thumbs
Be awkward, clumsy
Be all very well
Appear satisfactory but in fact not be
Be as busy as a bee
Very busy
Be as thick as a brick
Be stupid
Be beside oneself with anger
To be extremely angry
Be born yesterday
Be easily deceived / naive
Be broke
Have no/very little money
Be caught red-handed
Be caught while committing a crime
Be dying for smth
Really want smth
Be fit for
Be good enough for
Be for the high jump
About to be punished
Be full of beans
Be very lively
Be green
Be inexperienced
Be in a quandary
Be confused; undecided
Be in smb’s black books
Out of favour
Be in smb’s shoes
Be in smb’s position
Be in the dark about smth
Be unaware of smth
Be in the doghouse
Be out of favour; in trouble
Be in the know
Be well informed
Be in the same boat
Be in the same (usually bad) situation
Be in two minds about smth
Not be able to decide what to do
Be on the cards
Be likely to happen
Be on the deffensive
Protect oneself because one feels unsecured or threatened
Be on the up and up
Improve steadily
Be out of practice
Lacking practice
Be over the moon
Be elated
