Idioms 4 Flashcards
to be deceived by
to be taken in
to take somebody in
to be offended/made angry by
to take exception to
to not pay attention
to take no notice of
to not take any notice of
to not like something
to not take kindly to
to stop and let somebody get off/out of somewhere
to set somebody down
e.g. The bus will set you down outside my house
to formally apply for something (e.g. pay rise, expenses, a job)
to put into for something
e.g. I hear you have put in for that job in the accounts department.
to save money so that you can use it at a later date
to put (money) by
e.g. Every month we put by 200 pounds so that we have enough for our trip.
to say that something is caused by…
to put (something) down to
e.g. The doctors put his ill health down to the fact that he was overweight.
to go in the direction of
to make for somewhere
to complete a set
to make up a set
e.g. I’m looking for a sixth tea cup to make up a set
the time one’s watch has, more common in question form:
“What time is it?”
What time do you make it?
Answer form: to make it 6 o’clock.
to make no attempt to hide (often negative) feelings
to make no bones about
e.g. “He hates studying for school and he makes no bones about it”
to provide (good) reasons for
to make (out) a (convincing/strong) case for
to lose money
to make a loss
- it does not make any difference
- I don’t mind
it makes no odds
e.g. It makes no odds whether we run or hide. Either way, they’ll find us.
to be good enough to be selected to play for a team
to make the team
to stop liking somebody or something that you used to like
to go off somebody/something
e.g. “I’ve gone off horror films. I can’t stand them anymore”
to attack
to go for somebody
to not be sure if something is good or right
to have misgivings about something/doing something
to be annoyed by somebody/something
to have had enough of somebody/something/doing something
to complete what you had planned, generally used in negatives
to go through with something
e.g. Given the size of the crowd, I couldn’t go through with it
to keep talking about something in such a way that others get bored, impatient or irritated
to go on (and on) about something
to make a start at doing something difficult
to go about something/doing something
(informal) the chances of something happening have been ruined
to go bang
e.g. and then they discovered that I was tone-deaf, and bang went my chances of becoming a concert pianist
to become uncontrollably violent
to go berserk
to have been neglected to the point of being in very poor condition (a building) or in a state of complete disorganisation
to go to rack and ruin
to go to the dogs
When power/fame/money makes somebody excessively proud and confident
when something goes (straight) to somebody’s head
- to be as aggressive or forceful as the person you are arguing with
- to hurt the person you are fighting as much as he or she hurts you
to give as good as you get
e.g. She may look small and timid, but, when she argues, she most certainly gives as good as she gets.
to do something as well as you possible can
to give of your best
to give somebody the most important facts about something
to give somebody the lowdown on something
to do something bad to somebody who has previously done something bad to you/ to get revenge
to get your own back.
e.g. When you consider how his friends had betrayed him, you can’t blame him for wanting to get his own back on them.
to be nearly (used for time/age)
to be getting on for
e. g. I have no idea what time it is, but it must be getting on for 3 o’clock
e. g. He must be getting on for 50, though he looks much younger.
to be late in paying something
to get behind with
e. g. to get behind with your rent
e. g. to get behind with all the paperwork
e. g. to get behind with your work
to persuade somebody to do something by being nice to them
to get round somebody
e.g. I could get round my mother by buying her chocolates.
to finally find the time to do something
to get round to doing something
to do, most commonly used in question form
“What did you do?”
to get up to
“What did you get up to…?
e.g. What did you get up to this weekend?
to finally get the punishment one deserves
to get one’s comeuppance
to find a word or phrase very difficult to pronounce
to not be able to get your tongue round
e.g. I gave up learning German because I found it impossible to get my tongue round even the simplest of words
to take action and deal with a problem
to get to grips with
e.g. The government hasn’t yet got to grips with the unemployment problem
- to start happening
- to start moving
to get underway
e.g. Work on the new underground line has yet to get underway.
to find out about something
to get wind of something
to become friends and start spending a lot of time with people who are a bad influence on you
to fall in with
e.g. Ever since she had fallen in with Tommy and his gang, her school work had gone downhill.
to quarrel with somebody and stop being friends with them
to fall out with somebody
e.g. We fell out with him when he criticised my sister
to laugh uncontrollably
to fall about laughing
lots of things are going wrong with something
to fall apart at the seams
- to fail to continue or be competitive
- to be considered no longer important
- to be considered impossible (promises, ideas, plans)
to fall by the wayside
to lose one’s position of power
to fall from power
to make a mistake that people make
to fall into the trap of doing something
to do something very eagerly
to fall (all) over oneself to do something
to get rid of something (rule, law, tax, institution) so that it no longer exists
to do away with
to be beneficial to somebody
to do somebody a power of good
e.g. Getting away from the stresses of work would do you a power of good.
to sell lots of something
to do a roaring trade in something
e.g. During the heatwave, we did a roaring trade in electric fans.
to satisfy yourself with what you have, as opposed to what you want
to make do with something
to argue and hit one another
to come to blows
to be criticised
to come in for criticism
e.g. The government has come in for severe criticism over its new education policies.
to reach a critical stage
to come to a head
e.g. The argument came to a head when neither side would admit that they had made a mistake.
the become available for people to buy
to come onto the market
to attack somebody (especially with a knife)
to come at somebody
e.g. and then he came at the hero with a knife.
when a plan succeeds
it comes off
e.g. it’s an ingenious plan, but I doubt whether it will come off.
- to be completely new and different
- to do something that nobody has ever done before
to break new ground
