Idioms and collocations Flashcards
pull out all the stops
to do everything you can to make something successful:
They pulled out all the stops for their daughter’s wedding.
get your act together
to start to organize yourself so that you do things in an effective way:
She’s so disorganized - I wish she’d get her act together.
set/put someone’s mind at rest/ease
to stop someone from worrying about something:
Chris phoned to say they’d arrived safely, so that really put my mind at rest.
go from strength to strength
to gradually become more successful:
The firm’s gone from strength to strength since the new factory was built.
make a go of something
to try to make something succeed, usually by working hard:
She’s really making a go of her new antique shop.
I can’t see him ever making a go of accountancy.
I can see her succeeding. She’s so determined to make a go of it.
have a bash
to try to do something you have not done before:
I’ve never been skiing before, but I’m prepared to have a bash (at it).
to the fore
to public attention or into a noticeable position:
Various ecological issues have come to the fore since the discovery of the hole in the earth’s ozone layer.
clutch/grasp at straws
to be willing to try anything to improve a difficult or unsatisfactory situation, even if it has little chance of success:
She offered to take a pay cut to keep her job, but she was just clutching at straws.
the final/last straw
the last in a series of unpleasant events that finally makes you feel that you cannot continue to accept a bad situation:
Losing my job was bad enough, but being evicted was the final straw.
She’s always been rude to me, but it was the last straw when she started insulting my mother.
