Idioms and expressions

Question 1

Jump the gun

Answer 1

To start something before it is permissible, appropriate, or advisable. The phrase alludes to starting to run in a foot race before the starting gun goes off.

Question 2

Clutch at straws

Answer 2

1. To make a desperate attempt to salvage a bad situation.
   A: “But what about all those times I took the trash out when you hadn’t even asked me to?” B: “That has nothing to do with why you’re in trouble now, so stop clutching at straws.”
2. To consider positive suggestions or thoughts in a bad situation.
   OK, you’re just clutching at straws now, fantasizing about a potential buyer when your house has been on the market for months.

Question 3

On the mends

Answer 3

Healing or getting well; improving in health.
I broke my arm last month, so I’ve just been at home on the mend since then.
A: “How’s John doing?” B: “He had a rough week of it with the flu, but he’s on the mend now, thank God.”

Question 4

Wallflower

Answer 4

A quiet person who does not mix with other people
“She’s a real wallflower. She didn’t dance all night”.

Question 5

Cloud 9

Answer 5

A state of blissful happiness
“I’ve been on cloud 9 since I won a million dollars”.

Question 6

Cry one’s eyes out

Answer 6

To cry for a long time
“She’s been crying her eyes out since her boyfriend left her”

Question 7

Tied up

Answer 7

Very busy, kept occupied of engaged
“Miss Fox can’t talk to you now. She’s tied up with a client”.

Question 8

In a stew

Answer 8

Upset, troubled.
“Sarah is really in a stew about her exam”

Question 9

No one knows what goes on behind closed doors

Answer 9

A private situation can be very different from public appearances
“They seem happy, but no one knows what goes on behind closed doors”

Question 10

Poison someone’s mind

Answer 10

To make someone think negatively about a situation
“Kelly used to love me until you poisoned her mind against me. Now she hates me”.

Question 11

Rooted on the spot

Answer 11

Unable to move because of fear or shock

Question 12

Doesn’t have a leg to stand on

Answer 12

Doesn’t have anything to support his/her argument

Question 13

Sour grapes

Answer 13

To act as if something you couldn’t get was always undesirable
“He says it’s a terrible university. But that’s just sour grapes. He really wanted to get in there but they didn’t want him”

Question 14

Butter someone up

Answer 14

To try to earn someone’s favour by flattering them
“He told his teacher she looked pretty, but he was just trying to butter her up so he’d pass his test”

Question 15

Get down to brass tacks

Answer 15

To focus on the most important aspects of a particular situation.

Question 16

You can lead a horse to water

Answer 16

but you can’t make it drink

Proverb: You can give someone an advantage or provide them with an opportunity, but you can’t force them to do something if they don’t want to.

Question 17

To do something in “fits and starts”

Answer 17

to do it intermittently or sporadically.

“Martina has been working on her master’s thesis in fits and starts; she needs to work on it consistently.”

Question 18

A change is as good as a rest

Answer 18

‘A change is as good as a rest’ is an old English proverb means that changing your job or profession is also as beneficial as taking a break. It also proves restorative.

Question 19

To make a mountain out of a molehill

Answer 19

To exaggerate a minor problem.

Question 20

The shoe is on the other foot

Answer 20

The roles (of two or more people) have been reversed, especially roles that were the opposite of each other.
I can see that you don’t like being told what to do, but now the shoe is on the other foot!

Question 21

Be pissing in(to) the wind

Answer 21

To be doing something totally pointless, fruitless, or futile; to be wasting one’s time doing something that will not or cannot come to pass.
To be perfectly honest, I feel like voting is just pissing in the wind, so I just don’t bother.
My mom and dad were pissing into the wind for years trying to get my brother to take his studies seriously; in the end, he dropped out anyway to pursue a career in music.

Question 22

Splash out

Answer 22

To spend a lot of money on something
“I splashed out on my Gojira tickets”

Question 23

Flogging a dead horse

Answer 23

The third season was like flogging a dead horse

Question 24

By word of mouth

Answer 24

By one person telling another in speech, not in writing
verbalmente, de palabra
“She got the information by word of mouth”.

Question 25

Cabin fever

Answer 25

The feeling of being angry and bored because you have been inside for too long:
“The rain had kept me indoors all weekend and I was beginning to get cabin fever”.

Question 26

I pulled a muscle on my back

Answer 26

Muscle contracture

Question 27

Bedridden

Answer 27

Having to stay in bed because of illness or injury:
“His aunt was 93 and bedridden”.