Idioms And Phrasal Verbs Flashcards
Not out of the woods
Not yet free from difficulties and problems.
- “the situation is improving, but we’re not out of the woods yet.”
Take a back seat
Deliberately become less actively involved in sth, and stop trying to control things.
-“I’ll probably take a back seat and let Victoria do most of the work.”
My heart sank
Used to tell sb that you suddenly felt sad or sorry about something.
- “My heart sank when I saw the hotel room they had given us.”
- “My heart sank when I opened the letter and realized I had not been accepted into graduate school.”
Having said that
Used to say that something is true, despite what you’ve just said.
-“It’s an expensive restaurant. Having said that, the food is very good.”
The next thing I knew
Used to say that something happened very quickly and unexpectedly.
-“and then the next thing I knew, the cat had jumped out the window.”
More than likely.
It means very likely.
-“will they lose? More than likely.”
More than happy
It means very happy.
-“She can’t do the gardening. I’d be more than happy to help her.”
I’d be hard pressed/pushed/put to do sth.
Find it very difficult to do something.
-“I’d be hard pressed to name all the countries in Europe.”
To get out of bed on the wrong side.
Used to say that sb is in a bad mood.
-“I think Ann got out of bed on the wrong side of bed this morning.”
Come in all shapes and sizes
Are of many different types.
-“Idioms come in all shapes and sizes.”
A sore point
Sth that makes you upset, angry, or embarrassed when somebody mentions it.
-“Don’t ask about the exam. It’s a bit of a sore point for me.”
To put your foot in it
Accidentally say sth that embarrasses, upsets, or annoys sb.
-“I criticised gay movie with jack, who at the time I thought was a girl. I definitely put my foot in it.”
It serves sb right (for doing sth)
Used to say that you think sb deserves sth unpleasant that happens to them.
-“She failed the exam, but I think it serves her right as she did not do a stroke of work to pass it.”
Not do a stroke of work
Not do any work at all.
-“He didn’t do a stroke of work to earn his pay.”
Take sth personally
Feel that a failure is your fault, or feel offended by sth/sb.
-“don’t take it personally. She can’t help being rude. It’s the Tourette’s.
your heart isn’t in it
If your heart isn’t in it, you do not feel interested or enthusiastic about something.
-“I tried to look interested, but my heart wasn’t in it.”
live up to sth
to be as good as something.
-“The concert was brilliant - it lived up to all our expectations.”
The concert was brilliant - it lived up to all our expectations.
to hurt or deceive a group of people, especially people who are weak or can easily be hurt or deceived.
- “He would attack at night, preying on lone women in their twenties or thirties.”
- “It’s particularly contemptible that these sort of people prey on the elderly.”
knock back (sth)
to quickly drink something, especially a lot of alcohol.
-“She was knocking back the champagne at Maria’s party.”
pull out all the stops
make as much effort as possible to ensure that something is successful or impressive.
-“They pulled out all the stops to make sure the president enjoyed his visit.”
Pull your socks up
saying in an angry way that you should do something better.
-“You need to pull your socks up and start taking your studies a bit more seriously!”
pull the rug from under sb’s feet
to suddenly take away help or support from someone, or to suddenly do something that causes many problems for them
-“We were planning a surprise party for their anniversary but they pulled the rug from under our feet by announcing they were going away on a cruise.”
pull the plug
to do something that prevents an activity from continuing, especially by no longer giving money to support it.
- “If the viewing figures drop much more, the TV network will probably pull the plug on the whole series.”
- “They decided to pull the plug on their latest venture after disappointing sales in the first year.”
not pull any/your punches
to speak in an honest way without trying to be kind.
- “Her image is that of an investigative reporter who doesn’t pull any punches.”
- “She told me exactly what she thought of my novel and she didn’t pull any punches.”
like pulling teeth
If you say that making someone do something was like pulling teeth, you mean it was very difficult and they did not want to do it.
- “Getting her to tell me about her childhood was like pulling teeth.”
- “Getting my boss to agree to any change is like pulling teeth.”
Touch base
to talk to someone for a short time to find out how they are or what they think about something.
-“I just wanted to quickly touch base with you: did you get an email from my secretary about the meeting?”
straight) from the horse’s mouth
If you hear something (straight) from the horse’s mouth, you hear it from the person who has direct personal knowledge of it.
