phrases Flashcards
throw caution to the wind
to take a risk; Even though he doesn’t have much experience, let’s throw caution to the wind and hire him.
by no means
definitely not; Of course you can run a marathon, but by no mwans is it going to be easy.
a close shave
a lucky escape from danger; That was a close shave. He almost caught me reading his private diary.
in the nick of time
just in time; I got paid just in the nick of time. I’d just run out of money.
run out of (something)
to use up all your supplies of something; We are about to run out of petrol/gas, so let’s stop at the next station.
to let go of staff
this is a nice way of saying ‘the staff member was fired or made redundant’. It is often used when it is not the employee’s fault, when the company can’t afford to employ them any longer; Because of the recession we have had to let half of our staff go.
rough patch
difficult period of time; After I lost my job I went through a rough patch financially.
ride it out
to endure a bad situation; I have no choice but to ride it out and wait for the economy to recover.
in retrospect
used when looking back at a situation/incident; In retrospect, I could have handed that better.
the upshot is
this is used when you want to say that there is a positive point to a (sometimes) negative situation; My job went from full time to part time so I have less money, but the upshot is that I get to spend more time with my family.
to pick (something) up
here we mean to gain or learn a new skill; He picks up languages very quickly.
to go out on a limb
to take a risk; Even though you don’t have that much experience, I’m goint to go out on a limb and hire you.
one thing after another
this phrase is always used about negative situations that happen repeatedly; First I lost my wallet and then my car was stolen. It’s been one thing after another recently.
to take a turn for the better/worse
this means when a situation changes for the better/worse, His health has really taken a turn for the worse.
to put one’s finger on something
to identify what the issue is, or to pinpoint the core of an issue; I can’t put my finger on it but I just don’t trust him for some reason.
things are looking up
when a situation is getting better or improving; Now that the economy is beginning to recover, things are really looking up for my company.
she/he can do no wrong
in my opinion they are perfect; I love that author, she can do no wrong in my opinion.
blow (something) out of proportion
to act or believe that something is more serious than it is (used in a negative way); I was only 5 minutes late but my boss is acting like I’ve just bankrupted the company. He’s always blowing things out of proportion.
vicious circle
this describes a bad situation that you can’t get out of. For example you have no money because can’t get a job > you can’t get job because you can’t afford the training > you can’t afford training because you have no money etc; If I work all the time I’m never at home and never see my family but if I take time off we won’t have enough money to survive. It’s a vicious circle.
to put something off
to delay something; I hate going there, so I keep putting it off.
it dawned on me that …
to realise something; It dawned to me that we are too busy, so we need to employ someone else.
there’s no time like the present
if you are going to do something you should do it now, not wait for some future time; I always wanted to go to Jamaica, then this morning I decided that there’s no time like the present so I booked my ticket and I leave next week.
over the moon
very happy; I was over the moon when I got my exam results.
bound to
this means that something is inevitable/that of course it happened/will happen; If you drink and drive, you are bound to have an accident.