S Series Flashcards
Safe and sound
Unharmed and whole or healthy.
Salad days
Days of youthful inexperience.
Saved by the bell
Saved by a last minute
intervention.
Scapegoat
A person made to unfairly take the blame for something.
Scot free
Escaping without punishment or censure.
See eye to eye
Be in agreement.
See the light.
Understand
Seen better days
Refers to something that has
been well used.
Send someone packing
Dismiss them.
Sent to Coventry
To be ignored or ostracised.
Separate the wheat from the chaff
Separate good from bad.
Set (get, start) off on the wrong foot
To start things incorrectly.
Seventh heaven
A state of great joy and
satisfaction.
Shaggy dog story
A lengthy, improbable and
pointless story, often told in an
attempt at humour.
Shake a leg
Hurry up.
Shipshape and Bristol fashion
In first-class order.
Short shrift
Quick work
Little regard followed by
rejection
Show a clean pair of heels
Run or act faster than someone else.
Show someone the door
Ask someone to leave.
Sick of
Tired of something or someone.
Sight for sore eyes
A welcome sight; someone or
something you are glad to see.
Silver tongued
Plausible and eloquent.
Separate the sheep from the goats
Separate the good from the bad.
Sit on the fence
Avoid taking sides.
Skating on thin ice
Said of a person taking a risk.
Skeleton in the cupboard
A secret source of shame.
Slap on the wrist
A light telling off.
Sledgehammer to crack a nut
A disproportionate response to overcome a minor problem.
Sling mud.
To try to cause a low opinion
about somebody.
Sling your hook
An impolite way of telling
someone to go away.
Small talk
Casual or trivial conversation,
chitchat.
Smell a rat
Be suspicious
Snake in the grass
An untrustworthy and deceitful person. (Similar to “two faced”).
Sold down the river
Betrayed or cheated
Sour grapes
Disdain for something after a
person has failed to achieve it.
Spick and span
Very tidy.
Spill the beans
To divulge a secret.
Spread like wild fire
Disseminate or circulate very
quickly.
Square peg in a round hole.
Something or someone that
does not fit; Often said of a
person who is not suitable in
some way
Stalking horse
A decoy used to cover one’s
true purpose.
Start from scratch
Begin (again) from the
beginning.
Steal one’s
thunder
Use somebody else’s ideas or
take credit for somebody else’s efforts.
Act in a way that prevents a
person receiving the credit that they might otherwise have been given.
Stick to one’s guns.
Keep going. Maintain a position.
A stone’s throw
A short distance.
Storm in a tea cup
A fuss about nothing.
Straight up
Honestly.
Straight from the horse’s mouth
From somebody who should
know.
Strain every
nerve and sinew
Try very hard.
Straw poll
An unofficial vote taken to obtain an indication of the general trend of opinion.
Straw that broke
the camel’s back.
The last of a series of events
that finally triggers action.
Stretch a point
Said of a statement that is not
completely true.
Strike while the iron is hot
Act decisively to take advantage of an opportunity.
Stuck up
Conceited
Sure as eggs is eggs
To be absolutely certain.
Sweep the board
Win everything
Swing the lead
Avoid work. Pretend to be ill.
