Tuesday, 8 June 2010


slang(hand)
hand over
pass on something
Before I leave, I have to hand over all my work

get out of hand
become impossible to manage
You'll have to deal with this problem before it gets out of hand

have your hands full
be very busy
I can't do anything about it now - my hands are full.

in hand
under control
The company report is in hand - you'll have it next week

live hand to mouth
only earn enough money for food
After he lost his job, he had to live hand to mouth for a couple of months

have someone in the palm of your hand
have influence over someone
He's got her in the palm of his hand

be caught red-handed
The children were caught red-handed picking the flowers

slang(finger)
butter fingers
be clumsy and drop things
You've dropped my vase! Butter fingers!

keep your fingers crossed
wish something for someone
Keep your fingers crossed for me tomorrow - it's my job interview

look through ones fingers
I looked through him finger when I saw him

under your thumb
control someone
She's got him under her thumb - he won't do anything without asking her first

slang(feet&legs)
put your foot in it
say or do something you shouldn't
I think I've put my foot in it - I told her about the party

have itchy feet
not able to settle down in one place
She's going off travelling again - she's got really itchy feet

keep someone on their toes
keep someone alert
Our teacher keeps us on our toes - we have to pay attention in class

stand on your own two feet
be independent
I don't need your help - I can stand on my own two feet

have two left feet
be awkward or clumsy
He's a terrible dancer - he's got two left feet

walk on eggshells
be careful about what you say or do
She's in a terrible mood - you'll have to walk on eggshells around her

foot the bill
pay the bill
He had to foot the bill for the party

slang(back)
go behind someone's back
do something secretly
She went behind my back and told my boss I wanted a new job

back off
stop trying to force someone to do something
Will you just back off and let me decide what I should do!"

back down
accept defeat
He finally backed down and let me buy a pet rabbit."

back someone up
support someone
Thank you for backing me up in the meeting

put your back into something
work very hard at something
She put her back into it and got good results

stab someone in the back
betray someone
Be careful of him - he'll stab you in the back if it gets him what he wants

Ebabay.com

slang(food)
be the apple of someone's eye
be someone's favorite person
She's the apple of her father's eye

be as nice as pie
be extremely nice and charming, so that you can fool
people
She can be as nice as pie, but don't trust her

eat humble pie
have to take back what you said, because you have been
proved wrong
He'll have to eat humble pie now. Serve him right - he
tried to make us all look bad

have your fingers in every pie
be involved in many different things
You can't do anything without him knowing - he has his
fingers in every pie

a piece of cake
be extremely simple
This program is a piece of cake to use

sell like hot cakes
sell quickly in large quantities
His book is selling like hot cakes

full of beans
be full of energy
You're full of beans today - it's nice to see you so
lively

beef about something
complain about something
He's always beefing about the pay

beef something up
give something extra appeal=increase in size or number
If we beef up the window display, more people might come
into the shop

be your bread and butter
be your main source of income
Although they run a taxi service, car sales are their
bread and butter

be like chalk and cheese
be completely different
I don't know why they got married - they're like chalk and cheese

cheesy
predictable and unimaginative
I don't want to see that film again - it's really cheesy

sour grapes
say something bad because you didn't get what you wanted
Don't listen to him complain - it's only sour
grapes
because you got the job and he didn't

to play gooseberry
go somewhere with a couple who would prefer to be on their own
I'd rather not come to the cinema with you two - I'd just
feel I was playing gooseberry.

a couch-potato
someone who never goes out or exercises
He watches TV all day - what a couch-potato

like butter wouldn't melt in your mouth
appear innocent
When I asked her about the missing money, she tried to
look like butter wouldn't melt in her mouth

bring home the bacon
earn money for necessary things, like food
He brings home the bacon in that family

the way the cookie crumbles
the way things are
I'm sorry I didn't get the promotion, but that's the way
the cookie crumbles

have someone eat out of your hand
have control over someone
He has her eating out of his hand - it's sad

eat someone out of house and home
eat a lot of food
Her children eat her out of house and home

eat into your savings
spend some of your savings
We can't afford a new car, unless we eat into our savings

eating for two
be pregnant and so eating more
Good news, darling. The doctor says I'm eating for two now

eat your heart out!
telling someone they should be jealous of you
I'm going on holiday to Jamaica - eat your heart out!

not your cup of tea
something that you don't like much
Football isn't my cup of tea

a square meal
a filling meal
You need a square meal after all that exercise

it smells fishy
something that is suspicious
He wants to do all the housework for you? That smells
fishy to me

small fry / small beer
something or someone unimportant
Sales last year are small fry compared to now - we're
doing really well.

roll out the barrel
prepare to have a good time
Roll out the barrel - we're celebrating our exam results

rhubarb, rhubarb
saying something completely unimportant There's that
politician again on television - rhubarb, rhubarb

What values am I living with? I was born in a moderate religious family. We might not be considered as religious to some as everybody has b...