Essential Idioms

By ROBERT J. DIXSON - Powered By Eduhyme.com

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to give (someone) a break: to provide a person with another opportunity or chance; not to expect too much work from; not to expect someone to believe

Command forms are most common with this idiom. For the third definition, the pronoun me must be used.

  • The driver pleaded with the police officer to give him a break and not issue him a ticket for speeding.
  • When the students heard how much homework the teacher wanted them to do over the holiday, they begged, "Give us a break, Professor Doyle!"
  • Oh, Jim, give me a break! That's a terrible excuse for being late.

to bow out: to stop doing as a regular activity, to remove oneself from a situation

The related idiom to want out indicates that someone desires to bow out.

  • She bowed out as the school's registrar after sixteen years of service.
  • One of the two partners wanted out of the deal because they couldn't agree on the terms of the contract.

to pin on: to find guilty of a crime or offense

This idiom is divided by a noun phrase containing the crime or offense. The accused person is mentioned after the preposition on.

  • The prosecuting attorney tried to pin the murder on the victim's husband, but the jury returned a verdict of "not guilty."
  • I wasn't anywhere near the window when it got broken. You can't pin that on me.

to get a rise out of: to provoke a response from

This idiom is usually used when someone is teased into responding in anger or annoyance.

  • You can kid me all day about my mistake, but you won't get a rise out of me.
  • I got a rise out of Marvin when I teased him about his weight. Marvin weighs over two-hundred pounds.

to stick around: to stay or remain where one is, to wait

This idiom is used when someone is waiting for something to happen or for someone to arrive

  • Todd had to stick around the house all day until the new furniture was finally delivered in the late afternoon.
  • Why don't you stick around for a while and see if Sarah eventually shows up?

to pick up the tab: to pay the cost or bill

This idiom applies when someone pays for the cost of another person's meal, tickets, etc.

  • The advertising manger is flying to Puerto Rico for a conference, and her firm is picking up the tab.
  • The government picked up the tab for the visiting dignitary. It paid for all of the lodging and meals, as well as transportation, during his stay.

by the way: incidentally

This idiom is used when someone thinks of something further in the course of a conversation.

  • Movies are my favorite form of entertainment. Oh, by the way, have you seen the new picture that's playing at the Bijou?
  • Vera's been divorced for three years now. She told me, by the way, that she never plans to remarry.

to go to town: to do something with enthusiasm and thoroughness

  • Our interior decorator really went to town in remodeling our living room. I'm afraid to ask how much it's going to cost.
  • Charlie really went to town on his research project. He consulted over forty reference works and wrote a ninety-page report.

to let slide: to neglect a duty; to ignore a situation

  • Terry knew that she should have paid the electric bill on time instead of letting it slide. Now the utility company has turned off her service.
  • When he tried to get a rise out of me by mentioning my failure to receive a promotion at work, I just let it slide.

search me: I don't know

This idiom is used informally, usually as a command form.

  • When Elmer asked his wife if she knew why the new neighbors left their garage door open all night, she responded, "Search me."
  • When I asked Dereck why his girlfriend wasn't at the party yet, he said, "Beats me. I expected her an hour ago."

to get off one's chest: to express one's true feelings

This idiom is used when someone has long waited to express themselves.

  • Ellen felt a lot better when she finally talked to a counselor and got the problem off her chest.
  • Faye hasn't shared her concern about her marriage with her husband yet. I think that she should get it off her chest soon.

to live it up: to spend money freely, to live luxuriously

  • Kyle and Eric saved up money for two years so that they could travel to Europe and live it up.
  • After receiving a large inheritance from a rich aunt, I was able to live it up for years.

to liven up: to energize, to make more active

  • The teacher occasionally took the class on field trips just to liven things up a bit.
  • The animals in the zoo began to liven up when evening came and the temperatures dropped.
  • Many people have to drink coffee every morning just to pick themselves up.

to have a voice in: to share involvement in

  • The new vice-president was promised that she would have a voice in developing the company's international expansion.
  • The students are trying to have a voice in college affairs by gaining representation on administrative committees.

to check in: to register at a hotel or motel; to leave or deposit for transporting or safekeeping

The adjective form check-in derives from this idiom.

  • Courtney arrived in town at mid-day and promptly checked in at the Plaza Hotel. The hotel permitted an early check-in time.
  • There dozens of people at the airline counters waiting to check their bags in for their flights.

to check out: to pay the bill at a hotel or motel and then leave; to investigate, to examine

The adjective form check-out derives from this idiom.

  • The latest you should check out of the hotel is 12 noon. However, in your case, we can set a special check-out time of 2:00 P.M.
  • The police received a call from someone claiming to have witnessed a murder. The police sent two detectives to check the call out right away.

to take at one's word: to accept what one says as true, to believe

  • When he offered to be responsible for the fund raiser, I took him at his word. Now he's saying that he's not available to do it.
  • You should be careful about taking her at her word. She's been known to say one thing but to do another.

to serve (the/one's) purpose: to be useful, to suit one's needs or requirements

  • I don't have a screwdriver to open this, but I think that a knife will serve the purpose.
  • Jane prefers working to studying, so it served her purpose to drop out of school and take that job.

in the worst way: very much, greatly

  • Jim and Claudia want to have children in the worst way. They are trying very hard to conceive.
  • Because Umer ahs relatives in Turkey, he wants to visit there in the worst way.

to cop out: to avoid one's responsibility, to quit

This idiom is an informal version of the second definition to back out. The noun form copout means an excuse for avoiding responsibility.

  • Evelyn had agreed to help us with arrangements for the party, but she copped out at the last minute.
  • I can't believe that Cindy offered such an explanation for failing to show up. What a poor copout!

to line up: to form a line; to arrange to have, to manage to obtain

  • The moviegoers lined up in front of the theater showing the most popular film of the summer.
  • Rob is going to schedule the famous author to speak at the convention if he can line her up in time.

to lose one's cool: to get excited, angry, or flustered

  • Despite the boos from some in the audience, the actors on stage never lost their cool.
  • Although the group of skiers were in danger form an apparent avalanche, their ski guide never lost his cool.

to leave open: to delay making a decision on

  • In making up the job announcement, the firm decided to leave the salary open until a qualified candidate was found.
  • We know that the annual summer camp will be held in August, but let's leave the exact dates open for now.

to turn on: to interest greatly, to excite

The idiom with the opposite meaning is to turn off. These idioms are used to form the nouns turnon and turnoff.

  • Does great art turn you on? I find going to a museum and viewing classic works of art a real turnon.
  • Going to a bar and having silly conversation with strangers really turns me off. In fact, most bar scenes are really turnoffs to me.

to miss the boat: to lose an opportunity, to fail in some undertaking

  • The precious metals market was looking up several months ago, but unfortunately most investors missed the boat.
  • Mr. Vlasic's new business went bankrupt within a short time. He really missed the boat by opening a tanning salon near the beach.

to think up: to invent, to create

This idiom is often used for an unusual or foolish thought.

  • Who thought up the idea of painting the living room walls bright red?
  • When asked by the teacher why she was late, the student dreamed up a plausible excuse.

to throw (someone) a curve: to introduce an unexpected topic, causing embarrassment

  • The first week of class was going very well until a student threw the teacher a curve by suggesting that the textbook was too difficult.
  • The director asked us in advance to stick to the meeting agenda and not to throw him any curves.

to make waves: to create a disturbance, usually by complaining

This idiom is similar in meaning to the previous idiom, but the emphasis is on the aspect of complaining rather than causing embarrassment.

  • In most companies, an employee who makes waves is not appreciated.
  • The meeting was going smoothly until one of the participants made waves about the newly revised compensation package.

to carry on: to continue as before; to conduct, to engage in; to behave in an immature manner

  • Even in the face of disaster, the inhabitants carried on as though nothing had happened.
  • The business associates decided to carry on their discussion in the hotel bar instead of the conference room.
  • I can't believe that John carried on so much just because his dog died. He looked depressed and cried for weeks after it happened.

not on your life: absolutely not

This idiom is used as a kind of exclamation by itself.

  • You're asking me to invest in that poorly rated company just because you know the son of the president? Not on your life!
  • When a friend tried to get Mark to jump out of a plane with a parachute, he immediately responded, "No way!"

to cover ground: to be extensive, to discuss much material

Forms such as a lot of, too much, too little are used before the noun ground.

  • That national commission's report on urban ghettos covers a lot of ground. Many of the recommendations are too costly to implement.
  • In his first lecture on Greek philosophers, I thought that our professor covered too little ground.

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