OVER 100 IDIOMS. C1
Do these quizzes on Idioms/slang to check your knowledge of The English We Speak podcasts
Animal idiomsIdioms about animalsIdioms about Animals A leopard can't change its spotsA person's ideas will not change A person's character will not change A person's look will not change The bee's kneesVery good really bad not good enough White elephantA big trouble Have a white face A possession that it is useless or expensive to mantain To let the cat out of the bagReveal a secret Tell a lie Be very angry SheepishMaking a lot of noise Embarrassed, as a conciousness of a fault Really red with envy Rabbit in the headlightsSo nervous that you cannot move or speak To feel very frightened Moving around very quickly To keep the wolf from the doorTo try to scare someone To keep oneself at a minimum level To keep the house cool Easy tigerCalm down Easy peasy! Very Agressive DragonVery angry person Very brave person Unfriendlly and frightening woman Happy bunnyA happy person A tender person Sarcastic person Hold your horses!Don't be angry Be sincere, tell the truth! Wait a moment, be patient In the dog houseHidden When you are on bad terms with your partner Safely kept Not enough room to swing a catSmall place Spacious place Said when the ceiling is too low Smell a ratSomething is wrong / weird Somthing is very smelly / stinky Something is very dirty Until the cows come homeSaid when it is raining Said meaning staying till late Said when something does not fit DinosaursPeople living in the past or considered old Very angry people Strong people FrogmarchJumping like frogs Walk forward and pinning their arms from behind Walk backwards extending their arms Hair of the dog (that bit me)Have another drink to overcome hangover To caress an angry dog Said of a disheveled person Water off a duck's backWithout any apparent effect Said of wet people, especially when it is raining To drink a lot Snail mailOrdinary mail A game in which someone writes a secret note to a member of their team Like turkeys voting for ChristmasAccept a situation which is very bad for them Said when you have to vote many times in a short time When you are obliged to vote for somebody Straight from the horse's mouthFrom the person who has direct personal knowledge I heard it from a talking horse Vomiting violently A can of wormsTo open a can of sweet food A situation that causes a lot of trouble to you when you start to deal with it A frightening situation Food and drinksIdioms about food and drinksIdioms related to food and drinks To put all your eggs in one basketTo spoil a good situation To make everything dependant only in one thing Be very, very careful at any situation A beefComplaint, disagreement Very good Really bad situation NoshA posh eater or eating in a posh way Push Food or eating greedily Take it with a pinch of saltTake it cautiously Take it easy Take it away To know your onionsBe losing your marbles Very knowledgeable Be crying all the time Cut the mustardBe really brave or a daredevil Be very cautious To be good or effective enough To cook the booksTo be very hot Alter figures dishonestly To be a bad cook Six packTo pack only six things Anything in a set of seven items A pack of six cans of beer or well developed adominal muscles To go bananasTo be a good banana eater Become crazy or out of control. An explosion of happiness A game in which you change the most important word for the word bananas IcebreakerTo finish a conversation abruptly Break a lot of ice with a knife Something to focus on to start a conversation To drink someone under the tableWhen you are completely drunk and hide under a table to go on drinking To continue drinking after one's companion has completely passed out inebriated Be voluntarily a teetotaler Out of juiceOut and about Out of control When a device has run out of battery or has no power Work for peanutsWork for no money Monkey business Work at two different places at the same time CheesyAn impolite person. Also a person who loves eating cheese Short for "cheesy peasy", meaning very easy or funny Cheap and low quality. Also superficial or unconvincing StuffedTo have consumed food in such a quantity that your stomach is very full Chuffed or very proud of oneself When you are so surprised that you are not able to say a word. Gobsmacked Have your cake and eat itAbility to eat a cake very quickly Sweet-toothed people Impossibility to have something two ways if they conflict Wake up and smell the coffeeSaid to wake someone up when he/she was partying the previous night and has a hangover Be wrong about a situation and must realise what is really happening To make breakfast for someone who is in bed, probably ill Brownie pointsHypothetical social currency when you are trying to earn favour in the eyes of another person Dirty deeds You get brownie points if you are a toddler and do number two in your potty Use your loafUse your brain Have a lot lof money and use it to buy your favourite things When you try to hit somebody with your loaf of bread Treading on eggshellsTry not to make any noise Make a lot of noise Trying very hard not to upset or offend somebody Chew the fatHaving difficulty when chewing Talk about unimportant things Run to get the bus Pie in the skySomething good that is unlikely to happen A foot in the grave Shout at clay pigeon shooting when someone asks for the first dish Everything but the kitchen sinkTo cook a lot of food in a very little time Much more than you need Avoid using the kitchen sink at all costs Have a lot in one's plateTo be on a diet To be greedy Too many things to deal with The proof is in the puddingTake my word and go through the evidence yourself No way Jose Be very fond of eating pudding Butter upClean something very carefully Compliment somebody to get something in exchange Really dirty Eat humble pieBe very proud Be very fond of pie Act in a humble way when someone is shown to be wrong Idioms with prepositionsIdioms with prepositionsIdioms containing prepositions Be afterWant (shopping/buying etc. Be relegated Not to carry out an action Cut to the chaseCut very quickly Run very quickly Get to the point without wasting time Out of the pictureDecide not to take a picture Be no longer involved in a situation Beyond the limits of thought Over the moonExtremely happy. Delighted Shouting really loudly Overcome a difficult situation Go to townDo something extravagantly or enthusiasthically or make it special Go away from a difficult situation Insult somebody The writing is on the wallYour destiny was written a long time ago Make something dirty Something unpleasant or unwelcome is going to happen To take something on boardReorganise your thoughts, especially when you are forced to do it To understand and accept ideas and opinions that may change the way you behave in the future Try to change somebody's opinion MakeoverChanging one's appearance Make up Turn something over On the upImproving all the time Dance with a finger pointing to the sky Cockney rhyming slang: shut up To bend over backwardsFall in love Work very hard to accomplish something for someone Be very lazy Down with the kidsKids are always complicated. Down with them! Play with your friends outside State of being on the same length as members of younger generations Throw the book at somebodymake possible charges against somebody or reprimand or punish severely To forget about a bad idea somebody suggested you To try to attract somebody's attention by throwing something heavy like a book Things are looking upBe proud of one's achievement Conditions are looking better To win the lottery Irons in the fireA number of jobs available at the same time A situation that is a hot potato Try to extinguish a fire with a stick made of iron In a sec/a jiffy/two ticks/two shakes of a lamb tailSaid when somebody knows a bad situation has finished In a short time To urge somebody to start moving Fit for purposeTo get slimmer in order to fit in a small space Good enougto do the job it was designed to Saiwhen a piece of clothing is too big In the nick of timeIn the near future In due course Just in time To go with a bangExciting and succesful Boring and a complete failure Very noisy Go round in circlesNot to get anywhere. No progress. Jump quickly Escaping a bad situation Off the back of a lorryVery ugly Taken, stolen or got in suspicious circumstances Found in the streets or got for free Splash outTo delve unnecessarily into the study of a political issue Spit at somebody Spend a lot of money on buying especially unnecessary things Don't throw the baby out of the waterSaid when somebody tries to make feel involved in a bad situation Do not discard something valuable when you get to rid of useless things Give the cold shoulder Out for the countSaid of mindblowing activities that you consider countless in number Very energetic. Being willing to do something else Defeated by being knocto the ground. Exhausted and you finally fall asleep |
Weather idiomsWeather idiomsIdioms related to Weather Face like a thundercannot stop laughing red with envy angry indeed It never rains but it poursA drought Bad situations happen in large numbers all at once Nothing happens when one is at home Chasing rainbowsTrying to achieve something impossible or not practical Running without a clear direction Hiding behind colourful things A storm in a tecupGoing to the toilet to wee very often in a very short space of time Act in a very silly way for a long time Unnecessary anger and worry a matter that is not important Every cloud has a silver liningSaid when it seems like it is going to rain for a very long time it is always possible to get something positive out of a bad situation You get nothing positive out of a bad situation Go down a stormenjoyable or successful Not complicated Get out of a difficult situation take a rain checkTo avoid to get wet when it is raining cats and dogs Check if it's raining You refuse someone's invitation but you would like to do it another time Blue-sky thinkingHaving original ideas even if they are not practical To think it over persistently the type of thinking one has on a plane Body parts idiomsBody parts idiomsIdioms on body parts The bee's kneesvery good very silly very typical What's his/her face?Said when you are confused about something Said when you do not remember somebody's name Said when you think someone's very cheeky Have or keep your finger on the pulseBe or stay familiar with the most recent changes to put your foot in it Not to be fashionable at all Take the weight off your feetTry to avoid a responsability To sit down and rest To insist on doing things the very same way catch your eyeAsk somebody to pay attention to what you are saying When someone takes one of your eyeballs out Attract your attention Why the long face?Why are you stupid or silly? Why are you bored or hungry? Why are you angry or sad? A finger in every pieBe involved in many different activities When you make your fingers dirty touching food Dance in which you move your finger up in the air Cost an arm and a legBe cheap Be very expensive Have a reasonable price keep your chin upTo encourage someone who has to bear emotional burdens Be arrogant To try to convince somebody not to be so serious Head over heelsvery pretty madly in love be a coward Get your hands dirtyDo manual or other hard work When you strive to do something and you are not very skilful When you get angry because you touched something filthy All bright-eyed and bushy-tailedUnder the influence of drugs Too nervous Alert and lively Go bottomlessWearing trousers You can drink or eat as much as you like Topless Skeleton in the closet/cupboardFind something suspicious at somebody's house Get out of the closet Keeping embarrassing secrets On the tip of my tongueRemember something very well You think you know it and you'll remember it very soon Something that you will never remember Cold feetNot to have the courage to say or do something Be motionless Think about doing something and finally failing at doing it Look like / hava a face like the back end of a busVery pretty Very ugly Very nice Give the cold shoulderBehave in a friendly way towards a person Behave in an unfriendly way towards a person, sometimes for reasons that person cannot understand Said when a person has sexy shoulders Stab in the backWhen you help somebody in their career Rhyming slang meaning: fat To betray somebody It's doing my head inGiving me a headache. Very annoying My hat does not fit Happy situation that fills my head with pleasure Cristina Cabal also made this lovely quiz on idioms that she kindly shares with us:
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