Book of Idioms, Episode 12

An expression holds, "Lightning does not strike twice." (In reality this is not true at all - lightning strikes tall buildings regularly.) This gives some context to English language headlines "Lightning Bolt Strikes Twice" in regards to Usain Bolt winning the 100m and 200m sprinting gold medals at the Olympics two games in a row, which is unprecedented.

To "face off" with someone is to confront that person in some way.
Example: "Murray Faces Off With Federer for Tennis Gold" This means that the two athletes faced each other in a singles tennis match.

To "hand in" something is to deliver that something to some kind of authority. (You "hand over" to a specific person.)
Ex.: "Stradivarius violin handed in at Swiss lost property office". Someone found the violin, worth millions of dollars, and handed it in so that it could be returned to its proper owner.

When a group has been "rounded up," it is an expression for being arrested (or somehow detained by police short of arrest).
Ex.: "130 cycling protesters rounded up" is an earlier version of a headline describing the arrest of over 180 bicycle-riding protesters trying to breach a security cordon during the current Olympic games.

The term "wardrobe malfunction" entered popular vocabulary after it was used to defend singer Janet Jackson when her costume exposed a breast and nipple during a Super Bowl halftime performance several years ago, causing supposedly accidental indecent exposure. The term is now used for any "accidental" exposure of more skin than intended due to clothing problems.

As an expression, "in depth" will pretty much always mean "in detail".
Example: "Finance ministers discussed the EU's sovereign debt crisis in depth at their latest meeting in Geneva." This is another example of a split idiom. "Discuss in depth" ( = in detail) is the full idiom here.

Since someone asked, to "kick ass" (as an expression) is to strongly succeed against another.
Example: "Italy kicked Germany's ass at football in the Euro 2012 competition." This is definitely not polite English, but you should certainly know what it means!

To "go with the flow" is to respond to changing conditions rather than trying to force a predetermined outcome. "Sometimes you need to go with the flow and make decisions on the fly instead of planning everything in advance." Flow implies a natural and expected degree of change. -

A bird does not plan out an entire flight in advance. When a bird is already in the air, it makes an "on the fly" decision to turn right or left.
Ex.: "While visiting her best friend, Annie decided to go see a movie on the fly. She brought her best friend with her." This was also a spur of the moment decision.

A "no-show" is something or someone that has failed to make an appearance.
Example: The patient was left waiting by the doctor, who was a no-show despite a wait of several hours.
➤ Read more idioms and phrases, English grammar and vocabulary at Basic English Grammar And Vocabulary . You might also like ⏬

➤ Book of Idioms

➤ Idioms about Animals

➤ Idioms of Expression

➤ Idioms on Food

➤ Idiomatic Expressions

➤ Origin of Idioms

➤ Proverbs

➤ Idioms on Situation

➤ Idioms on Temperature