GET YOUR HANDS DIRTY: get involved in the difficult, unpleasant, or mundane parts of a job or task. The idiom must be used in this form; if you say that someone has dirty hands, it suggests instead that the person has committed wrongdoing. TechCrunch: <<It was fascinating to spend time with Corddry at Facebook headquarters to get an in-person look at how he works on a day-to-day basis. In keeping with his history, he puts a lot of importance...
Book of Idioms, Episode 30
TALKING POINT: in public discourse, such as political debate, a persuasive statement designed to be repeated in support of one's position. Sometimes this is also used to mean simply a topic of discussion. PolitiFact: <<As the fall election nears and most everyone agrees his promise of 250,000 new jobs in four years won’t be met, Gov. Scott Walker is rolling out a bullish new measure of business growth -- and suggesting it shows Wisconsin could...
Book of Idioms, Episode 29
A THING has several meanings. If you have a thing for someone or something, that's an attraction, especially a romantic attraction. Belfast Telegraph: <<"Katy [Perry] has always had a thing for Prince Harry," an insider divulged to British newspaper Daily Star. “So she decided to be cheeky and invite him to spend American Independence Day with her and friends in July."
But what about this Time magazine headline, where "a thing" is used by...
Book of Idioms, Episode 28
ONE'S TWO CENTS: an opinion that one realizes is of only small value, for instance in a situation where many others are offering an opinion. This is American, but I believe the UK uses "one's two pennies' worth." Often you hear "just my two cents," and on the Internet you'll see "just my $.02." Jakarta Globe: <<Jakarta. President-elect Joko Widodo has again come up with an innovative idea; one that is unheard of in the history of Indonesian...
Book of Idioms, Episode 27
PULL THE PLUG ON: discontinue, withdraw support from. Ann Arbor News (Michigan, USA): <<Eaton said it's his understanding that the council-approved site plan for the Packard Square project expires in January 2015. He said it could be extended for another two years, but he's wondering if it's time to pull the plug on the project.
"This is something that has been dragging on for more than a decade," Eaton said of the Georgetown Mall saga. "This...
Book of Idioms, Episode 26
COMFORT ZONE: a situation in which one feels secure. It's often said that to learn or grow, you have to get out of your comfort zone.
Ex: We are not afraid to step out of our comfort zone and take risks.
UP FOR GRABS: available, not yet claimed. Most examples of this seem to be North American. Chicago Sun-Times: <<JThe millennial vote is up for grabs in the November midterm elections, according to a new Harvard Institute of Politics poll,...
Book of Idioms, Episode 25
BURY THE HATCHET: end a feud or dispute. American in origin but now more widely used. Jakarta Post: <<A plenary session of the House of Representatives unanimously agreed on Friday to pass an amendment to the Legislative Institutions (MD3) Law, ending a two-month legislative standoff between the coalitions of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and defeated presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto. ...
Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna Laoly...
Book of Idioms, Episode 24
TO TREAT SOMEONE WITH KID GLOVES is to handle that person cautiously or gently. Often the idiom is used in the sense of not offending a powerful person. Jakarta Post: <<Despite glaring violations, the National Police are delaying their investigation of a crash involving Dahlan Iskan until the state-owned enterprises minister says he is ready to talk to officers. Similar kid gloves have also been extended to the son of Coordinating Economic...
Book of Idioms, Episode 23
CURRY FAVOR: appease, try to appeal to. Oregonian newspaper: <<Animal bills are a good way for legislators to curry favor with constituents. Oregon ranks fourth in the nation for pet ownership, according to a report released last month. And those who don't have pets generally want animals to be treated well. >>
THROW DOWN THE GAUNTLET: issue a challenge, do something to challenge another person or organization. From medieval combat,...
Book of Idioms, Episode 22
CRY WOLF: to give a false alarm intentionally, to spread fear for one's own benefit. New York Times: <<Some seem to think that public health officials pull a microbe “crisis du jour” out of their proverbial test tube when financing for infectious disease research and control programs appears to be drying up. They dismiss warnings about the latest bugs as “crying wolf.” This misimpression could be deadly. >> "Du jour" is a French expression...
Book of Idioms, Episode 21
AYS ARE NUMBERED: If your days are numbered, that means you are going to die soon. The idiom is also used for physical things or abstract entities: The central bank has been trying to stimulate the economy for several years, but the days of that policy are numbered. Bangkok Post: <<Unless we're suffering a terminal disease or are badly injured in an accident that signals our days are numbered, we can't possibly know when we're going to die.>>
THE...
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100 Articles on Idioms and Phrases
We Have A Situation, Picking Up Some Chinese (Food)
Origin: Phrases Derived from Various Sources, Part 1
Getting Warmer, The Suffix, -ish, Coming To A Head, Hitting the Books
What's Your Beef, Not Quite So Simple
A Lame Duck, lame duck session
Pain At The Pump, Slogging One's Way, Being Outdoors
A Number Of Something, A Product Line, To Kill A Product Line
A Big Freeze,To Be In, Or Not In, Arm-Twisting
Last-Minute, Propelled By, Squeaking By
Blowing A Gasket, Lost In Translation
Nothing To Lose, It Can't Hurt, A Babe In The Woods
Neck Of The Woods, Turning The Other Cheek, A Loudmouth
An Odyssey, Getting One's Feet Wet
Significant Other, Having Something To Say
Through and Through, A Crying Shame
Tell Us How You Really Feel, Barking Up The Wrong Tree
Begging On Hands And Knees, The Front Burner & The Back Burner
Wilderness and Errand Themed Idioms, In The Wilderness
Surging and Ebbing, Playing Your Cards Right
Positive and Negative Advertisements, Enthusiasm Gap
Through The Barrel Of A Gun, Man Up,
A Case For Action, Darkening, Brightening, Salvaging Victory
Political Battlegrounds, Pumping Money, A Wave Of Ads, Ramping Up Spending
English Proverbs With Their Meanings
Smooth Sailing, Rough Sailing, Sailing To Victory, Going Solar, Zombie Banks
Taking The Temperature (of a group), Buck Up
Show Some Backbone, Have / Grow A Spine, Breathing Down Someone's Neck, Front Runner Status
Staring Down The Barrel Of...., In Line (To Succeed), Up For Grabs, Band-Aid Solution
A Blip, A Wave, A Tsunami/ A Tidal Wave, A Method To One's Madness, Crowning Achievement
Easier Said Than Done, In Store, Jumping The Shark, Heading Downhill
In All Seriousness, Digging It, Giving A Damn, A.M. and P.M., Keep Up The Good Work
To Keep Something Coming, Make My Day, Forcing Something, Turning The Page
Mission Accomplished, I Can't Thank You Enough, Words Fail Me, At A Loss For Words
"I Can't Hear You!", To Snatch Away, At The Top Of Your Lungs, Hanging Your Head (In Shame)
https://idiomscollect.blogspot.com/2017/04/i-cant-hear-you-to-snatch-away-at-top.html
Leaving It All On The Field, Cool, Hot, To Trust Blindly, I'm Free
The Day of Reckoning, Aiming For Something, Hopping Mad, You've Gotta Be Kidding Me
Throwing The Baby Out With The Bathwater, Off The Reservation, At First Blush
Smelling A Rat, A Packrat, A Frog In Your Throat
When Pigs Fly, Horsing Around, An Eager Beaver, Dropping Like Flies
Wolfing Food Down, Pigging Out, Opening A Can Of Worms
A White Elephant, The Tip of the Iceberg
Letting The Cat Out Of The Bag, A Fat Cat
Making Waves, Go With The Flow, Down to Earth
A Stick-In-The-Mud, A Sight For Sore Eyes, Raining On Someone's Parade
Under the Weather, Having Your Head In The Clouds
Stealing Someone's Thunder, Hitting the Sack, Hitting the Hay, Digging Deep, Cheesy
A Bad Apple, A Bad Egg, One's Bread and Butter, A Piece of Cake
In A Nutshell, Egg on your Face, A Hot Potato, Hitting the Sauce, Gravy Train etc.
Riding Someone's Coattails, Caught On Tape, Armed to the Teeth, Seeing Eye To Eye
Flipped On Its Head, In The Heart Of, I Feel Like A Million Bucks, On The Line
Notable English Idioms: Part 01
Notable English Idioms: Part 02
Idioms beginning with E, F, G, H
Idioms beginning with I, J, K, L
Idioms beginning with P, Q, R, S
Idioms beginning with T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z
