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 Minister Hatta Rajasa, who, in contrast to usual police practice, was not arrested after he was involved in a fatal traffic accident and was allowed to seek treatment at a private hospital, instead of a police hospital.>>


LAND ON YOUR FEET: to recover after a setback. This may be literal—we say that when cats fall, they always land on their feet. But the expression can be used for any setback, not just for a physical fall. Detroit Free Press headline: <<Pushed [stressed] by [the] great recession, Michigan entrepreneurs are landing on their feet>>


LET IT ALL HANG OUT: talk in an uninhibited manner. "Sure, all of us enjoy poking fun at our loquacious, irrepressible, unpredictable vice president. Unlike most high-level pols [politicians], and certainly unlike anyone else in this administration, Joe [Biden] likes to let it all hang out."—Michelle Cottle, Daily Beast news site


HORSE TRADING: vote swapping among groups in a legislative body, political negotiations. Agence France Presse: << Pakistani party leader Makhdoom Shahabuddin] was the consensus choice following more than 24 hours of crisis talks and intense horse trading between Zardari and members of his fractious ruling coalition.>>


IN FULL SWING: fully underway, happening now. Jakarta Globe: <<Political negotiations are in full swing ahead next year’s presidential election, with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s Democratic Party and the Golkar Party both hoping to form a coalition with Megawati Sukarnoputri’s Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle. >>


To MOVE THE GOALPOSTS is to change the rules or the goal in the middle of a negotiation. This probably comes from American football, but I think it's used in Britain now too. CBS News: <<In the latest twist of the "fiscal cliff" saga, President Obama today seemingly spiked the football before crossing the goal line, applauding a deal that hasn't been finalized and raising the ire of some Republicans who accused him of moving the goalposts.>> (To "spike the football," by the way, is to bounce the football hard as a way of rejoicing over a touchdown or a victory.)


WET BEHIND THE EARS: inexperienced. Sunday Herald (Scotland): <<Teale is still wet behind the ears as a coach but has a wealth of playing experience he can call upon. After making a name for himself at Clydebank and then Ayr United, he would go on to spend the next decade down in England at Wigan Athletic, Derby County and Sheffield Wednesday, as well as loan spells with Plymouth Argyle and Barnsley.>>


THE UPPER HAND: an advantage, a dominant position. Reuters: <<Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf said on Wednesday that her government has the upper hand in the fight against Ebola, but warned against complacency or any reduction in international support.>>


To GIVE SOMEONE A HAND has two meanings:
1) to assist someone (for this you can also say "lend a hand"), and
2) applaud.
Example: Our English teacher, Mr Devid give the weak students a hand.

➤ 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