Wolfing Food Down, Pigging Out, Opening A Can Of Worms

Wolfing Food Down
To "wolf down" food is to eat food quickly, without fully chewing it.

Often, something that is wolfed down is not really chewed at all; it is simply swallowed.

Example: "Peter wolfed down his sandwich before leaving for work. I think he was in a hurry." In this case, Peter would have had to chew his sandwich somewhat (or choke to death!), but he did not take the time to eat the sandwich slowly. Rather, he ate as quickly as physically possible, swallowing his food in as large chunks as possible, to save time before hurrying to go to work.
Pigging Out
To "pig out" is to eat a great deal of food, thus resembling a hungry pig.

Pigs do not have table manners, so the phrase implies eating without any regard for manners whatsoever. Either way, the phrase implies eating a large amount of food.

Example: "Martha's kids were pigging out at McDonald's the other day. They were eating so many French fries, I thought they would burst." This means, the children were eating a great deal of French fries. French fries from a fast food restaurant are usually eaten with fingers, not forks, so "pigging out" can be an appropriate idiom for eating that way.


Opening A Can Of Worms
Figuratively, to open a can of worms is to create or initiate a situation that will cause trouble or will simply be unpleasant.

Worms are considered unpleasant and rather dirty in English culture. To open a can of worms - such as worms prepared as bait for fish - makes cleaning things up again much more difficult. Just as letting the cat out of the bag means letting a secret out that cannot be hidden again, opening a can of worms means starting trouble that is much more difficult to finish, than it was to start.

Example: "When Jim said bad things about Megan's web page, little did he know that he was opening a can of worms. The fans of Megan's page were convinced that the criticism was unfair and mean-spirited. Jim ended up receiving an avalanche of criticism himself." In this example, the initiator of trouble gets far more trouble than he bargained for (than he believed he was going to receive).

➤ Read more idioms and phrases, English grammar and vocabulary at Basic English Grammar And Vocabulary .