Notable English Idioms: Part 02

Fit as a fiddle - In good physical health.

Cheap as chips - Inexpensive or good value

Ball is in your court - It is up to you to make the next decision or step.

Jump ship - Leave a job, organization, or activity suddenly.

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Notable English Idioms: Part 01

Hit The Nail On The Head  -
1. To describe exactly what is causing a situation or problem;
2. To do exactly the right thing;
3.To do something in the most effective and efficient way;
4. To say exactly the right thing or to find the exact answer;
5.To be accurate or correct about something.

Wild goose chase - A frustrating or lengthy undertaking that accomplishes little.

Ace in the hole -  A hidden or secret strength, or unrevealed advantage.

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Book of Idioms, Episode 33

The term PEANUT GALLERY is evolving. Its usual meaning is the cheap seats in a theater. The Hindu (India): <<The woman — the modern woman — who's walked out on her husband, refers to herself as a vaazhavatti, a term I haven't heard in Tamil cinema for about a decade now. And we're told that her husband hasn't touched her in the six months they were together, thus leaving her “pure” enough to be reclaimed by her former lover. What's left of this tale is undone by simplistic storytelling, an earnest, overemphatic style, and some ugly moralising. The peanut gallery in the theatre went berserk pointing and laughing. >>

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Book of Idioms, Episode 32

UNDER WRAPS: kept hidden. Often used for something that will later be unveiled, but not always—you can say that the design for the new iPhone is still under wraps.

PUT YOUR MONEY WHERE YOUR MOUTH IS: support something financially rather than just talking about it.

Example- CNN: <<Viktor Yanukovych conceded to the major demands made by protesters, he announced Friday on his website. He had been holding out against their raging street demonstrations for months.
Yanukovych said he has initiated new presidential elections and a return to the old constitution that would cut presidential power, and also form a national unity Cabinet.
And he may have put his money where his mouth is. Ukraine canceled the sale of $2 billion in government bonds, the Irish Stock Exchange said.
Russia has been buying the bonds as part of an economic deal between the two countries that helped to set off the fervor of his opposition.>>

To READ THE RIOT ACT to someone is to reprimand someone strongly. To BLOW YOUR STACK is to explode in anger.
Example- Express.co.uk: <<Mike Williamson admits Alan Pardew was right to read the riot act to miserable Magpies

MIKE WILLIAMSON accepts [coach] Alan Pardew was absolutely right to blow his stack over Wednesday’s home rout by Spurs – and says Newcastle fans were equally justified in their mass walk-out.>>


If you are PUTTING LIPSTICK ON A PIG, you're making cosmetic changes that do not change the true nature of something. The original form was "If you put lipstick on a pig, it's still a pig."

A MASH NOTE is a love letter. Buffalo News: <<Just in time for Valentine's Day, Saveur Magazine's March issue has published a two-page mash note to the peculiar confectionary skills of Buffalo's candymakers.

"In Buffalo, chocolatiers concoct their own marshmallow sauce, understand the nuances of caramel, and temper cocoa butter to a luxurious smoothness," say veteran food writers Jane and Michael Stern. >>


IN THE HOT SEAT: in a difficult position of responsibility. Detroit Free Press: <<Welcome to the hot seat, Mary Barra.
In General Motors’ first quarterly earnings report since Barra took over as CEO three weeks ago, GM took a stumble Thursday morning, falling way short of profit expectations.
Barra, not surprisingly, took a glass-half-full approach in her first turn as GM head honcho during an earnings conference call with industry analysts and journalists.>>

"Glass-half-full approach" is also idiomatic. We often say that you should look at a glass as half full (rather than half empty)—that it's better to be optimistic than pessimistic. That idea is often used in constructions like the one above.

➤ 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

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