Ex.: "Kate's smartphone broke down when she was driving to Dallas. She was flying blind without her Google Maps app. Of course, you can try using a map on paper, but that's a lot harder when you're driving by yourself!"
"By the seat of your pants" means barely managing.
Ex.: "The sales campaign seemed to have a disaster every day. Sheila was managing by the seat of her pants. She was lucky to be successful."
To "rattle someone's cage" is to take actions to bother, annoy, and/ or intimidate someone.
Ex.: "Don't let the criticism bother you. People are just trying to rattle your cage and see if you can take it. Stay tough."
The expression "Where's the beef?" is asking where the figurative "meat" is for a particular issue. "The company president made a big announcement about expanding the sales force. Where's the beef...? We had this big announcement and nothing happened!"
To have "egg on your face" is embarrassing, and has become an idiom for being embarrassed.
Ex.: "Mexico will have egg on its face if it cannot solve its egg shortage quickly."
To "scramble" to do something means to move very quickly on hands and knees, or simply to move quickly. "Scrambled eggs" is therefore eggs hastily cooked. This brings us to the following pun: "Mexico scrambles to cope with egg shortage'. As in, moves quickly. Amusing.
"Don't bet on it" means you should not gamble - figuratively - that the subject will be true, or will remain true.
Ex.: "Do you really think that builder has scammed his last homeowner just because he fell through the cheap floor he built himself? Don't bet on it!"
To be "hoist with your own petard" is to be harmed by your own attempt at mischief.
Ex.: "The builder tried to scam the homeowner out of money by doing very cheap repairs on the floor. Before the job was done, the builder fell through that very floor as it collapsed. Truly, hoist by his own petard."
In American English, people can use "awfully" to add strong emphasis, even when the result is not, well, awful.
Ex.: "My father is doing awfully well compared to how he was two weeks ago."
➤ Book of Idioms
➤ Idioms about Animals
➤ Idioms of Expression
➤ Idioms on Food
➤ Idiomatic Expressions
➤ Origin of Idioms
➤ Proverbs
➤ Idioms on Situation
➤ Idioms on Temperature
