50 IDIOMATIC EXPRESSSIONS YOU MUST KNOW

The correct use of idiomatic expressions will earn you merit points when you write your essays.

1 ace - Get an "A" on a test, homework assignment, project, etc.

I heard that Susie aced the test yesterday

2 As easy as a pie - very easy

The test was as easy as a pie.

3 at the eleventh hour - at the last minute; almost too late.

He finished the project at the eleventh hour and he nearly lost his job.

4 all ears - eager to hear what someone has to say.

Tell me about your latest trip overseas. Im all ears.

5 be broke - be without money.

I need to borrow some money. I am broke.

6 be on the go - be very busy (going from one thing or project to another).

I am very tired. I've been on the go since 5 in the morning.

7 beat - exhausted; very tired

I need a break after this. I'm beat!"

8 beat around the bush - evade an issue; avoid giving a direct answer.
Stop beating around the bush! Just tell me what happened to my car.

9 bite off more than one can chew - take responsibility for more than one can manage.
Mrs Lee finds it difficult to finish all her work. She has bitten off more than she could chew!"

10 blow one's top - become extremely angry.

My father blew his top when he found out I had taken his car without his permission.

11 burn the midnight oil - study/work all night or until very late at night.
Johan is not ready for the test. He will have to burn the midnight oil."

12 call it a day - stop work for the day.

The labourers call it a day after working for five hours on the field.

13 can't make heads or tails of something - can't understand something at all; find something
confusing and illogical.
I cannot make heads or tails of your notes. Were you sleepy during the class?

14 catch one's eye - attract one's attention/interest.

This colourful advertisement caught my eye when I was in the bus.
15 change one's mind - decide to do something different from what had been decided earlier.
David did not go to Australia. He changed his mind when he heard that his mother is ill.

16 cost (someone) an arm and a leg cost a lot; - be very expensive.

This car costs him an arm and a leg. He has to get another job to help pay for it.

17 couch potato - someone who spends too much time watching TV.
You are becoming a couch potato. You need to get out and do some exercise.

18 Don't count your chickens until (before) they hatch (they've hatched) - Don't assume that
something will happen until it has happened.
I think you should not count your chickens until theyve hatched. Wait till the boys win the competition this
Sunday.

19 drop someone a line - write to someone

Do drop me a line when you have time.

20 drag one's feet delay; - take longer than necessary to do something.

Why are you dragging your feet? You should have finished your homework by now.

21 an eager beaver - a person who is always willing to volunteer or do extra work.

Rahim is an eager beaver. He is the first to volunteer for any job to be done.

22 feel blue - feel sad and depressed.

Rita is feeling blue because she has not heard from her boyfriend for a long time.

23 fire someone - dismiss someone from a job because of poor performance. Lokman might be fired if
he continues to be late for work.

24 get it - understand something (often negative).

I dont get it. Could you please explain it to me again?

25 get on one's nerves - irritate someone; make someone upset.

His constant chatter is getting on my nerves. Please tell him to keep quiet.

26 get out of hand: - become out of control; become badly managed.

The situation is getting out of hand. The relief centre can only hold forty people but we have one hundred
people to care for.

27 give someone a hand i. help someone. ii. applaud someone

Please give a hand to the poor old lady. She is trying to cross the road.
The gardener has done a wonderful landscaping job. Lets give him a hand.

28 Hard-headed - have one's hands full stubborn; inflexible; unwilling to change.

Its pretty difficult to get Simon to change his mind. He is hard-headed.
29 have one's hands full - extremely busy
Peggy usually has her hands full in the beginning of a new school term.

30 in the black: - profitable; not showing a financial loss.

The company is back in the black after suffering from great losses the last two months.

31 in the red: - unprofitable; showing a financial loss.

The company is in the red. We have to stop some of the workers if the situation continues.

32 keep an eye on - check something regularly.

Please keep an eye on the children while I go to the bank.

33 keep one's fingers crossed - hope for the best.

He is keeping his fingers crossed while waiting for the results of his interview.

34 lend someone a hand - help someone.

Can you please lend a hand at the relief centre for the flood victims?

35 live from hand to mouth - survive on very little money; have only enough money to pay for basic
needs.
Ros and the children live from hand to mouth after the fire destroyed their house.

36 make a mountain out of a molehill - make something seem much more important than it really is.
Susila is making a mountain out of a molehill. I am sure the boys are perfectly capable of looking after
themselves.

37 make up one's mind - decide what to do

Moses has to make up his mind whether to continue his studies or take up a job.

38 on the dot - exactly at a given time.

If you do not come on the dot, we will leave without you.

39 (on the) cutting edge - using the most recent technology

This car boasts of having a cutting edge technology. It has a computer and tracking system.

40 pull someone's leg - tease someone by trying to make her/him believe something that's untrue.
She pulled my leg when he said that he had quit his job to get married.

41 Rain or shine - no matter what the weather

"We're leaving for Cameron Highlands, rain or shine."

42 rain cats and dogs - Rain heavily

Its raining cats and dogs now. You better leave later.

43 read someone's mind: - know what someone is thinking.

I can read your mind. I know you are very hungry and I have ordered pizza.
44 rub someone the wrong way - irritate someone
I cannot stand Robert. He seems to rub me the wrong way every time we discuss something.

45 sleep on it - take some time to think about something before making a decision.
You should sleep on it first and we will discuss again tomorrow.

46 To make his own bed; now let him lie in it.

Someone has caused his/her own problems; he/she will have to solve them himself/herself.
He insisted that he should take up the project alone. So, he has made his own bed, let him lie in it.

47 under the weather - ill; unwell.

Susan was feeling under the weather yesterday, so she decided not to go to work."

48 until you're blue in the face - forever

You can advise him until you're blue in the face, but he wont change his ways.

49 wet behind the ears - inexperienced and naive.

I do not think Suresh is suitable for this project. He is still wet behind the ears, having only joined us last
month.

50 wishy-washy: - without an opinion of one's own.

You better check with the other members. John can be wishy-washy at times.
BOMBASTIC WORDS FOR SPM ESSAY

Accolade praise

Allusion indirect reference

Ambivalence uncertainty; having 'mixed' feelings

Ambivalent unable to decide

Analogy comparison

Anecdote short account of something interesting; story

Anomalous odd; not fitting the pattern

Apparition ghost; something that 'appears'

Aspersion negative feeling; damaging remark

Belligerence aggression

Bombastic too elaborate; exaggerated

Candid truthful

Capricious changeable; fickle

Cherished cared for; firmly-held

Cliche over-used expression

Conception 1. idea; view. 2. beginning of pregnancy

Convoluted complicated or long-winded

Credence belief

Cryptic hidden

Currency 1. widespread acceptance, 2. money

Decorous good and correct (used of behavior)

Denunciation act of speaking out against

Derailed thrown off course

Derivative unoriginal

Despotic acting like a tyrant

Detritus rubbish
Diaphanous very thin and transparent

Dictum often-used saying

Dilettante person who dabbles in the arts

Disdained showed contempt for

Dispassionate unbiased; fair

Dowager an elderly woman of elevate social status

Dubious doubtful

Egalitarian equal; believer in equality

Elicit draw out (used mainly for information or feelings)

Elliptical 1. shaped like an ellipse, 2. indirect

Epitomizes acts as a typical example of

Equivocate speak ambiguously/vaguely

Evasiveness trying to avoid something

Explicitly very clear; nothing hidden

Foraging searching for food

Hypothetical based on guesswork; not proven

Iconoclast person who goes against accepted authority

Idiosyncratic quirky; unique to an individual

Imponderable cannot be understood

Indecorous not well-behaved; lacking in dignity

Indigence extreme poverty

Inept clumsy

Inherent inbuilt; genetic

Intricate complicated

Irrefutable cannot be proved wrong

Jingoism using words to stir up exaggerated patriotism

Jubilant joyful
Judicious fair and equal

Lament express regret over something

Loquacious talkative; using too many words

Mendicancy begging

Metaphorical not literal; figurative

Milieu environment; surroundings

Mitigated made less severe

Nascent just begun; in an early stage of development

Nostalgia longing for the past

Obtrusive easily seen

Orthographical concerned with writing and spelling

Ossified become fixed and rigid

Ostentatious showy

Palpable can be felt

Pastoral 1. concerned with the countryside, 2. concerned with the care a pastor gives to someone

Pedestrian 1. boring (adj), 2. person who walks (n)

Perfidy treachery; betrayal

Profligacy wasteful and immoral behavior

Prohibitive very expensive

Prudence wisdom; caution

Pugnacious aggressive

Purveyor one who sells something or causes something to spread

Resonance echo

Respite break (from work etc.)

Resurgence revival

Sparse thin; not thick

Stringent strict
Succumbing giving in to; falling under the influence of

Supercilious arrogant

Tenacity firmness of purpose

Transcend go beyond a limit

Variegated multi colored

Venerable worthy of respect

Viable workable; able to live or grow

Visceral concerned with the 'guts'; physical rather than mental