Food Idioms List with Meanings and Examples

Idiom / Phrase Meaning Example Sentence

apple of my eye an adored person My precious daughter is the apple of my eye.

bad egg a troublesome person Bart is the bad egg of the class. He is always throwing paper
airplanes.

She became such a basket case when she discovered her ex

be nuts about really enjoy She is nuts about her new boyfriend.

big cheese an important person Where is the director? I want to talk to the big cheese.

take on more
bite off more than one responsibility than what He was multitasking and getting stressed, so I told him not to
can chew is manageable bite off more than he could chew.

something unpleasant Awarding the trophy to her enemy was a bitter pill to
bitter pill that must be accepted swallow.

bread and butter necessities or main Tell me the bread and butter of the article and explain the
points general idea of it.

bring home the bacon earn income My mother has to bring home the bacon for the family
because my dad is unemployed.

butter someone up be really nice to someone You had better butter me up if you want a raise in salary.

cheap as chips very inexpensive This cup of coffee was only 50 cents. Cheap as chips!

couch potato lazy person Don't be such a couch potato and do some work for once!

cream of the crop the best The team has the cream of the crop of draft picks. They will
probably win the cup soon.

cry over spilled milk get upset over something I know you forgot your phone, but there is no need to cry
insignificant or about over spilt milk. You can live without it for an hour.
something irreversible

cup of joe cup of coffee Let's get a cup of joe at Starbucks.

cut the cheese fart Who cut the cheese? It smells awful in here.

cut the mustard meet expectations George's work ethic didn't cut the mustard, so he got fired.

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egg someone on to urge or provoke The hockey player tried to egg his opponent on by dropping
someone his gloves.

freeze your buns off be very cold You will freeze your buns off in Antarctica.

full of beans energetic The elementary students are always full of beans.

gravy train high pay for minimal Government workers ride the gravy train while sitting at
work their desks doing nothing.

hard nut to crack difficult to understand or The criminal was a tough nut to crack. He never revealed any
persuade of his accomplices.

have a bun in the oven be pregnant Mary has a bun in the oven so she can't drink alcohol.

have your cake and eat want more than you Frank is married but he also wants to date other women. He
it too need wants to have his cake and eat it too.

heard it through the I heard it through the grapevine that you were getting nose
grapevine hear a rumor surgery.

hot potato a controversial subject Trump's last Tweet was a hot potato in the news.

in a nutshell to sum up In a nutshell, she is sick because she drank too much last
night.

make with original

my cup of tea something enjoyable Musicals aren't my cup of tea. I prefer regular movies.

on a silver platter receive benefits without Tom gets everything from his parents on a silver platter. He
working even got a new car for his birthday.

out to lunch crazy or distracted or That guy is so out to lunch. He is difficult to get business
confused done with.

piece of cake very easy The final exam was a piece of cake.

She always pisses in my cornflakes because of what I did to

put all of the eggs in one rely on one thing He dedicated all of his time to baseball. If he puts all of his
basket eggs in one basket, he may not have an alternative career to
rely on.

smart cookie an intelligent person George is one smart cookie. He got 100 percent on all his
tests.

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spice things up make more exciting Sara spiced up her room by hanging paintings on the walls.

Who spilt the beans about my brother's surprise birthday

especially good or His slapshot definitely takes the cake. It's the best in the
take the cake outstanding league!

take with a grain of salt don't believe it is I always take whatever I read in the news with a grain of salt.
completely accurate

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