food
A
Apple of her
B
Bad egg, big cheese, bread and butter, bring home the bacon, butter up
C
Carrot and stick, cool as a cucumber, couch potato, cream of the crop, cry over spilt milk, cup of tea
E
Eat crow, eat dirt, eat humble pie, eat one’s cake and have it too, eat one’s words, egg on
F
Finger in the pie, full of beans
G
Gravy train
H
Half-baked, hand to someone on a silver platter, hard nut to crack, (get or) have egg on one’s face, hit the sauce, hot potato
I
In a nutshell, in the soup
M
Make one’s mouth water
N
Nutty as a fruitcake
O
Out of the frying pan and into the fire, out to lunch
P
Piece of cake, polish the apple
S
Souped up, salt away, sell like hotcakes, spill the beans, stew in one’s own juice
T
Take with a grain of salt
U
Upset the applecart
W
Worth one’s salt
apple of her/his eyeMEANING: someone or something that one likes a lotEXAMPLE:The little girl is the apple of her grandfather’s eye.
bad eggMEANING: a bad person, bumEXAMPLE:That man is a bad egg so you should try and avoid him if you can.
big cheeseMEANING: an important person, a leaderEXAMPLE:He is a big cheese in his company so you should be very nice to him.
bread and butterMEANING: basic needs of life (food,shelter,clothing)EXAMPLE:The voters are worried about bread and butter issues like jobs and taxes.
bring home the baconMEANING: earn your family’s livingEXAMPLE:Recently he has been working very hard trying to bring home the bacon. He has no time to do anything else.
butter upMEANING: flatter someone to try to get their favor or friendshipEXAMPLE:He spends most of his free time trying to butter up his boss so that he won’t have to work so hard.
carrot and stickMEANING: promising to reward or punish someone at the same timeEXAMPLE:The government took a carrot and stick approach to the people who were illegally protesting against the construction of the dam. cool as a cucumberMEANING: calm, not nervous or anxiousEXAMPLE:He is always as cool as a cucumber and never worries about anything. couch potatoMEANING: a very lazy personEXAMPLE:He is a real couch potato and just sits around watching TV and staying indoors all day. cream of the cropMEANING: best of a group, the top choiceEXAMPLE:The company is well-known as a good place to work and is always able to hire the cream of the crop of university graduates.
cry over spilt milkMEANING: cry or complain about something that has already happenedEXAMPLE:Don’t cry over spilt milk. The past is past and you can’t do anything to change it.
cup of teaMEANING: something one enjoys or does wellEXAMPLE:Going to art galleries is not my cup of tea so I think that I will stay home this evening and not go with you.
eat crowMEANING: admit one is mistaken or defeated, take back a mistaken statementEXAMPLE:I was forced to eat crow and had to apologize for the mistake that I made about the restructuring of our company.
eat dirtMEANING: act humble, accept another’s insult or bad treatmentEXAMPLE:We made him eat dirt after he accused us of lying about the salary cut.
eat humble pieMEANING: be humbled, admit one’s error and apologizeEXAMPLE:Our boss was forced to eat humble pie after everyone realized that he had made the wrong budget estimate for next year.
eat one’s cake and have it tooMEANING: use or spend something and still keep itEXAMPLE:He refuses to give up anything and always wants to eat his cake and have it too.
eat one’s wordsMEANING: take back something one has said, admit something is not trueEXAMPLE:I told my boss that I would be leaving but later I had to eat my words and tell him that I wanted to stay.
egg onMEANING: urge someone onEXAMPLE:Many people at the soccer game were egged on by the drunken fans.
finger in the pieMEANING: participate in something that is happeningEXAMPLE:He always tries to keep his finger in the pie so that he can control everything.
full of beansMEANING: feel energetic, in high spiritsEXAMPLE:She is full of beans tonight and doesn’t want to stop talking.
gravy trainMEANING: a job or work that pays more than it is worthEXAMPLE:For many years his job was a real gravy train but now the company has become very strict and will not pay overtime.
half-bakedMEANING: not thought out or studied carefullyEXAMPLE:He has a half-baked idea about starting a new business but most of us think that it will fail.
hand to someone on a silver platterMEANING: give a person something that has not been earnedEXAMPLE:His education was handed to him on a silver platter and now he is very spoiled and selfish.
hard nut to crackMEANING: something or someone difficult to understand or do EXAMPLE:He is a very serious person and is a very hard nut to crack.
(get or) have egg on one’s face MEANING: be embarrassedEXAMPLE:He has egg on his face because everyone knows that he was sick at the party.
hit the sauceMEANING: drink alcohol - usually regularlyEXAMPLE:I think that she has begun to hit the sauce since her husband lost his job.
hot potatoMEANING: a question or argument that is controversial and difficult to settleEXAMPLE:The issue of building the nuclear power plant is a real hot potato for the local town council.
in a nutshellMEANING: briefly, in a few wordsEXAMPLE:We went to the meeting and they told us in a nutshell what would be happening to everyone next year.
in the soupMEANING: in serious trouble, in disorderEXAMPLE:She is really in the soup now. She told her boss that she was sick but he saw her downtown shopping.
make one’s mouth waterMEANING: look or smell very good, want to eat or drink very muchEXAMPLE:The restaurant is supposed to be wonderful and every time that I see the menu it makes my mouth water.
nutty as a fruitcakeMEANING: crazyEXAMPLE:He is a very nice man but he acts strange sometimes and I often think that he is as nutty as a fruitcake.
out of the frying pan and into the fireMEANING: go from something bad to something worseEXAMPLE:She quit the job because of some small problems but she has jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire because now her problems are much worse.
out to lunch MEANING: crazy, madEXAMPLE:She is totally out to lunch and you should never believe what she tells you.
piece of cakeMEANING: a task that is easily accomplishedEXAMPLE:It was a piece of cake. I had everything done before lunch this morning.
polish the appleMEANING: flatter someoneEXAMPLE:Nobody likes her because she is always trying to polish the apple with her teacher.
souped upMEANING: change something to make it faster or more powerful by changing or adding somethingEXAMPLE:The new car that his neighbor bought is a souped up model of the one that he had last year.
salt away MEANING: save moneyEXAMPLE:He has been working there for seven years and has been able to salt away quite a lot of money.
sell like hotcakesMEANING: sell quickly or rapidlyEXAMPLE:The new CD has only been released for about a week but already it is selling like hotcakes.
spill the beansMEANING: tell a secret to someone who is not supposed to know about itEXAMPLE:Please don’t spill the beans about my plans to quit working and go back to school next year.
stew in one’s own juiceMEANING: suffer from something that one has caused to happenEXAMPLE:He is the one who caused the problem for himself and is now being forced to stew in his own juice.
take with a grain of saltMEANING: accept or believe only part of somethingEXAMPLE:You should take everything that he says with a grain of salt as everyone knows that he likes to exaggerate things when he is speaking.
upset the applecartMEANING: ruin a plan or event by surprise or accidentEXAMPLE:Everything was going well at the company until he came along and upset the apple cart.
worth one’s saltMEANING: being a good worker, worth what one is paidEXAMPLE:He has only been working here for a month but over and over he has proved that he is worth his salt.
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