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Senac_L4_Idioms
Idioms of Senac Intensive Intermediate
| Idiom | Meanning | Exemples |
|---|---|---|
| let your hair down | to stop acting formally on conservatively | That's a party, Jim! Let your hair downand have a bit of fun. |
| break the ice | To do something as a means of reducing or eliminating shyness, awkward tension, or unfamiliarity. | I was so nervous about meeting Samantha's parents for the first time, but her dad immediately broke the ice by asking about my car, and everything went great after that. |
| put (one's) foot in (one's) mouth | To unintentionally say something foolish, tactless, or offensive. | He just tends to put his foot in his mouth when he's forced to speak for too long, so try to get him off stage as soon as possible. |
| hit the nail on the head | To be correct or accurate. | You really hit the nail on the head with that answer—good job |
| piece of cake | A very easy task or accomplishment. | I thought I was going to fail the test, but it turned out to be a piece of cake! |
| rat race | A fierce competition for success, wealth, or power, especially in one's career or business. | The company's environment felt like a rat race—employees were constantly sabotaging each other to climb the corporate ladder. |
| dark horse | (1) Someone who unexpectedly wins a competition. (2) Someone who surprises others with their skills or talents. | (1) Nobody thought Cheri could win the race after breaking her leg last year, but she turned out to be a dark horse and took first place. (2) Angela was suddenly viewed as a dark horse when she displayed her beautiful sculptures at the art fair. |
| learn (something) by heart | to learn something so well that it can be written or recited without thinking; to memorize something. | You don't have to learn these principles by heart, we just want you to have a basic understanding of them. |
| be of two minds | To experience indecision and/or conflicting emotions. | I am of two minds about whether or not to go to the party tonight. I'm sure it will be fun, but I have a lot of work to do too. |
| go window-shopping | To visit stores, or look in their windows, to see what is available without buying anything. | My bank account is so sad these days that I'll only be going window-shopping for a while! |
| close to (one's) heart | Personally important to, or loved by, one. | The little girl who came to visit the elderly woman every weekend was very close to her heart. |
| run out of time | To no longer have any time to finish some task or activity. | I felt pretty good about how I Was doing on the test, but then I ran out of time before I got through the final section. |
| work against the clock | To try to do something in a very limited amount of time. | We'll have to work against the clock to finish our presentation in time for the convention, but I think we'll be able to get it done. |
| let's face it | We need to recognize the truth; we should face reality. | Let's face it, Hannah, you never wanted to go on this trip. // I'm not sure he has the right skill set for this position, and, let's face it, his interview was pretty poor. |
| in hot water | in trouble. | I was in a bit of hot water with Janice last night when she found out I went to the movies instead of cleaning out the garage. |
| keep (one's)/an eye on (someone or something) | To watch someone or something carefully; to be attentive to someone or something. | You need to keep your eye on the soup so that it doesn't bubble over. |
| give (someone or something) a hand | (1) To help someone with something. (2) To applaud someone or something. | (1) I hope that someone will give me a hand with these bags—there's no way I'll make it to the fifth floor on my own! (2) Wasn't that a great performance? Let's give them a hand, ladies and gentlemen! |
| (one's) cup of tea | Something one prefers, desires, enjoys, or cares about. Often used in the negative to mean the opposite. | When I found out that reading wasn't his cup of tea, I knew that there wasn't much of a relationship in store between us. |
| travel light | Take little baggage; also, be relatively free of responsibilities or deep thoughts | I don't want to buy a house and get tied down; I like to travel light // I can be ready in half an hour; I always travel light // It's hard to figure out whom they'll attack next, because ideologically they travel light |
| think outside the box // out of the box thinking | think differently // to be creative and produce something that is not usual or boring | The team always thinks outside the box to come up with unique advertisements for all its clients. (Theidioms.com) |
| put yourself in my shoes | put (oneself) in (someone's) shoes = To imagine oneself in the situation or circumstances of another person, so as to understand or empathize with their perspective, opinion, or point of view. | Before being quick to judge someone for their actions, you should always try to put yourself in their shoes. Everyone is human, after all. |
| it rains cats and dogs | to rain very heavily | When it rains cats and dogs, you tend to get very wet. |
| blood is thicker than water | family relations and bonds are closer than other relationships | When you get into trouble, usually your family will be the ones to bail you out, not your friends. After all, blood is thicker than water. |
Created by:
joaonicodemos
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