IDIOMATIC EXPRESSIONS AND PHRASAL VERBS : Notes

NO IDIOMATIC EXPRESSIONS MEANINGS TRANSLATION IN MALAY

1. A bookworm One who likes to read Ulat buku /suka membaca

2. A close shave A narrow escape Nyaris-nyaris

3. A white elephant Useless possession Sesuatu yang tidak berguna

4. Around the corner Coming soon Semakin hamper

5. At the eleventh hour At the last minute Saat-saat akhir

6. A white lie A harmless lie that is more Terpaksa berbohong untuk

polite than true kebaikan

7. Bad blood Feeling of strong dislike Sangat tidak suka

8. Bark up the wrong tree Get wrong ideas Salah tanggapan/salah anggap

9. Bear in mind Remember Ingat!

10. Beat around the bush Talk indirectly about Berkias

something

11. Black sheep Person who is an Orang yang memalukan

embarrassment

12. Blow one’s trumpet To boast Membangga diri

13. Burn the midnight oil Study until late at night Belajar hingga larut malam

14. By hook or by crook By all means Sedaya mungkin/seboleh-

bolehnya

15. Caught red handed Caught in the act Tertangkap

16. Count me in Include me Saya turut serta

17. Don’t lose heart Don’t be discouraged Jangan mengalah

18. Down to earth Humble/Honest Merendah diri

19. Drive me up the wall Make me very angry Membuat saya marah

20. Drop a line write Tulis

21. Easier said than done Easier to talk about an idea Senang bercakap susah nak buat
than carry it out

22. Eye catching Attractive Menarik

23. Flying colours Good grades Gred/keputusan yang baik

24. Getting on my nerves Making me annoyed/irritated Membuat saya meluat/terganggu

25. Have green fingers Good at gardening Berbakat dalam bercucuk tanam

26. I am all ears I am listening Saya mendengar

27. In a twinkling of an eye Very quickly Sangat cepat

28. In high spirits Happy Gembira/bersemangat

29. In hot water In trouble Dalam keadaan bermasalah

30. Keep an eye Look after Perhatikan

31. Keep your word Keep your promise Menepati janji

32. Lend a hand Help Tolong

33. Let the cat out of the bag Let a secret out Pecah rahsia

34. Not kidding Not joking Tidak bergurau/serius

35. Not my cup of tea Not to my liking Saya tidak suka

36. Once in a blue moon Seldom Kadang-kadang

37. Out of the blue Unexpectedly Tidak dijangka

38. Practice makes perfect You will be good if you do it Selalu berlatih akan menjadikan
often saya lebih baik

39. Put your mind to it Concentrate Menumpukan perhatian

40. Raining cats and dogs Raining heavily Hujan lebat

41. The early bird catches the Those who are early will Mereka yang awal akan mendapat
worm benefit keuntungan

42. Throw in the towel Give up Mengalah

43. To be in the same boat To be in the same Keadaan yang sama
circumstances

44. To believe your ears To believe what you hear Percaya apa yang anda dengar

45. To face the music To take the punishment or Bersedia untuk dimarahi
scolding

46. To keep one’s fingers crossed To hope for the best Mengharap yang terbaik

47. To live from hand to mouth To live in hardship Hidup dalam kesusahan

48. To paint the town red To enjoy oneself Bergembira

49. To sit on the fence To take no sides in a debate/ a Tidak berpihak kepada mana-
quarrel mana bahagian

50. Took to heart Be upset by Sangat sedih

51. Turn over a new leaf To change for the better Berubah ke arah lebih baik

52. Under the weather Slightly ill Tidak sihat

53. Where there’s a will, there’s a When you are determined, Kalau bersungguh-sungguh pasti
way you will succeed Berjaya

54. Work wonders Achieve very good results Mencapai kejayaan cemerlang

NO PHRASAL VERBS MEANINGS TRANSLATION IN MALAY

1 Ages ago Long ago Lama dahulu

2 Break/Broke down Stop/Stopped because of a fault Rosak

3 Break/Broke into Enter/Entered by force Masuk secara paksa

4 Bring in Earn a profit Membawa keuntungan

5 Call on Visit Melawat

6 Carry on Continue Teruskan

7 Come across Find by chance Terjumpa

8 Crash into Hit Langgar

9 Cut down Reduce Kurangkan

10 Deal with Handle Menguruskan

11 Drop in Make a visit Singgah/melawat

12 Get along with Be friendly with Serasi

13 Get over Recover Sembuh

14 Get ready Hurry Bersedia

15 Get through Pass Berjaya/lulus

16 Give up Stop trying Mengalah/berhenti mencuba

17 Hold/Held up Delay/Delayed Tertangguh/tertunda

18 Look after Take care of Menjaga

19 Look forward Expect with pleasure Ternanti-nanti

20 Look into Investigate Menyiasat

21 Look out Be careful Awas

22 Look out Look for/ Search Mencari

23 Look up to Respect Menghormati

24 Make up Compensate Menebus semula

25 Map out Plan Merancang

26 On and off Sometimes Kadang-kadang

27 Passed away Died Meninggal dunia

28 Put in To spend time or energy/contribute Menyumbang

29 Put off Postponed Menangguhkan

30 Rely on Depend on Bergantung kepada

31 Round up Gather Kumpulkan

32 Run into Meet Berjumpa/terserempak

33 Running out Lacking Kehabisan

34 Set Off Start the journey Bertolak

35 Tag along Accompany Menemankan

36 Takes after Looks like/Behaves like Mirip/serupa dengan

37 Throw up Vomit Muntah

38 Turn up Attend/Arrive Hadir/tiba

39 Watch out Be careful Berhati-hati

40 Work out exercise Bersenam

EXAMPLES

PHRASAL FIGURATIVE
VERB MEANING EXPRESSION MEANING

Back out withdraw time and again many times

Drop by visit the in thing in fashion

Go for attack newly picked Fresh

Hold on wait make sense have a meaning

Move up promote take French leave absent without permission

bring up raise steal the show attract all attention

given in surrender a wet blanket discouraging person

let down disappoint a close shave a narrow escape

pick out choose completely at sea puzzled / tertanya-tanya

speak for represent with a high hand arrogance / sombong

take after resemble / look alike keep a ball rolling keep things going

comes
along is available a bird's eye view a very good view
 take a long time to
sleep on it think bosom friend good friend

shut down close to turn tail run away

back away move backwards apple pie order perfect order

freak out panic blow own trumpet boast / cakap besar

turn to ask for help put an end Stop

broke out started keep an eye look after

brush out discuss in a daze confuse state / celaru

pass on die once in a blue moon rarely / jarang-jarang

check in register rain cats and dogs very heavy rain

take away remove the blink of an eye Quickly

go ahead go first an old hand expert/have done it many times

chew on forget it given the sack dismiss from job / dipecat

put away keep caught red handed caught in the act of

talk back scold hold your horses be patient / bersabar

step up improve forth night 2 weeks / 2 fortnight

never judge a book by its

cough up give cover don't judge by the way it looks.

call off cancel give you a yell shout at you

work out exercise forty winks a nap / tidur sekejap

let down disappointed had my hands full Busy

cough up block sick to death fed up

put on showed round the corner nearby / sangat dekat

put off postpone burn a hole in the pocket cost a lot / habis duit

tied up busy two cents worth opinion/ pendapat