IDIOM MEANING
A drop in the ocean
Actions speak louder than
words
Add fuel to the fire
A penny for your thoughts
Ball is in somebody’s court
Barking up the wrong tree
Be a good catch
Beat around the bush
Bend over backwards
Bite off more than you can
chew
Blow somebody away
By the skin of your teeth
Couldn’t care less
Cry over spilt milk
EXAMPLE
A very small part or A donation of 100,000 dollars is
insignificant amount of just a drop in the ocean
something big or whole compared to the millions that
need to be spent.
It’s better to actually do I am going to work for an NGO in
something than just talk Africa fighting climate change.
about it Actions speak louder than words.
Whenever something is Don’t mention the product delay
done to make a bad in the meeting. You are just
situation even worse than adding fuel to the fire.
it is
When you want to know Why are you staring at the sky? A
what somebody is thinking penny for your thoughts!
It is up to somebody to I have laid out my plan. The ball
make the next decision or is in your court now.
step
Look in the wrong place or I’m not responsible for this mess!
accuse the wrong person You are barking up the wrong
tree.
Be someone worth Donald is such a good catch. I
marrying/having hope, he’ll propose soon.
Avoid the main topic or not Don’t beat around the bush! We
speak directly about the can have an open discussion
issue here.
Do whatever it takes to Our company is bending over
help. Willing to do anything backwards to satisfy our
customers.
Take on a task that is too You bit off more than you can
big chew. You are never going to
finish the presentation on time.
Be extremely impressed The product demo just blew me
by something away. I’ve never seen such a
powerful software.
You only just succeeded I hadn’t studied much, but passed
and nearly failed the test by the skin of my teeth.
Have a total lack of I couldn’t care less what my new
interest in something co-workers think of me.
Complain about a loss There’s no way to win back this
from the past customer. Don’t cry over spilt
milk.
Cry wolf
Crunch time
Curiosity killed the cat
Cut corners
Cut somebody some slack
Cut to the chase
Dig in your heels / Stick to
your guns
Down to the wire
Drive someone up the wall
Get out of hand
Get your head around it
Give the benefit of the doubt
Go down in flames
Call for help when you My new co-worker is constantly
don’t need it crying wolf.
The period of time just I’m not getting much sleep these
before a project has to be days, because it’s crunch time at
completed and everyone work.
has to work hard
Get into an unpleasant He shouldn’t have searched for
situation by being the secret files. Curiosity killed
inquisitive the cat.
Do something badly or They really cut corners when they
cheaply built this office. The cubicles are
way too small.
Give somebody a break/ You have to cut me some slack. I
not to judge somebody already worked on the report the
severely whole weekend.
Leave out all the In an elevator pitch you don’t
unnecessary details and have much time. You have to cut
just get to the point to the chase!
Refuse to compromise or My parents always wanted me to
change your mind become a lawyer, but I dug in my
heels / stuck to my guns and
started my own travel business.
Something that ends at the With the deadline coming up and
last minute or last few the project not being on track, the
seconds team worked right down to the
wire to complete it on time.
To irritate or annoy very The music my co-workers listen
much to at the office is driving me up
the wall.
Lose control of things The meeting got out of hand and
people started yelling at each
other.
Understand something I just can’t get my head around
the fact that my boss is not giving
me a raise.
Believe someone’s I can’t check your results anyway,
statement, without proof so I’ll give you the benefit of the
doubt.
End or fail suddenly and Our company will go down in
spectacularly flames, if we don’t take these new
startups seriously.
Hear on the grapevine
Hit the books
It takes two to tango
Judge a book by its cover
Jump on the bandwagon
Kill two birds with one stone
Leave no stone unturned
Let the cat out of the bag
Make a long story short
Miss the boat
Once in a blue moon
Piece of cake
Pull a rabbit out of a hat
Pull yourself together
Run on fumes
Hear a rumor or I heard on the grapevine that our
unconfirmed story boss will be leaving us soon.
Study very hard I have to hit the books. My final
exam is coming up soon.
Actions or communications I don’t think, she did this by
need more than one herself. It takes two to tango.
person
Judge someone or I really disliked the product’s
something based solely on packaging. But you can’t judge a
appearance book by its cover.
Join a popular trend or This new software is going to
activity disrupt the market. We should
jump on the bandwagon.
Solve two problems at By cycling to work I kill two birds
once / with one action with one stone. If saves me
money and I get to work out.
Do everything possible to I’ll leave no stone unturned until I
achieve a goal find out who did this.
Accidentially reveal a The CEO let the cat out of the
secret bag about the company’s
restructuring.
Come to the point There’s not much time left. Let
me make a long story short.
Miss the opportunity to do I think, I have missed the boat.
something They didn’t accept my application
anymore.
When something rarely You only achieve such an
ever happens amazing return on your
investment once in a blue moon.
When something is Piece of cake, with our new
extremely easy to do software we’ll win this customer
for sure.
Do something unexpected I thought there was no fix to the
software bug, but our programer
pulled a rabbit our of his hat.
Calm down and act I understand you’ve had a bad
normally day, but pull yourself together and
get on with your job, will you?
Continue to stay awake I really have to take a nap now. I
when feeling exhausted haven’t slept for twenty hours and
I’m running on fumes.
Sell somebody out Snitch on someone or let I asked you to keep this
their secret out information to yourself. I can’t
believe you sold me out!
Shoot from the hip Speak directly If you want to get on well with
your new boss, try not to shoot
from the hip next time.
Sit on the fence Stay neutral and not take I’m sitting on the fence with this
sides one. My team prefers solution A,
but my boss favors solution B.
Skeleton crew The minimum number of Can you please come to the
people needed to keep a office this weekend? We’re
service/office operating operating with a skeleton crew at
the moment.
Step up your game Start performing better If you really want to win this
competition, you’ll have to
seriously step up your game.
When pigs fly Something will never As long as my boss stays in
happen office, I will have to wait for a
raise till pigs fly.
Whole nine yards Everything I’ll do whatever it takes to make
my venture a successful one – I’ll
go the whole nine yards.
Your guess is as good as Have no idea, do not know We just don’t have enough
mine the answer to a question information. Your guess is as
good as mine.