Idiom of the Day.docx

**Idiom of the Day** **30.08 09:58** **think better of something.**   If you think better of something, you decide not to do it even though you\'d made plans to do it.   [Example]   Danny was going to drop out of university and become a travel writer. However, he thought better of quitting h...

**Idiom of the Day** **30.08 09:58** **think better of something.**   If you think better of something, you decide not to do it even though you\'d made plans to do it.   [Example]   Danny was going to drop out of university and become a travel writer. However, he thought better of quitting his studies and decided to finish his course. **Phrasal verb of the day** **30.08 10:07** **bring forward**   [Meaning] to change the date or time of an event so that it happens earlier than originally planned   [Example] Let\'s *bring *the wedding *forward *to October so it\'ll be a spring wedding.   The meeting had to be *brought forward *by two weeks. **Idiom of the day** **02.09 08:20** **[Dig one\'s own grave]**   [Meaning] If you dig your own grave, you do something unwise that will result in your own failure or downfall in the future.   [For example] Anyone who eats too much and doesn\'t exercise is *digging their own grave*.   Jim lost his job, but *he dug his own grave* by being late all the time.   **Phrasal Verb of the day** **02.09 09:38** **[USE UP]**   **Meaning** If you use something up, you use all of it and have none left.   **Examples** Do you think we\'ll find a new way to power cars before we *use up* all our oil reserves.   I can\'t get any more sick days off work. I\'ve already *used them* all up. **Idiom of the Day** **03.09 11:10** **read between the lines**   **Meaning** When you read between the lines you try to understand what someone implies, but doesn\'t openly state, when they say or write something.   **For example** I got a letter from Robyn and she isn\'t happy. She didn\'t say anything but I could tell by *reading between the lines* that something\'s wrong. A good writer doesn\'t tell the reader everything directly but leaves it up to the reader to figure things out for themselves by *reading between the lines*. **Phrasal Verb of the day** **03.09 13:06** **cut up**   **Meaning** to cut something into small pieces **Synonym** chop up **For example** cut sth up Before my cat eats the meat I buy for her, I have to *cut it up*. cut up sth She eats whatever her mother *cuts up* and puts on her plate **Idiom of the day** **04.09 14:22** **drink like a fish**   **INFORMAL**   **Meaning** If someone drinks like a fish, they drink a lot of alcohol.   **For example** Since he got back from the war Billy\'s been *drinking like a fish*, and we think he needs some help. Some people might say I *drink like a fish*, but I don\'t think I drink too much.   **Phrasal verb of the day** **04.09 14:26** **muck up**   INFORMAL   **Meaning** If you muck something up, you do it badly and fail to achieve your goal.   **Synonym** mess up, screw up (informal)   **For example** **muck up sth **I went to a new barber today and he *mucked up* my hair style. It looks terrible**.** **muck sth up** Sally went to a job interview today, and she thinks she *mucked it up*. She said she was really nervous and she couldn\'t think clearly.   **Idiom of the day** **05.09 10:47** **in two minds**     **Meaning** If you\'re in two minds about something, you can\'t decide what to do, or you can\'t decide which option is the best.   **For example** Kenny is *in two minds* about what to study at university. He\'s interested in history, but he also likes the idea of being a lawyer. We\'re* in two minds* about what to do during our vacation. We could go travelling somewhere, or we could stay home and fix up the garden. **Phrasal verb of the day** **05.09 11:07** **look into**   **Meaning** If you look into something, you investigate it or you try to find out more about it. **Synonym** investigate, examine   **For example** **look into sth **One of our customers hasn\'t received her order yet. Could you look into it and try to find out what happened? **look into sth** My car was stolen last week. The police say they\'re looking into it, but I\'d be surprised if they catch the thief.   **Fridays idiom** **07.09 08:15** Sorry this is late but I had a busy day yesterday a drop in the ocean(UK) a drop in the bucket(USA) Meaning If an amount is a drop in the ocean, it\'s a very small portion of the amount that\'s needed. For example - Our government\'s sending a thousand tons of food, but that\'s just a drop in the ocean compared to what\'s needed. - I know twenty pounds is just a drop in the ocean, but if everyone gave that much it\'d make a big difference. **Fridays phrasal verb** **07.09 08:22** get back Meaning to return to a place For example **Idiom of the dsy** - **07.09 08:32** **up a gum tree** ** ** **Meaning** If you\'re up a gum tree, you\'re in trouble or have a serious problem. **For example** The company is *up a gum tree* because they broke some laws about polluting the environment, and they\'ll probably get closed down. My mate Bruce is *up a gum tree.* He got his girfriend pregnant and now she\'s twisting his arm to get married.   **Note**:. This idiom is similar in meaning to \"up the creek without a paddle\". **Idiom of the day** **08.09 21:12** **kill two birds with one stone** ** ** **Meaning** If you kill two birds with one stone, you achieve two things with the one action.   **For example** I need to go to the bank, and if I drop the books off at the library on the way I\'ll be *killing two birds with one stone.* Jenny says that she *kills two birds with one stone* if she does her own housework because she gets the house clean and she gets some exercise at the same time. **Phrasal verb of the day** **08.09 21:16** **finish off**   **Meaning** to complete something, or to eat the last piece of something   **For example** **finish sth off **I\'ve been working on the report all week, but I should be able to *finish it off* tonight. **finish off sth** Who\'d like to *finish off* the apple pie? There\'s still one piece left. ###  Idiom of the day **09.09 10:11** **put all your eggs in the one basket**   INFORMAL   **Meaning** If you put all your eggs in the one basket, you put all your efforts or resources into one person, one thing or one plan, and if things don\'t work out, you lose everything.   **For example** My stockbroker says I should buy shares in a lot of different companies, and not *put all my eggs in the one basket*. Our company should distribute many different products from many different companies. If we *put all our eggs in the one basket*, we\'ll get into trouble if there\'s a problem with that one product or company. **Phrasal verb of the day** **09.09 11:20** **lay out**   **Meaning** to explain an idea or a plan clearly and in detail   For example **lay sth out** The manager had spent a few days working out a plan to revive the company, and then he laid his ideas out at the shareholders\' meeting. **lay out sth** The president asked his cabinet to listen while he laid out his plans for reforming health care.   Nouns often used as objects with **lay out**: plan, idea, proposal, strategy, scheme   **jockey for position**   **Meaning** If you jockey for position, you try to get yourself in a good position in relation to others who\'re competing for the same opportunity or the same goal.   **For example** Several of us are jockeying for position as we negotiate with the manager for the job of running the new branch office. Four candidates will jockey for position in the run-up to the Democratic convention next month.   **Origin**: This phrase is borrowed from horse-racing and refers to the way the riders, or jockeys, compete with each other to get their horses into the best position as they approach the final sprint to the finish line.   **Phrasal vetb of the dsy** **10.09 22:54**   **go through**   **Meaning** to look through a collection of things like documents, books, clothes, etc. to find something or to sort them out **Synonym** search through **For example** **go through sth** Could you go through last month\'s receipts and find any that are from Pacific Corp please? **go through sth** Police investigators found some evidence when they went through garbage from the suspect\'s home.   **Idiom and Phrasal verb of the Day** **11.09 13:04** **[IDIOM]**   **go with the flow**   **Meaning** If you go with the flow, you relax and go along with whatever is happening. **For example** Jareem says that if you *go with the flow* in life, you don\'t plan everything ahead but you take opportunities as they arise. Don\'t you find that everything goes better when you *go with the flow* instead of trying to force things to happen.   **[PHRASAL VERB]**   **watch out**   **Meaning** If you tell someone to watch out, you tell them to be careful or warn them of a danger.   **Synonym** look out   **For example**  *Watch ou*t! There\'s a car coming! Get off the road.  There are lots of thieves on these buses, so if you don\'t *watch out* you\'ll lose your wallet. **Idiom of the day** **12.09 09:08** **earn your stripes**   **Meaning** If you earn your stripes, you do something to prove that you have the skills or ability for a particular job or rank.   **For example** He **earned his stripes** in the department of foreign affairs before becoming one of our ambassadors. You\'ll need to **earn your stripes** as a travelling salesman before we can think about giving you more responsibility.   **Origin**: Probably related to the fact in many organisations, including the armed forces, police forces, fire brigades, the boy scouts, etc., a person\'s rank is often shown by the number of stripes that are sewn onto the shoulder of their uniform.   **Phrasal verb of the day** **12.09 12:38** **MUCK UP**   **INFORMAL**   **Meaning** If you muck something up, you do it badly and fail to achieve your goal.   **Synonym** mess up, screw up (informal)   **For example** **muck up sth** I went to a new barber today and he *mucked up* my hair style. It looks terrible. **muck sth up** Sally went to a job interview today, and she thinks she *mucked it up*. She said she was really nervous and she couldn\'t think clearly. ### Friday\'s Phrasal verb and Idiom ###### 15.09 15:33 **Friday\'s Idiom of the Day**   **[the very thing]**   **Meaning** If you say something is the very thing, you think it\'s exactly what\'s needed.   **For example** Where did you get that old record player? It\'s the very thing for playing those jazz records I found in the attic. Let\'s get that painting for the office. It\'s *the very thing* to brighten the place up.     **Friday\'s phrasal verb** **let out **   **Meaning** to allow somebody or something to leave a place For example **let sb/sth out** Could you l*et the cat out*, please? It\'s scratching on the door. **be let out of sth** The prisoners are *let out* of their cells once a day, and most of them go to the exercise yard.   ### Saturday\'s Phrasal verb and Idiom ###### 15.09 15:39 **Saturday\'s Phrasal verb**   **come over**   **Meaning** to seem to be a particular type of person **Synonym** come across, appear **For example** How do you think you *came over* in the interview? Do you think they liked you? I listened to her speech and to me she *came over* as a bit immature and self-centred.   **Saturday\'s Idiom**   **plain sailing**   **Meaning** If something is plain sailing, it\'s very easy to do and there are no problems to overcome.   **For example** Golfer Tiger Woods hit a couple of bad shots early in his round, but it was *plain sailing* after that and he won the match easily. I answered the first few questions in the exam without any problems, and I knew it\'d be *plain sailing* from then on.   **Origin**: From sailing, in which plain sailing means to sail at good speed without facing any obstacles. ### Sunday\'s Phrasal verb and Idiom ###### 15.09 15:49 **Phrasal Verb**   **owe to**   **Meaning** If you owe something to someone, you feel that you only have it because of the person\'s help or support.   **For example** **owe sth to sb/sth** The band said they *owed their success to* their producer and manager. **owe sth to sb/sth** In his acceptance speech, Tiger said he *owed everything to* his parents.   **Idiom**   **a red-letter day**   **Meaning** A red-letter day is a day that is very important for some reason.   **For example** The day Tatiana graduated from university was *a red-letter day* for her whole family. She was the first person in the family\'s history to get a university degree. Today is a fantastic day for us - *a real red-letter day!* We\'ve just been blessed with our first child - a beautiful baby boy!