| Idioms |
Sample sentences |
A bitter pill to swallow
不愉快卻必須接受的 |
It was a bitter pill to swallow when they didn’t give me the promotion. |
(to cost) An arm and a leg
= Extremely high price
昂貴的 |
I love my Mercedes, but it cost an arm and a leg. |
Be left holding a baby
(被別人) 獨自處理困境 |
Everyone in my office helped with the project at first, but after a while they got bored and didn’t want the responsibility, so I was left holding the baby. |
Be on someone’s back
(with V+ing或 to +原形動詞)
對某人不斷的批評，嘮叨 |
My parents are always on my back about getting a better job and getting married. |
Be rushed off someone’s feet
異常忙碌= extremely busy |
I’m sorry I can’t help you at the moment because I’m rushed off my feet. |
Bear in mind
牢牢記住 = keep in mind |
It is usually safe to swim in the sea but bear in mind, there are some dangers, such as sharks and currents. |
Beat around the bush
說話繞圈子，言語迂迴 |
Don’t beat around the bush; just tell me what you really mean. |
Break the ice
解除冷場面 (開始互動起來) |
He was quite shy when I first met him, but I told a few jokes and we broke the ice. Now we are good friends. |
Like a bull in a china shop
笨拙或粗俗的人，總是把事情搞砸或令人沮喪 |
Don’t invite him to your party. He is like a bull in a china shop and he will offend your guests. |
By hook or by crook
用盡任何方法或手段 |
She is determined to become a singer by hook or by crook. She’ll do anything to be famous. |
Can of worms
讓自己或他人陷入不安亦或不容易逃脫或難以解決的情況 |
He is a powerful man. If you upset him, you will open a can of worms. |
Cut and dried
決定性的，簡單，確定的 |
The situation is cut and dried. You don’t need to worry about it. |
Cut off your nose to spite your face
倉促的決定而導致自己承受其(不好的)後果 |
You shouldn’t quit your job because you don’t like your boss. Don’t cut off your nose to spite your face. |
Cut to the chase
說重點 = get to the point |
Let’s cut to the chase. Tell me how much you want for your salary raise. |
Drag one’s feet
拖拖拉拉的，拖延，耽擱
= Procrastinate, put off |
I have tried to help John get fit but he’s dragging his feet about doing exercise. |
Drive someone up the wall
使人憤怒或無法忍受 |
My neighbour plays his music loudly at night. He is driving me up the wall. |
Drop someone a line
在忙碌中仍給對方隻字片語的聯絡 |
When you arrive in Manchester, drop me a line. |
Dropped the ball
失敗了，做錯事 |
Michael was doing so well in the job interview, but he dropped the ball at the last minute when he told the interviewer he had no intention to stay long. |
Face the music
接受批評或懲罰 |
I have just crashed my father’s car. I’ll have to go home and face the music. |
Five finger discount
扒竊 |
“How could she afford that necklace?”
“It didn’t cost her anything. She got a five finger discount on it”. |
Flogging a dead horse
無謂的,沒有效果或沒有意義的討論或行為 |
We shouldn’t keep trying to make him understand our viewpoint. We’re just flogging a dead horse. |
Get/Let someone off the hook
讓他人在困境中全身而退
或免除責任 |
The manager is going to let the shoplifter off the hook but I think he should be punished. |
Get/Put someone’s back up
使人惱怒 |
My mother-in-law is so critical of me; she really puts my back up. |
| My mother-in-law is so critical of me; she really puts my back up. |
My client trusts me so much he has given me a free hand to make any decisions I want about his discount. |
Go all out
傾全力而為 |
If you want to win this competition, you will have to go all out. |
Go with the flow
順其自然 |
It will be easier if you go with the flow, instead of disagreeing with whatever the manager decides. |
Got out of hand
失去控制 |
The party got out of hand. People got drunk and started to fight. |
Have a bash
試試看 |
I’m not very good at playing tennis, but I’ll have a bash. |
Have egg on your face
因為所做的事而感到愚蠢或發糗 |
She lied to her fiance about her age, and by the time he found out, she had egg on her face. |
Have the blues
感到沮喪或傷心 |
Justine has the blues because she just broke up with her boyfriend. |
Hit the hay/sack
去睡覺 = go to bed |
It’s getting late, so we should hit the hay. |
In deep water
在難以解決的困境中 |
Marie didn’t prepare for her camping trip properly and when she ran out of food, she found herself in deep water. |
Keep in the loop (=Kept informed, given feedback)
保持隨時告知狀況 |
I want to know everything that is discussed in the negotiations, so I want to be kept in the loop. |
It’s early days yet
現在說/決定還太早 |
“Is your mother okay after her operation?”
“It’s early days yet, so we’ll know more in a day or so.” |
Know someone or something inside out
對事或人透徹了解 |
Know someone or something inside out |
Leave someone in the lurch
棄他人不顧 |
They were supposed to help me paint the house but they left me in the lurch and went to beach instead. |
Let the cat out of the bag
不小心說出不該說的秘密 |
My parents didn’t know I broke their favourite vase but my brother let the cat out of the bag at dinner. |
Loan shark (=A predatory lender)
高利貸 |
I need money urgently, so I went to a loan shark. |
Long-winded
冗長而無聊 |
I don’t like attending Professor Hafenstein’s lecture. He’s very smart but a little long-winded. |
Make hay ( To make hay while the sun shine)
天賜良機, 大好機會 |
You won’t get any better opportunities than this, so make hay while the Sun shines. |
mind one's p's and q's (also mind your p's and q's
謹慎言行 |
This is a very formal dinner party with many important people, so mind your p’s and q’s. |
Nod off
打盹、打瞌睡 |
Mike was late for work because he nodded off on the train and missed his stop. |
Off one’s rocker ( = Crazy)
瘋了、瘋狂 |
Nobody wants to be friends with Jim. He‘s off his rocker. |
Off the hook
卸下責任，解除壓力或懲罰 |
“I have to hand in my thesis tomorrow and I haven’t even started!”
“Don’t worry, the teacher extended the deadline, so you’re off
the hook.” |
On a knife-edge
危險邊緣 |
Our company has to fire some people, so we are all on a knife-edge
at the moment. |
On the level (= Honest, straightforward)
誠實，耿直 |
He wants to do some business with us. Do you think he is on the
level? |
Once and for all
最後的，也是絕對的 |
As the Managing Director, he needs to solve the problem of running out of cash flow, once and for all. |
Once in a blue moon
很少發生的，罕見的
|
“Have you seen your landlord lately?”
“No, he only comes around once in a blue moon.” |
Over the hill
過氣了, 或形容一個人在事業(或健康) 達到高峰後，開始走下坡 |
He used to be a really great basketball player, but now he is over the hill. |
Over the moon
非常快樂 |
I was over the moon when I passed my driving test. |
Pay through the nose (for something)
花費過多的錢 |
If you hire a workman to fix your house, you’ll pay through the nose. You really should do it yourself. |
Pick up the pieces
收拾殘局 |
He likes to takes risks, but if something happens to him, we’ll have to pick up the pieces. |
Pissing in the wind
浪費時間精力在無效，無結果的事上 |
There’s no point trying to change his mind. You are pissing in the
wind. |
Pulling one’s leg/Hearing a laugh
開玩笑的，搞笑的 |
Are you really related to the Queen of England or are you pulling my leg. |
Rack your brain
用力想，努力思考 |
I racked my brain to think of ways to make more money. |
(Right) under your nose / From under someone’s nose
近在眼前 |
We looked for a qualified replacement for Tim for ages, but the solution was under our nose. We hired one of his subordinates. |
Salt of the earth
形容一個誠實的好人 |
Everyone likes to do business with Arthur; he’s the salt of the earth. |
Slip my mind
一下子就忘記了 |
I meant to tell you that the meeting was cancelled, but it slipped my mind. |
Something is on the tip of someone’s tongue
明明是知道的，卻一下子又想不起來 |
“Do you remember the name of that T.V show we liked when we were kids?”
“It was ….oh, its on the tip of my tongue”. |
(Something) makes someone’s day
讓人感到非常快樂 |
It made my day when the typhoon caused meetings to be cancelled. |
Speak of the devil
說曹操，曹操到 |
“Karen seems very absent-minded today.”
(Karen comes into the room)
“Speak of the devil; we were just talking about you.” |
Stab someone in the back
被信任的人傷害/傷害信任你的人 |
I thought Vincent was my best friend, but he stabbed me in the back and stole my girlfriend. |
Stick in the mud
固執或老舊觀念的；或形容一個不願意參與社交或活動的人. |
Don’t be such a stick in the mud! Come to the party with me tonight. |
Take a shine to
一見就喜歡或鍾情 |
When I met my roommate, I took a shine to him immediately. |
Take on sb. or take sb. on
= To begin to employ someone
錄取 聘僱 |
My company took me on last November, so I’ve been working there for one year. |
Take sth upon yourself
自己承擔，負責或執行某事 |
No one seemed to want to do anything about it, so I took it upon myself to organise the concert. |
There and then
馬上做/行動 |
I asked him if I could borrow some money, and there and then, he pulled $500 out of his pocket and gave it to me. |
Three sheets to the wind
酩酊大醉 |
Don’t expect him to wake up early for work tomorrow. He ‘s three sheets to the wind. |
To agree to disagree
以互相妥協來停止爭執 |
We’ve been arguing about this for an hour. I guess we’ll just have to agree to disagree. |
Treading water(= Making no progress)
沒有進展，停滯不前 |
At the moment, I feel my career is not going anywhere. I’m just treading water. |
Under someone’s feet
打斷、妨礙 |
Poor Julia, her kids are always under her feet, and she never gets any rest. |
Wake up on the wrong side of the bed (= to be very grumpy)
通常用於形容人的脾氣很暴烈，情緒很糟 |
If I were you, I wouldn’t bother Louisa today. She woke up on the wrong side of the bed and is losing her temper with everyone. |
Work against the clock
因時間緊迫而加緊工作腳步 |
We only have until tomorrow to finish building the house, so we have to work against the clock. |
