English Idioms2

MurielB a écrit:

Expressions with "main"
I am loosing the touch=>I can't do it anymore
He passed his exams with flying colours=> he got excellent marks
He has green fingers (GB) he has a green thumb (USA)=> He is a very good gardener

If you sneak a small paper with notes into an exam, that's a CHEAT SHEET. But we (I think this expression is North American) have begun to use the phrase for any short, useful summary of something, whether cheating is involved or not. This page contains a useful cheat sheet for the pronunciation of the letter "s" at the end of a word.

OUT OF LINE: improper, against the rules. Toronto Star: <<If Toronto District School Board staff felt his behaviour was out of line at a raucous committee meeting last week, Trustee Howard Goodman apologizes.

But he’s not sorry for being “very frustrated” and pressing for an answer as to why the board has resisted paying an outstanding fee to a provincial organization he believes it is contractually obligated to pay.>>

HAT TRICK: In sports, three victories or other significant accomplishments (such as goals by one player in a hockey game). Jakarta Globe: <<
Tontowi-Liliyana closer to All England title hat trick

A Chinese opposition will be the last hurdles to clear for Indonesia’s [badminton] mixed doubles pair Tontowi Ahmad/Liliyana Natsir if they are to snatch the All-England title for third consecutive time.

The defending champions secured their ticket for the finals after easing past Ko Sung-hyun/Kim Ha-na of South Korea 21-13, 21-11 in the semifinal matches at the Birmingham Arena, London, on Saturday.>>

GET BLOOD FROM A STONE, SQUEEZE BLOOD FROM A STONE: attempt an absurdly difficult or impossible task. Some Americans also say "blood from a turnip." Evening Standard: <<Persuading a bank to lend you cash has not always been like squeezing blood from a stone. Back in Thatcher’s Eighties things were easier, as Niall Holden found when he and his business partner borrowed £5000 to start their own company.>>

TEST THE WATERS: explore a possibility before making a commitment. Phillippine Star: <<AS 2016 draws nearer, politicians have started to test the waters on the feasibility of pursuing positions in government. On May 9, 2016, the Philippines will elect a new president, vice president, half of the Senate, congressmen and local government officials. >>

STRAIGHT ARROW: an honest, moral person; a conventional person. You can also use it as an adjective, with a hyphen: a straight-arrow cop who is tempted by the offer of a bribe. Sioux City Journal (South Dakota, USA): << He's a straight arrow bending under the pressures of his job, including the isolation it imposes: He has lately fallen into an affair with a beautiful Russian informant as his job keeps him away from home.>>

DOUBLE DOWN: renew one's commitment to something risky or controversial. Often it is used with "on": The president doubled down on his support for a tax increase, despite polls showing the public opposed to it. The idiom comes from gambling, where you may stick with a risky bet by doubling it. I think this idiom is North American. Medical columnist Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN: <<I am more convinced than ever that it is irresponsible to not provide the best care we can, care that often may involve marijuana.

I am not backing down on medical marijuana; I am doubling down.>>

A HOLE IN THE WALL is a small, ordinary, informal restaurant. Also used as an adjective, as in the example below. This expression is American, and it's often used in a positive, affectionate way—"It's just a hole in the wall, but they have real Korean home cooking, and I go there all the time." Southtown Star (lllinois, USA): <<While Miami proper has plenty of options for great hole-in-the-wall grub — some drawn from the area’s rich Cuban culture — South Beach itself can feel like a wasteland if you just want great food with flair, but without having to get all gussied up for a fine dining experience.>>

Some other useful expressions here: "Miami proper" means the city of Miami itself, as opposed to the general area. "Grub" is an informal term for ordinary food. And to get "gussied up" is to put on formal or elegant clothes.

And here's one more, in the form of a post from my friend who's teaching in China. ROBBING THE CRADLE is what's happening when an older person gets romantically involved with a very young person, a teenager. <<I was talking with a middle-aged Chinese friend recently who admitted to finding a young Korean pop star very handsome. “Really? Wow,” I said. “You’re really robbing the cradle.” She didn’t know that idiom, so I explained it to her.

She laughed and then she reciprocated, telling me that in Chinese, the same idea is expressed as lao niu chi nen cao (老牛吃嫩草), which literally means “old cow eating tender grass.”

I love it. Like may Chinese idioms, it’s earthy and hilarious.>>

THROW THE BOOK AT: prosecute to the fullest extent of the law. TodayOnline (Singapore): <<Months after the Government signalled its intention to throw the book at perpetrators of harassment, it laid bare how serious it was about stamping out such behaviour, in a new statute tabled yesterday.

Not only will punishments for existing harassment-related offences be stepped up under the proposed wide-ranging omnibus legislation, it also introduces provisions to hit recalcitrant offenders more severely. Where the offending act is committed will also be irrelevant — as long as the perpetrator ought to know the victim would be in Singapore, he will be culpable.>>