1.

dabble in something
to be involved in something in a casual manner. She dabbled in local politics for a while. I want to dabble i
nsomething new for a while.
See also: dabble

2. fleet of foot
Fig. able to run fast. Frederick, who was notably fleet of foot, outran all the other boys and won the prize.
See also: foot, of

3. Pretty is as pretty does.

Prov. It is more important to treat people well than to be good-looking; just because you are good-
looking does notmean you are a good person. (Said only of girls and women.) Janice may have a pretty f
ace, but pretty is as prettydoes; the way she behaves isn't pretty at all.
See also: does, pretty

4. someone's bread and butter

Fig. someone's basic income; someone's livelihood
the source of one's food. I can't miss another day of work.That's my bread and butter. I worked as a barte
nder for a year, and it was the tips that were my bread and butter.
See also: and, bread, butter

5. kiss/lick somebody's arse

(taboo!)
to try too hard to please someone and to agree with everything they say, in a way which other people find
unpleasantI'm not interested in promotion if you have to lick the boss's arse to get it. (taboo!)
See also: arse, kiss

6. in somebody's hour of need

at a time when someone needs help very much I shall never forget that they were the people who helped
me in myhour of need.
See also: hour, need, of

7. buck the system

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to fight against the usual way of doing something Tom spent much of his working life bucking the system,
whichexplains why he didn't get many promotions.
See also: buck, system

8. trudge along
to plod along on foot. It seemed as if we trudged along for miles. As we trudged along, we forgot how cold
it was.
See also: trudge

9. trudge through something

1. Lit. to walk through snow, sand, or something similar. We trudged through the hot sand all the way dow
n the beach.I used to have to trudge through snow like this all winter to get to school.
2. Fig. to work one's way through something difficult. I hate to have to trudge through these reports on the
weekend. Ihave to trudge through a lot of work before I can go home.
See also: trudge

10. be/live in a dream world

to have ideas or hopes which are not practical and are not likely to be successful (usually in continuous te
nses) Ifshe thinks he's suddenly going to turn into the perfect boyfriend, she's living in a dream world.
See also: dream, world

11. burn the midnight oil

Fig. to stay up working, especially studying, late at night. (Alludes to working by the light of an oil lamp lat
e in thenight.) I have a big exam tomorrow so I'll be burning the midnight oil tonight. If you burn the midnig
ht oil night afternight, you'll probably become ill.

See also: burn, midnight, oil

12. take place

to happen. When will this party take place? It's taking place right now.

See also: place, take

13. my gut tells me (that)

my instincts tell me that. (This refers to one's gut reaction or gut response.) My gut tells me that her idea i
s a soundone. This looks good on paper, but my gut tells me that it is all wrong.

See also: gut, tell

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