BASIC IDIOMS BY

GR O UP 2

• A Z E L L I A A LV I K A
• I M A D W I O C TAV I A
• J U N I TA G U R N I N G
• M A RT H A C . S I M A N J U N TA K
• M. REZADI
• NILA JULIA K
IDIOMS
FROM
LESSON 2
No Idiom Meaning Example
1 to dress up to wear formal clothes; We should definitely dress up to
to dress very nicely go to the theatre.

2 at last finally; We waited for hours and then the

after a long time train arrived at last.

3 as usual as is the general case; George is late for class as usual.

as is typical This seems to happen every day.

4 to find out get information about; Will you please try to find out
to determine what time the airplane arrives?

5 to look at give one’s attention to; The teacher told us to look at the
to watch blackboard and not at our books.

6 to look for to try to find; He’s spent over an hour looking

to search for for the pen that he lost.
No Idiom Meaning Example
7 all right acceptable; He said that it would be all
fine; right in informal usage.
yes, okay
8 all along all the time; She knew all along that we’d
from the beginning (without never agree with her plan.
change)
9 little by little gradually; Karen’s health seems to be
slowly (also: step by step) improving little by little.

10 to tire out to make very weary due to difficult The hot weather tired out
conditions or hard effort (also: to the runners in the marathon.
wear out)
11 to call on to ask for respone from; Last night several friends
to visit (also: to drop it on) called on us at our home.

12 never mind don’t be concerned about it; So you weren’t listening to me

ignore what was just said again? Never mind, it wasn’t
important.
No Idiom Meaning Example
13 turn a blind eye to pretend not to have to She took one of the cookies, but
notice it. I turned a blind eye.

14 give it to your tried your hardest Even though I lost the race, I
all gave it my all.

15 keep track to monitor the time I use my watch to keep track of

time.

16 there’s nothing it’s very easy; Why don’t you make a simple
to it it’s a piece of cake website for your business?
There’s nothing to it.
17 up-and-coming young and rising to the top; Roger is an up-and-coming
new and becoming successful hockey player from Toronto.

18 get into gear hurry up; You’d better get into gear or
start moving at a faster you will be late.
speed
USING
REFERENCE
SOURCES
DICTIONARIES
 Dictionary ideally one which focuses on

idioms.

 The best learner’s dictionaries are

corpus-based.

 E.g. English Idioms In Use Advance and

the Cambridge Idioms Dictionary are

based on the Cambridge International

Corpus.
THE INTERNET
 To find out more about the meanings and origins of idioms.
 Go to http://www.phrases.org.uk/
• (to discover meanings and origins and i.e. of how idioms are used and also we
can discuss the origins of the phrases not listed there).
 Go to http://www.natcorp.ox.ac.uk/
• (type in an idiom and we will be given up to 50 authentic i.e. of its use).
 Go to http://www.google.co.uk/
• (to find further idioms in use with type in double inverted commas (“ “) to get
a list of sites including that idiom).
VOCABULARY NOTEBOOKS
 Make good and detailed notes about idioms.

 Include an example of idioms and also its

meaning and its usage, i.e. Informal or literary.

 i.e. The speaker unfortunately looked like a deer

caught in the headlights during most of the

discussion. = looked very frightened, unable to

move or think.
WHAT ARE IDIOMS
ABOUT
HAPPINESS AND
SADNESS?
 IDIOMS ABOUT HAPPINESS
No Idiom Meaning Example
1 having a whale of a have a very good time We were playing games and
time dancing, we really had a whale of
a time.
2 on cloud nine very happy; I was very afraid of the history
cheerful exam, and finally when i managed
to pass it, i was on cloud nine.
3 tickled pink very much pleased I suggest picking some flowers for
your girlfriend. i’m sure she will be
tickled pink and she won’t refuse
your proposal.
4 on top of the world feeling wonderful They were on top of the world
when they won the competition
last summer.
5 happy as a clam very happy; When her parents left for holiday,
comfortable she was happy as a clam staying
alone in the house.
6 over the moon extremely pleased; Do you remember how happy we
happy were when we first stayed out for a
night? we were over the moon.
 IDIOMS ABOUT SADNESS
No Idiom Meaning Example
1 cry one’s eyes out cry a lot; My son cried his eyes out when he
for a long time. discovered his bike had been stolen.

2 face like a wet week- sad; What’s wrong with pete? he’s got a
end miserable face like a wet week-end!

3 your heart sinks very unhappy; My heart sank when i saw the
despondent amount of work waiting for me.

4 down in the dumps depressed; Alex has been down in the dumps
feeling gloomy since he failed his exam.

5 downhearted sad; I’ve been downhearted ever since

depressed my wife died. she was my sunshine.

6 reduce somebody to make someone cry Her boss was yelling at her in front of
tears the team. he reduced her to tears
by the end of the meeting.
Hoping mad : extremely angry
Made a name : calling
Running a tight ship : well-organized
Went spare : do everything within one’s power
Feathering their own nest : achieve benefits
Behind his back : absence
Beyond the pale : behaviour or good judgement
Given the sack : lost the job