PART II - IDIOMS:

UNIT 3.1: AROUND THE HOUSE

• 1. KEEP HOUSE: To do the needed chores around the house.
• In modern societies, husbands and wives share in keeping house.
• The Amantes hired a housekeeper to do most of the household chores.
• 2. CLEAN UP: to arrange neatly, to put in order. = pick up, tidy up, straighten up
• Mrs. Potter told her son to clean up his room before going outside.
• Didn’t I tell you to pick your things up right away?
• Look at the mess in your closet! Straighten it up right now!
• 3. PUT BACK: to return to the proper place = put away
• You are supposed to put the dictionary back on the shelf after you’ve used it.
• We put away the Christmas decorations until next year.
• 4. FIX THE MEAL: to prepare the meal. Also: fix breakfast/ lunch/ supper/
dinner
• Jack fixed the meal Saturday night because his wife was sick.
• We decided to go to a restaurant instead of fixing dinner.
5. DO THE DISHES = WASH THE DISHES:
• Older children are often responsible for doing the dishes at night.
• The Nelsons decided to do the dishes in the morning because it was so late.
6. ODDS AND ENDS: various tasks that need to be done
• This weekend I stayed home and did some odds and ends around the house.
• 7. GARAGE SALE: a special sale held in front of a house for the purpose of
selling household items that are no longer needed. = YARD SALE
• I put an ad in the newspaper for the garage sale we’re having this weekend.
• Some people make money by going to yard sales, buying items cheaply, and
then reselling them.
• 8. CLEAN OUT: to clean by removing unnecessary items
• The Wilsons cleaned out their garage to prepare for a yard sale.
• 9. FIX UP: to repair, to fix
• We needed to fix up the front door of the house before my parents visited.
IDIOMS_Unit 3.2: PRODUCING AND
USING
• 1. BRING OUT: To introduce to the public
• The automobile company decided to bring its new models out a month earlier
than usual.
• Designers from all over the country brought out their new lines of clothing at the
New York fashion show.
• 2. TURN OUT: To produce (usually in large quantities)
• The modern manufacturing plant turns out 200 personal computers a day.
• Our new duplicating machine turns more than forty copies out per minute.
• 3. CRANK OUT: To produce quickly and in large numbers = WHIP OUT
• The software company cranked out thousands of copies of its new multimedia
title in order to meet demand.
• Jake is an amazingly fast writer. He whips a novel out each year.
• 4. MAKE TO ORDER: To make to exact specifications, to be custom-made.
• The company president has a local tailor make all her suits to order.
• The Garcias’ kitchen cabinets were made to order by an expert carpenter.
• 5. CUT DOWN (ON): To reduce, to decrease one’s use of = CUT BACK
(ON), cutback (n)
• The doctor told Melanie to cut down on cigarettes if she wanted to avoid lung
disease.
• In order to maintain a profitable status, the company cut back on expenses.
• 6. RUN OUT (OF): Not to have any more. Related idiom: Run low on (not to
have much more)
• I’ve run out of ideas for a good science project. Do you have any
suggestions?
• We’re running low on gas. We’ve got to stop at a service station before we
run out.
• 7. GO THROUGH = USE UP: to consume or use all or part of something.
• With three boys, the Kim family goes through a gallon of milk each day.
• I can’t find the adhesive tape. Did you use it up?
• 8. COLLECT DUST: To remain unused (usually in storage)
• I wish we hadn’t bought that pool table. It’s just collecting dust
in the storage room.
• Rene rarely drives his two classic automobiles. They just sit in
his garage collecting dust.
• 9. PACK RAT: Someone who keeps almost any item (even
useless ones)
• Aunt May is such a pack rat. Her closets are all filled with old
junk.
• I used to be a pack rat, but now I regularly have yard sales to
get rid of unnecessary things.