Useful Idiom and Proverb [PDF]

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1. Absence makes the heart grow fonder – Our love for the loved ones grows more with the distance. The two brothers deeply wish to meet as they haven’t seen each other since 10 years. After all, absence makes the heart grow fonder. 2. Accidents will happen in the best regulated families – Unforeseen can happen with anybody. You need to be extremely cautious with electricity – The accidents will happen in the best regulated families. 3. Actions speak louder than words – What people do shows more about them than what they just say. Hearing about her friend’s illness, she directly reached the hospital with a cheque of 50,000 Rs/-. Her concern was evident – after all, actions speak louder than words. 4. Appearances are deceptive – Internal truth of a person is usually different from what is visible outside. You should not believe strangers immediately. Appearances can be deceptive. 5. Never judge by appearances – Don’t use looks as the criteria to assess someone. I saw the CEO of a big blue chip company hanging out with his friends at a local market in casual attire. Its true that you can’t judge someone by their appearance. 6. An apple a day keeps the doctor away – An apple eaten everyday keeps you in good health. My father has always stayed in a good health with his habit of eating an apple everyday. For him, An apple a day keeps the doctor away has worked well. 7. Art is long, life is short. – Life is too short to learn all the art in this world. She always complained of getting bored. I advised her to learn some music or painting. After all, Art is long, life is short. 8. Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater – Be careful to not throw away good things with bad while cleaning. She deleted some useful files also along with the useless ones while cleaning her computer. I had advised her to be careful and not throw the baby out with the bathwater. 9. You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours – If you help me, I’ll help you. America is pushing the Indian government for FDI in retail. Indian government will get the foreign currency while America gets a big market for its goods. The principle is simple – You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours. 10. Beauty is only skin deep – Never judge by appearance – A good looking woman may not necessarily be good by character. My daughter-in-law is very beautiful but very cunning – Beauty is only skin deep. 11. As you make your bed, so you must lie in it. – Be prepared to face the consequences of your wrong actions. To full his dreams, he had left his parents alone in their old age. Now his son wants to go abroad with his wife and settle there. He has made his bed, now he must life in it.

12. Honesty is the best policy – Being truthful saves you from many problems. It is the best thing to do. You may make a quick buck with dishonest means but ultimately you may not get a good night’s sleep. Honesty is the best policy to follow for a happy life. 13. Beggars can’t be choosers – A needy person should accept what is offered without complaining. She was complaining about the amount of money they had sent. I asked her to accept gratefully what she has got – Beggar’s can’t be choosers. 14. Big is beautiful – Large size is advantageous. One way to separate good fruits from bad is the size. Big is beautiful. 15. Birds of a feather flock together – People with similar qualities, seek each other’s company. I am sure she must be a genius doctor. She is a close friend of Dr. Ram, who referred me to her – Birds of a feather flock together. 16. The early bird catches the worm – The quicker one/ first in line gets the opportunities. He reached first and picked up the best deal. The early bird caught the worm. 17. Once bitten, twice shy – From experience, we learn to avoid situation causing trouble or distress. Its three years since she divorced her husband. Everyone is forcing her to re-marry but she doesn’t want to. Once bitten, twice shy is the situation she is in. 18. There’s a black sheep in every family – One member in every family doesn’t fit into the characteristic of the family. My son is the black sheep of our family. All of us are very talkative while he is very reserve. 19. Two blacks don’t make a white – You can not justify something wrong you have done because someone else has also done it. You can not justify your late night parties just because your friend attends them. Two blacks don’t make a white. 20. If the blind lead the blind, both shall fall- If a person lacking in some expertise leads others, all of them shall fail. They mistook me to be a great singer and sent their children to learn singing. If a blind leads the blind, both shall fail. 21. In the country of the blind, the one eyed man is king – The person with a little ability in a group of those with absolutely no ability is at an advantage. In the whole group, Marie is the only one who knows the basics of coding. She is like that one eyed man who is a king in the country of blind.

22. There are none so blind as those who will not see – It is useless explaining those who do not want to understand. Her son usually misbehaves with the relatives but she doesn’t find anything wrong in him. There are none so blind as those who will not see. 23. Blood is thicker than water – Family relationship is stronger than others. His brother was aware about his life threatening ailment but he did not call up even once to inquire and they say blood is thicker than water. 24. Half a loaf is better than no bread – Be grateful for what you get rather than complaining for what you don’t have. Judiciously use the money your father sends you rather than complaining for the things he can’t afford. Half a loaf is better than no bread. 25. You can’t make bricks without straws – You can’t accomplish something without the right material. Of course, you need to study hard to win a gold medal. You can’t make bricks without straws. English Idioms & Idiomatic Expressions

Actions - Behaviour (idioms :

accidentally on purpose → binge drinking)

accidentally on purpose

If you do something intentionally, but pretend it was an accident, you do it accidentally on purpose. I accidentally-on-purpose erased his email address, so I couldn't contact him again.

add fuel to the flames

If you add fuel to the flames, you do or say something that makes a difficult situation even worse. He forgot their wedding anniversary, and his apologies only added fuel to the flames.

all ears

To say that you are all ears means that you are listening very attentively. Of course I want to know - I'm all ears!

answer call of nature nature's call

When a person answers the call of nature, they go to the toilet. I had to get up in the middle of the night to answer the call of nature.

backseat driver

A passenger in a car who gives unwanted advice to the driver is called a backseat driver. I can't stand backseat drivers like my mother-in-law!

badger someone

If you badger someone into doing something, you persistently nag or pester them

until you obtain what you want. Sophie badgered her parents into buying her a new computer. balancing act

When you try to satisfy two or more people or groups who have different needs, and keep everyone happy, you perform a balancing act. Many people, especially women, have to perform a balancing act between work and family.

bare your heart / soul

If you bare you soul (or heart) to someone, you reveal your innermost thoughts and feelings to them. Mike couldn't keep things to himself any longer. He decided to bare his soul to his best friend.

bark up wrong tree

A person who is barking up the wrong tree is doing the wrong thing, because their beliefs or ideas are incorrect or mistaken. The police are barking up the wrong tree if they think Joey stole the car - he can't drive!

beat a (hasty) retreat

Someone who beats a (hasty) retreat runs away or goes back hurriedly to avoid a dangerous or difficult situation. The thief beat a hasty retreat as soon as he saw the security officer.

one's best bet

The action most likely to succeed is called one's best bet. Your best bet would be to try calling him at home.

bide your time

If you bide your time, you wait for a good opportunity to do something. He's not hesitating, he's just biding his time, waiting for the price to drop.

binge drinking

This term refers to heavy drinking where large quantities of alcohol are consumed in a short space of time, often among young people in rowdy groups. Binge drinking is becoming a major problem in some European countries.

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in cahoots with someone o If one person is in cahoots with another, they are working in close partnership, usually conspiring to do something dishonest. "There was a rumour that the Mayor was in cahoots with a chain of supermarkets"

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piece of cake o To refer to something as a piece of cake means that you consider it to be very easy. "The English test was a piece of cake!"

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slice/share of the cake o When people feel entitled to a share of the profits or benefits, they want a (larger) slice of the cake. "Since profits are higher this year, the workers feel they deserve a bigger slice of the cake.

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have your cake and eat it

o

To say that someone wants to have their cake and eat it means that they want the advantages of two alternative situations when only one is possible. "Jack enjoys his comfort but is always complaining about the cost of things. He can't have his cake and eat it."

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sell like hot cakes o Things that sell like hot cakes sell quickly or in large quantities. "She's a very successful author. Her books always sell like hot cakes."

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cake/game is not worth the candle o To say that the cake (or the game) is not worth the candle means that the advantages to be gained from doing something are not worth the effort involved. "He recorded an album but sold very few copies; the cake wasn't worth the candle."

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calculated risk o A calculated risk is a risk taken with full knowledge of the dangers involved. "The company took a calculated risk when they hired Sean straight out of college."

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call someone's bluff o If you call someone's bluff, you challenge them to do what they threaten to do (while believing that they will not dare to do it). "After the neighbour's threats to demolish the fence, when Jack decided to call his bluff, there were no more complaints."

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call it quits o When people temporarily stop doing something or put an end to an activity, they call it quits. "OK, we're all exhausted, so let's call it quits for today."

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call a spade a spade o A person who calls a spade a spade speaks openly and truthfully about something, especially difficult matters. "What I like about the new manager is that he calls a spade a spade - it makes things so much easier for everyone."

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call the shots / call the tune o The person who calls the shots or the tune is the one who makes all the important decisions and is in control of the situation. "Jimmy shows a lot of authority but in fact it's his wife who calls the tune."

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can of worms o To describe a situation as a can of worms means that it is complicated, unpleasant and difficult to deal with. "The discovery of the transfer of funds turned out to be a real can of worms."

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burn the candle at both ends

o

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If you burn the candle at both ends, you exhaust yourself by doing too much, especially going to bed late and getting up early. "Scott looks exhausted - I'll bet he's been burning the candle at both ends lately."

can't hold a candle to o If one person can't hold a candle to another, they are much less competent or do not perform as well as the other. "John is very intelligent but he can't hold a candle to his brother Paul when it comes to sports."

Word about abstract to accomplish to accumulate to administer to admit almost animated to annoy to answer anyway apparent to appear applicable appreciable ardour arise aromatic to arrive

Synonym approximately summary to achieve to build up to manage to confess nearly lively to irritate, to bother to reply besides obvious to seem relevant considerable passion occur fragrant to reach

to beat becoming to begin to behave believable belly bendy beneficiant beneficial bid bizarre blameless bloodbath bloodless branch brave to bring sth. on to bring sb. up brow

artful

crafty

bum

association to assure attractive away awful backbone backside bad (not good) ballot to bear on sth. to bear on sth.

organization to guarantee appealing absent terrible spine behind, bottom poor, naughty poll to affect to affect

business busy (telephone)

to defeat fitting to start to act plausible stomach flexible generous favourable tender weird innocent massacre cold department courageous to cause to raise forehead backside, behind, bottom commerce, trade engaged

candy to convey to cope to establish to evaluate everlasting exactly except to expire to explode extra

sweet to communicate to manage to set up to assess eternal precisely apart from to run out to blow up additional