IDIOMS & PHRASES
Having fun:
§ to paint the town red
§ to be having the time of your life
§ to have a blast
§ to be over the moon
§ to have a whale of a time
Being stressed/scared/shocked/sad:
§ to be sweating buckets (stressed, scared)
§ to feel your heart skip a beat (stressed, scared, in love)
§ to have shivers run down your spine (stressed, scared)
§ to break out in a cold sweat (stressed, scared)
§ with bated breath (stressed, scared)
§ to be a bundle of nerves (stressed)
§ your heart missed a beat (shocked, scared)
§ to have butterflies in my stomach (stressed, in love)
§ to be like a cat on hot bricks (stressed, clumsy)
§ in a state of shock (shocked)
§ to freeze to the spot (shocked)
§ I couldn't believe my eyes (shocked, surprised)
§ to be under the weather (sad)
Being angry:
§ to make somebody's blood boil
§ to drive somebody crazy
§ to drive somebody up the wall
§ to go nuts
Asking for a favour/Thanking somebody:
§ "I owe you big time!"
§ "Promise I'll make it up to you!"/ "How can I make it up to you?"
Other:
§ to become an expert overnight (=to improve greatly over a short period of time)
§ better late than never
§ the best of both worlds (=most satisfying decision/best option)
§ to speak of the devil (=when somebody you've been thinking/talking about shows up)
§ once in a blue moon (=rarely)
§ to cost an arm and a leg (=really expensive)
§ a piece of cake (=really easy/simple)
§ to let the cat out of the bag (=to reveal a big secret)
§ to kill two birds with one stone (=to solve two problems at once)
§ to rub salt into somebody's wound (=to make something painful/unpleasant even worse)
§ to judge a book by its cover (=to make assumptions based on appearance/little information)
§ to hit the nail on the head (=to find out the cause-reason/to find the best solution)
§ a blessing in disguise (=something positive you weren't initially aware of)
§ to call it a day (=to end doing an activity for the day because you feel you have done enough for now)
§ bite the bullet (=to be brave and decide to do something unpleasant)
§ to get a taste of your own medicine (=to be treated the way you treat people)
§ the last straw (=the last of negative things to happen, making you lose all your patience)
§ the cherry on top (=the last detail that makes something better/perfect) (can be used ironically)
§ to put pen to paper (=to write)
§ too good to be true (=oddly/ surprisingly perfect, suspicious)
YOU ARE READING
English as a Second Language: Pass All Your Exams!
AcakThe title basically says it all: This book includes all my notes copy-pasted into chapters. Here you'll find: ▪︎notes, ▪︎personal advice, ▪︎ideas, ▪︎guides and ▪︎templates ... and you'll learn how to write: ▪︎Informal Letters(Emails), ▪︎Formal Artic...
