Colloquial phrases and idioms

after all despite, nevertheless-Iknewit! After all, Iwas right!

all along all the time , Iknew about his little secret all along.

all ears eager tolisten Iam all ears.

all ofasudden suddenlyAll ofasudden, herefused topay.

all the same nodifference , Ifits all the same toyou, lets start attwo.

all thumbs clumsy, Hecant fix anything, hes all thumbs.

apple ofdiscord subject ofenvy orquarrel This question isanapple ofdiscord inour family.

asarule usually Asarule, weoffer a5% discount.

asfar asIam concerned inmyopinion , Asfar asIam concerned, both the book and the movie are good.

asfor me/as tome inmyopinion Asforme, you can rely onhis support.

aswell also, too, Heknows math, and physics aswell.

atall (not) inthe smallest degree ()Hedoesnt know French atall. Idont like itatall.

atrandom without order, Hechose those places atrandom.

atthis point atthis time Atthis point, wecant turn back.

beabout to ready (todo) Iwas about toleave when you called.

beafter someone insist, press, His mother isalways after him tostudy.

beall in beextremely tired Im allin, Id better gotobed now.

beback onones feet healthy again orbetter financially Hes back onhis feet after along period ofdebt and unemployment.

beat around the bush avoid giving aclear/definite answer Stop beating around the bush! Get tothe point!

bebeside oneself bevery upset, nervous, worried, etc. , .She was beside herself with worry/ with grief.

bebetter off beinabetter situation (financially) ()Hell bebetter off with anew job.

bebroke have nomoney atall ( )Ispent all mymoney, Im broke.

behard onsomething /someone treat roughly -Myson ishard onshoes, they dont last long with him. Life was pretty hard onTom.

behigh onones list beone ofthe most important things Anew car ishigh onmylist ofpriorities. AnewTV isnot high onmylist.

beincharge of beresponsible for Heisincharge ofmarketing.

beinthe red beindebt Our sales were inthe red last year.

beinto smth.beinterested in -Heisinto computers. She isinto sports.

bend over backwards try hard Ibent over backwards tohelp her.

beonones way .Im onmyway.

beonthe safe side not totake any chances Take anextra key, just tobeonthe safe side.

beout of bewithout Weare out ofbread, cheese, and sugar.

beout ofshape bephysically unfit Heneeds toexercise, heisout ofshape.

beout ofsorts inbad humorLeave him alone, hes out ofsorts today

bepressed for time/ money beshortof; not have enough Im pressed for time now. Weare pressed for money atthe moment.

beside the point off the point, What Isaid tohim privately isbeside the point.

betoblame beresponsible for amistake/ something wrong , Who istoblame for this awful mistake? Tom istoblame for this mix-up.

betouch and go beuncertain ofthe result; , Hewas very sick, and for some time itwas touch andgo, but heisbetter now.

beupagainst beopposedby, have problems, beindanger -, -Our company isupagainst serious attempts ofhostile takeover.

beupand around/about able tobeout ofbed after anillness , Hewas sick for amonth, but now heisupand around.

beuptoones ears very busyIm uptomyears inwork.

beuptosomething domischief, Ihave tocheck what the kids are upto.

beuptosomeone beones own decision orresponsibility , Its uptoyou todecide. Its uptoyou toclose the office every day at8oclock.

beused to beaccustomed to Im used tohard work. Hes used toheat.

big shot important person Heisabig shot around here.

bite off more than one can chew try todomore than one can Icouldnt handle two jobs and family. Ireally bit off more thanI could chew.

bite ones tongue stop talking Ialmost told her, but bit mytongue.

bite the dust die, bedefeated, Many ofthem bit the dust inthat war.

black sheep agood-for-nothing member ofthe family Their second son isthe black sheep ofthe family, heisgood for nothing.

blind date ameeting ofaman and woman arranged byfriends She refuses togoonablind date again because she had bad experience.

blow it lose the chance Heunderstood that heblewit.

blow over pass, end, Wait here till his anger blows over.

bottom line main result/factor, The bottom lineis, Idont have enough money.

break into enter byforce () The police broke into the robbers house.

break ones heart hurt deeply The news ofher death broke his heart.

break the ice overcome shyness inmaking the first step The party was dull until someone broke the ice with ajoke and weall laughed.

break the news tell new facts CNN isbreaking the news right now.

bring home the bacon earn the living for the family Heworks very hard atseveral places tobring home the bacon.

brush off give noattention to The boss brushed off myproject again.

brush upon review You need tobrush uponthe tenses.

byall means -definitely, certainly, Doyou need myhelp? Byall means.

byheart bymemorizingLearn this poem byheart for tomorrow.

byhook orbycrook byany means possible , She will get what she wants byhook orbycrook.

bythe way incidentallyBythe way, Ann iscoming back today.

call aspade aspade use plain, direct words Healways tells the truth and calls aspade aspade.

call itaday consider work finished for the day Weve been working for 10straight hours. Lets call itaday.

call off cancel, The police called off the search.

carry out fulfill She never carries out her plans.

carry weight beimportant His advice always carries weight here.

cast down depressed, sad Hewas cast down bythe bad news.

castles inthe air daydreaming about success() Instead ofworking hard, hespends time building castles inthe air.

catch ones eye attract attention This picture caught myeye.

catch ones breath stop and rest Icant run, Ineed tocatch mybreath.

catch someone off guard catch someone unprepared Hecaught meoff guard with his question.

catch someone red-handed find smb. inthe act ofdoing wrong , The manager caught the boy red-handed when hewas stealing cigarettes.

catch up become not behindHeneeds tocatch upwith the others.

close call anarrow escape, abad thing that almost happened- , The speeding car almost hit the man. That was really aclose call.

come across meet bychance Icame across that article yesterday.

come down with become ill -Im coming down with acold.

come toones senses start acting reasonably, intelligently , Hefinally came tohis senses, started towork hard, and passed his exams.

come true become realityMydream came true whenI met Pat.

come upwith suggestMike came upwith abrilliant idea.

count on depend on You can always count onmefor help.

cut corners totake ashort-cut; tolimit ones spending ; Heran fast, cutting corners where hecould. Ihave tocut corners this week.

cut down on reduce You have tocut down onchocolate.

cut out tobe/cut out for it have the ability todosomething - She isnt cut out tobeasurgeon. Hes cut out tobealeader.

doones best try very hard , Idid mybest tohelp him inhis work.

doones bit dowhats needed Ill domybit, you can count onme.

doover doagain This work isnot good, doitover.

dosomeone good begood for Fresh air and exercise will doyou good.

dosomething behind ones back do(harmful) things secretively () Ihate people who dothings behind myback. Hedid itbehind myback again.

dowithout live without Ill have todowithout acar for awhile.

down toearth practicalHes quiet, sensible and down toearth.

draw the line fix alimit ()Hedrew the line for her at$100a day.

dress up put onthe best clothesWhat are you dressed upfor?

drop off deliver somewhere, Can you drop meoff atthe bank?

drop out quit (school) Hedropped out ofschool last year.

duty calls must fulfill obligations Hesaid, Duty calls and left for work.

easier said than done , Its easier said than done, but Ill try todoit.

eat ones words take back words Hehad toeat his words after her report.

even so nevertheless, but Iwork hard. Even so, Ilike myjob.

every now and then -occasionally Every now and thenI visit myold aunt.

every other every second one She washes her hair every other day.

fall behind lag behind The little boy fell behind the older boys.

fall inlove begin toloveTom fell inlove with Sue atfirst sight.

fall out oflove stop lovingThey fell out oflove and divorced soon.

false alarm untrue rumor Iheard hequit but itwas afalse alarm.

afar cry from something very different, almost opposite (neg.) , His second book wasnt bad, but itwas afar cry from his first book.

feel itinones bones expect something bad tohappen, Something bad isgoing tohappen, Ifeel itinmybones.

feel like doing something want todo, beinclined todosmth. -Ifeel like going for awalk. Idont feel like working now, Im tired.

feel upto beable todo Idont feel uptocleaning the house.

few and far between rare, scarce Her visits are few and far between.

find fault with criticizeHealways finds faults with everybody.

find out learn ordiscover, Ifound out that Maria left town.

firsthand directly from the source , You can trustit, its firsthand information.

first things first important things come before others First things first: how much money dowehave topay right away?

fly off the handle get angry ()Heflew off the handle and yelled atme.

follow insomeones footsteps dothe same thing - , Igor followed inhis fathers footsteps, hebecame adoctor, too.

foot inthe door aspecial opportunity for ajob Nina got afoot inthe door because her friend works inthat company.

foot the bill pay the bill Her father footed the bill for the party.

for good foreverAfter her death, heleft town for good.

for the time being atthis time For the time being, this house isall right forus.

frame ofmind mental stateIcant doitinthis frame ofmind.

fromA toZ completely Heknows this town fromA toZ.

from now on now and inthe futureFrom nowon, Iforbid you togothere.

get agrip ononeself take control ofones feelings Stop crying! Get agrip onyourself!

get along with have good relations , Ann gets along with most coworkers, but doesnt get along with Laura.

get away with not becaught after doing wrong The police didnt find the thief. Hegot away with his crime.

get carried away get too excited and enthusiastic about something -Hegot carried away with opening astore and lost most ofhis money.

get cold feet beafraid todo Iwanted totry itbut got cold feet.

get even with have ones revenge -Ill get even with him for everything!

get intouch with contact -Get intouch with Mr. Smith for help.

get lost lose ones way She got lost inthe old part oftown.

Get lost!Lay off!!Idont want tosee you again. Get lost!

get mixed up get confusedIgot mixedup, went the wrong way and got lost.

get off ones back leave alone -Stop botheringme! Get off myback!

get onones high horse behave haughtily towards someone Every timeI ask her tohelp mewith typing, she gets onher high horse.

geton (the bus, train, plane) ()Igot onthe bus onOak Street.

get off (the bus, train, plane) ()Igot off the bus atthe bank.

get out ofhand get out ofcontrol - Ifhegets out ofhand again, call meright away.

get over recover after anillness orbad experience, -Icant get over how rude hewas tome. She got over her illness quite quickly.

get rid of disposeof, discardHegot rid ofhis old useless car.

get together meet with Myfriends andI get together often.

get tothe bottom know deeply Heusually gets tothe bottom ofthings.

get tothe point get tothe matter Get tothe point!

Give meabreak!spare me Comeon, stopit! Give meabreak!

give someone ahand help -Can you give meahand with cooking?

give someone alift /aride take tosome place bycar -Can you give mealift tothe bank? Hegave her aride inhis new Porsche.

give someone apiece ofones mind criticize frankly, , She lost myumbrella again, soI gave her apiece ofmymind about her carelessness.

give up stop doing something, stop trying todosomething -, Igave upsmoking. Igave uptrying tofix myold car.

goback onones word break apromise , First hesaid hewould helpme, but then hewent back onhis word.

gofor it try todoanew thing IfIwere you, Iwould goforit.

gofrom bad toworse beworse His business went from bad toworse.

goout gotoparties, movies Doheand his wife goout often?

goout ofones way -try very hard Hegoes out ofhis way toplease her.

gotoones head make too proud His acting success went tohis head.

gotopieces get very upset, fall apart She went topieces when she heardit.

gowith the flow lead quiet life She always goes with the flow.

grow onsomeone become liked When she knew him more, hegrew onher.

had better should, ...You look ill, youd better see adoctor.

have aball have agood time Yesterday wehad aball atthe party.

have abone topick complain ordiscuss something unpleasant -, -Mr. Brown, Ihave abone topick with you. Mymail was lost because ofyou.

have aword with someone talk to -Can Ihave aword with you?

have words with someone argue with someone about something Ihad words with mycoworker today because heused mycomputer again.

have itinhim have the ability Laura has itinher tobeagood doctor.

have nobusiness doing something have noright todo , .You have nobusiness staying here without mypermission.

have ones back tothe wall behard-pressed, onthe defensive Ihad nochoice, Ihad myback tothe wall.

have ones hands full very busy Hehas his hands full with hard work.

have ones heart set onsomething want something very much -, -She has her heart set ongoing toNew York. Hehas his heart set onBetty.

have pull have influence on Does hehave pull with the director?

(not) have the heart (not) have the courage todosmth. unpleasant() Idont have the heart totell him that hewasnt accepted, hell besounhappy.

high and low everywhere ( ..)Isearched high and low for mylost cat.

hit the nail onthe head say exactly the right thing You hit the nail onthe head when you said our company needs anew director.

hit upon something todiscover They hit upon gold. Ihit upon aplan.

hold itagainst someone blame somebody for doing something() -Ilost his book, but hedoesnt hold itagainstme.

Hold it!Stop! Wait!/!Hold it! Iforgot mykey.

Hold on!Wait!!Hold on! Ill beback inaminute.

hold ones own maintain oneself inasituation, behave asneeded , -Hecan hold his own inany situation. Weneed men who can hold their own.

hold up rob using aweapon This bank was held uptwice last year.

ill atease uncomfortableShe felt ill atease because ofher cheap dress.

inadvance well beforeHetold her about his plan inadvance.

inanutshell inafew words, Inanutshell, myplan istobuy land.

incare ofsomeone write toone person atthe address ofanother ( )Im staying atToms house. Write tomeincare ofTom Gray, Chicago, Illinois.

incold blood mercilesslyHekilled her incold blood.

infact actually, inrealityInfact, heworks asamanager here.

ingeneral generally, generally speaking, Ingeneral, helikes tobealone. Hedescribed the place only ingeneral.

inones element what one likes Hes inhis element when hes arguing.

inother words using other words Inother words, you refused todoitfor her.

inplain English insimple, frank terms Ididnt really like the concert. Inplain English, the concert was terrible.

the ins and outs all info about Heknows the ins and outs ofthis business.

insomeones shoes inanother persons position , Id hate tobeinhis shoes now. Helost his job, and his wife isinthe hospital.

inthe long run inthe end Inthe long run, itll bebetter tobuyit.

inthe same boat inthe same situation Stop arguing withme, were inthe same boat and should help each other.

inthe clear free from blame Pay the bill and youll beinthe clear.

intime (todosomething) before something begins , - ( -)Icame intime tohave acup ofcoffee before class.

itgoes without saying should beclear without words , Itgoes without saying that hemust pay what heowes right away.

Its onthe tip ofmytongue. His name isonthe tip ofmytongue.

its time should doitright awayHurryup, its time togo.

Its worthit./ Its not worthit.Its (not) worth buying, visiting, watching, etc. / ; () , , ..Watch this film, its worthit. Dont buy this coat, itisnot worthit. This museum isworth visiting. This film isnot worth watching.

itwill do its enoughStop reading, itwill dofor now.

jump atthe opportunity/chance accept the opportunity eagerly His boss mentioned ajob inEurope, and Peter jumped atthe opportunity.

just assoon prefer this one ()Id just assoon stay home, Im tired.

just incase tobeonthe safe side Take anextra shirt, just incase.

Just myluck!Bad/ Hard luck! !They lost myjob application. Just myluck!

keep aneye on take careof, watch, look after, Betty keeps aneye onmysons forme. Ill keep aneye onyou!

keep astraight face not tolaugh Itried tokeep astraight face, but failed.

keep company accompany She keeps mecompany quite often.

keep ones word fulfill apromise You promised, now keep your word.

keep someone posted inform Keep meposted about your plans.

keep your fingers crossed hope that nothing will gowrong, Ihave ajob interview today. Keep your fingers crossed forme, will you?

kill time fill/spend empty time Iwent tothe show tokill time.

(not) know the first thing about not tohave any knowledge about - Idont know the first thing about nuclear physics.

know the ropes bevery familiar with some business Heknows all the ropes inthis company.

last-minute notice little ornotime toprepare for something His arrival was alast-minute notice, wedidnt have time toprepare forit.

lay ones cards onthe table befrank and open , Finally, weasked him tolay his cards onthe table and tellus about his plans.

lay ones life onthe line put oneself inadangerous situation Helaid his life onthe line tofulfill this task, but nobody appreciated his efforts.

lead adogs life live inmisery Heleads adogs life.

lead someone on make someone believe something that isnt true - They suspect that you are leading themon. You led meon!

leave itatthat accept reluctantly Leave itatthat, what else can youdo?

leave word leave amessage Heleft word for you tomeet him atthe airport at6.

let bygones bebygones forget and forgive bad things inthe past Why dont you let bygones bebygones and forget about what hesaid?

let goof release the hold, Let goofmyhand orIll call the guard.

let (it) go forget bad experience, return tonormal life Hes still indespair and cant let (it) go. You cant change anything, solet itgo.

let ones hair down berelaxed and informal with other people She isalways soformal. She never lets her hair down.

let someone down disappoint, fail someone -Dont let medown this time!

let someone know informLet meknow when you find ajob.

like father, like son belike ones parent insomething , Paul won aprize inachess tournament. Great! Like father, like son!

little bylittle step bystepLittle bylittle, hegot used toTokyo.

look for search forWhat are you looking for?

look forward to expect with pleasure Im looking forward toyour letter. Mary islooking forward tothe party.

look out becareful, watch outLook out! The bus iscoming!

look up check with /inadictionary orareference book Ifyou dont know this word, look itupinthe dictionary.

lose ones temper become angryHeloses his temper very often.

lose ones way get lost Ilost myway. Can you helpme?

lose track of not toknow where someone orsomething is Ilost track ofhim years ago.

lucky break alucky chance Hegot his lucky break when hegot this job.

make aliving earn money toprovide for life Heworks hard. His family isbig, and hehas tomake aliving somehow.

make allowance for take into consideration when judging, Dont criticize him sohard, make (an) allowance for his inexperience.

make apoint of besure todosomething intentionally -Make apoint ofasking about his wife. Make itapoint tobehere by10.

make ends meet tohave and spend only what one earns His doesnt get much money. Iwonder how hemanages tomake ends meet.

make friends become friendsAnton makes new friends easily.

make fun of laughat, joke aboutHemade fun ofher German accent.

make nobones about it say/do openly, without hesitation , Ill make nobones aboutit: Idont like your attitude towork.

make room for allow space for Wecan make room for one more dog.

make sense belogical What you say makes sense.

make the most ofsmth dothe best inthe given situation Lets make the most ofour vacation.

make up become friends againIm tired offighting. Lets makeup.

make upfor smth compensateIll make upfor the time you spent onit.

make upones mind decide When will yougo? Make upyour mind.

make yourself athome becomfortable, feel athome Come inplease. Make yourself athome.

man ofhis word one who keeps promises, isdependable , You can depend onhis promise tohelp. Hes aman ofhis word.

mean well have good intentions , Hemeant well, but itturned out that hespoiled acouple ofthings forme.

might aswell agood idea Imight aswell telephone him now.

missing person someone who islost and cant belocated ()The little boy disappeared. The police registered him asamissing person.

meet someone halfway compromise with others -Hes reasonable and tries tomeet his coworkers halfway, when possible.

never mind itdoesnt matter, Thank you. Never mind.

not tomention inaddition to Wehave three dogs, not tomention two cats.

nowonder not surprising, Heate three big fish. Nowonder hes sick.

now and again occasionally Imeet them now and again atthe bank.

odds and ends avariety ofsmall unimportant things orleftovers, , Ineeded tobuy some odds and ends for the kitchen.

off the cuff without preparation Off the cuff, Ican give you only arough estimate.

off the point beside the point What Ithink about him isoff the point.

off the record not for the public, unofficially , Strictly off the record, Ithink the director isgoing toget married soon.

once and for all decidedly You must quit smoking once and for all.

oncredit not pay cash right awayHebought acar oncredit.

onedge nervous, irritable, Hes been onedge ever since she left.

onguard onthe alert, Hes cautious and always onguard.

onhand available Doyou have acalculator onhand?

onones own alone, byoneself, , She likes tolive and work onher own.

onones toes alert, attentive, prepared for difficulties, Hewas onhis toes and produced avery good impression onthem.

onpurpose intentionally, Ididnt doitonpurpose, itjust happenedso.

onsecond thought after thinking again Id like tosit onthe aisle. Onsecond thought, Id like awindow seat.

onthe alert onguard, Hes cautious and always onthe alert.

onthe carpet called inbythe boss for criticism Yesterday the boss called her onthe carpet for being rude tothe coworkers.

onthe go busy, onthe move, Heisalways onthego.

onthe off chance unlikely tohappen, but still, Onthe off chance that you dont find him atwork, heres his home address.

onthe other hand considering the other side ofthe question Id like tohave adog. Onthe other hand, mywife likes cats better.

onthe spot right there, Idecided todoitonthe spot.

onthe spur ofthe moment without previous thought/ plan Hebought this car onthe spur ofthe moment, now heregretsit.

ontime punctual Jim isalways ontime.

out ofones mind crazyIfyou thinkso, youre out ofyour mind.

out ofones way away from someones usual routeIcant give you alift tothe bank, its out ofmyway today.

out ofthe question impossible Paying him isout ofthe question!

pack rat aperson who saves lots ofunnecessary things, Why does she keep all those things she never uses? She isapack rat.

pay attention beattentive Pay attention tohis words.

pick afight start aquarrel Heoften tries topick afight withme.

pick up take, get, Ill pick you upat7.

play ones cards right choose the right steps indoing something Ifyou play your cards right, hell agree toyour plan.

potluck supper asurprise meal, where nobody knows what dishes other guests will bring , , You know what happened atour last potluck supper? Everybody brought macaroni and cheese, apples, and beer!

pull oneself together brace oneself, summon your strengthc Stop crying and complaining! You have topull yourself together now.

pull the wool over someones eyes deceive, mislead someone, Are you trying topull the wool over myeyes? Itwont doyou any good.

put adamper on discourage She always puts adamper onmyplans.

put inaword for someone say positive things about someone Id bevery grateful ifyou could put inaword for mewhen you speak tohim.

put off postponeDont put itoff till tomorrow.

put ones foot down object strongly Her father put his foot down when she said she wanted tomarry Alan.

put ones foot init dothe wrong thing, make afool ofoneself/ Heput his foot initwhen hetold the boss his daughter wasnt pretty.

put upwith accept, tolerate, Icant put upwith your bad work!

quite abit of much, alot ofIhad quite abit oftrouble with that car.

quite afew many, alot ofHewrote quite afew good stories.

rack ones brain try hard tothink Heracked his brain tosolve the puzzle.

read between the lines find orunderstand the implied meaning His books are not easy tounderstand; you have toread between the lines.

remember meto say hello to Please remember metoyour family.

right away immediately, It very important todoitright away.

ring abell remind someone ofsomething familiar /half-forgotten - Annabel Lee? Yeah, itrings abell, butI cant place itright now.

rock the boat make the situation unstable , Peter always rocks the boat when wediscuss companys spending policy.

rub shoulders with meet with Hedoesnt rub shoulders with the rich.

rub someone the wrong way irritate, annoy, make angry, -His remarks rub many coworkers the wrong way.

run into meet bychance Iran into anold friend yesterday.

save face try tochange the negative impression produced Hesaid astupid thing and tried tosave face bysaying hemisunderstoodme.

save ones breath stop useless talk Theres nouse talking tohim about his spending habits, sosave your breath.

scratch the surface study something superficially Heexamines all the facts closely, hedoesnt just scratch the surface.

see about make arrangements for -Ihave tosee about our plane tickets.

see eye toeye agree Wedont see eye toeye any longer.

serve someone right get what someone deservesItserves him right that hedidnt get this job, hedespised all other candidates.

serve ones purpose beuseful tosomeone for his purpose Idoubt that hiring this man will serve your purpose.

show promise bepromising This young actor shows promise.

show up appearIwaited for hours but hedidnt showup.

size up evaluate someone, Ittook me5minutes tosize upthat man.

sleep onit postpone adecision till next morning Dont decide now, sleep onit.

aslip ofthe tongue amistake ()Itwas just aslip ofthe tongue!

slip (from) ones mind forgetItslipped mymind what she askedme.

smell arat suspect something Im not sure what itis, butI smell arat.

sofar uptonow , Sofar, Ihave read 3books byKing.

somuch the better its even better Ifhecan pay cash, somuch the better.

spill the beans tell asecretWho spilled the beans about our plan?

stand achance have achance Hedoesnt stand achance ofgettingit.

stand out benoticeableHestands out inany group ofpeople.

stand toreason belogical, Itstands toreason that heapologized.

straight from the shoulder speak frankly, Dont try tospare myfeelings, give ittomestraight from the shoulder.

take adim view ofsomething disapprove ofsomethingMysister takes adim view ofthe wayI raise mychildren.

take abreak stop for rest Lets take abreak, Im tired.

take advantage of use for ones own benefit, toprofit from Wetook advantage ofthe low prices and bought acomputer and amonitor.

take after belike one ofthe parents ()Tom takes after his father incharacter, and after his mother inappearance.

take astand onsomething make afirm opinion/decision onsmth. , People need totake astand onthe issue ofnuclear weapons.

take care of look after, protect, see that smth. isdone properly -, -, Can you take care ofmydog while Im away? Tom takes good care ofhis car.

take hold ofsomething take, hold, Take hold ofthis rope and pull.

take into account consider smth. You must take into account her old age.

take iteasy relax, becalmTake iteasy, everything will beOK.

take (it) for granted accept asgiven Mothers love isalways taken for granted bychildren.

take ones breath away That great view took mybreath away.

take ones time doslowly Dont hurry. Take your time.

take ones word for it believe Take myword forit, hewont gothere.

take pains try hard todoitwell Hetook pains tomake his report perfect.

take part insmth.participate in Mary isgoing totake part inthe show.

take place happen , The accident took place onOak Street.

take someones mind off things distract from fixed ideas/thoughts Gotoaconcert oramovie totake your mind off things.

take steps take action /measures Weneed totake steps againstit.

take the words right out ofones mouth say the same before somebody else says it , Iwas about tosay the same! You took the words right out ofmymouth.

take time take along time Ittakes time toget used toanew place.

take time off beabsent from work Hetook time off toattend the wedding.

take turns alternate doing something one after another , Wewent toMinsk bycar. Wedidnt get tired because wetook turns driving

talk back answer rudelyDont talk back tothe teacher!

talk itover discuss -Ill talk itover with myfamily.

tell apart see the difference, Can you tell the twins apart?

Thats just the point.Thats it.- .Thats just the point! Ihate this job!

the writing onthe wall asign offuture events (usually, trouble) (, )The plane crashed. Tim said hesaw the writing onthe wall about this flight.

not think much of think low Idont think much ofher cooking.

think over consider carefullyThink over your answer. Think itover carefully.

till one isblue inthe face try hard Irepeated ittillI was blue inthe face!

tomake along story short inshort Tomake along story short, wewon.

tosay the least tomake the minimum comment about smth. , The film was boring and long, tosay the least.

try on put onnew clothes totest them for size orlook ( )Try onthis leather coat, its very good. She tried iton, but itdidnt fit her atall.

try ones hand atsomething try Iwant totry myhand atpainting.

turn on/ off switch on/ off/Turn onthe radio. Turn off the water.

turn out tobe result/end this wayHeturned out tobeavery good actor.

turn over anew leaf make afresh start inlife, work, etc. (, ) Hepromises toturn over anew leaf and quit alcohol for good.

turn the tide reverse the course ofevents The new evidence turned the tide, and the defendant was acquitted ofcharges.

twist ones arm make toagree They twisted his arm tosell the house.

under the weather feel illIm alittle under the weather today.

up-and-coming showing promise offuture success, Heisanup-and-coming young lawyer who might help you with your case.

upinarms hostileto, instrong protest against something , The employees are upinarms about the new retirement rules.

upinthe air undecided Myvacation plans are still upinthe air.

(not) uptopar equal instandard() His behavior isnt uptopar.

used to did often inthe past, but not now , Iused toplay the piano whenI was inschool (butI dont play itnow).

walk onair bevery happy Hegot the job and iswalking onair now.

waste ones breath speak uselessly, tonopurpose Dont waste your breath trying tomake him doit, hewont change his mind.

watch ones step becareful Watch your step!

watch out look out, becarefulWatch out for that car! Watch out!

wet blanket akill-joy, who spoils everybodys fun, Remember what awet blanket hewas last time? Please dont invite him again.

Whats the matter?What isit? ?Whats the matter? What happened?

which way the wind blows what the real situation is Heknows which way the wind blows and always acts accordingly.

white lie unimportant lie Awhite lie istold tospare your feelings.

word for word inthe same words, Tell meword for word what hesaid.

would rather preferId rather stay athome today.