Some Unusual Idioms

1. A bit much (something excessive and annoying)

2. A bridge too far (going too far and getting into trouble
3. A chain is no stronger than its weakest links (organizations are vulnerable because the
weakest person or part can always break or damage them)
4. A fool at 40 is a fool forever (If someone hasn't matured by the time they reach forty,
they never will.)
5. A little bird told me (when we don’t want to reveal that where we got information from)
6. A rising tide lifts all boats (when economy is performing well, all people will benefit
from it)
7. A text book case (a common example of something)
8. As useful as a chocolate teapot (something that is of no practical use)
9. Acid test (a test that proves that something/one is good or bad
10. Against the clock (when we have extremely short time and we have to do something in an
extreme hurry)
11. Agony aunt (someone who advises people about their personal matters)
12. Wash your dirty Lenin in public/air your dirty laundry in public
(to discuss your personalaffairs in public, especially still embarrassing)
13. All dressed up and nowhere to go
14. All your eggs in one basket (when someone risks everything at once)
15. Ants in your pocket (when you are so excited/agitated that you can’t stand still)
16. At loose ends (when you have spare time and don’t know what to do with it)
17. At a snails pace (moving/progressing at an extremely slow pace)
18. At sea (when things are disorganized and chaotic)
19. At your wit’s end (to be very upset and don’t know what to do because you have tried
everything possible to solve the problem)
20. Back the wrong horse (to support a losing side)
21. Back to square one (when you have to start something from the beginning again)
22. Beard the lion in his own den (to confront someone on his or her own territory.)
23. Before you can say Jack Robinson (when you do something very quickly)
24. Before the ink is dry (when we just have a contract or agreement but things change very
quickly)
25. Beggars can’t be choosers
(people say beggars can't be chooserswhen there is no choice and sb must besatisfied wit
h what is available)
26. Better the devil you know
(used to say that it iseasier and wiser to stay in a bad situationthat you know and can deal
with ratherthan change to a new situation which maybe much worse)
27. A big girl’s blouse (a person who is very weak but fussy)
28. Big nose (used for the one who’s interested in everyone’s affairs)
29. Have bigger fish to fry (used when you are not interested to do something because it is
not important and you have some other thing to do that is more important)
30. Bite the bullet (when you have to do or accept something unpleasant and you can’t avoid
it)
31. Bull market (a bull market is a period investors are optimistic about good financial
results)
32. Champagne taste on a beer budget (someone who lives above his/her/their means and like
things they can’t afford)
33. Chase rainbow (try to do something that one can never achieve)
34. Cloud on the horizon (when we see some problem ahead)
35. Come what may (used when one is prepared to do something and nothing can stop you;
no matter how hard it becomes)
36. Cupboard love (to show love too gain something from someone)
37. Dance on someone’s grave (when someone defeats someone other and then celebrating
other’s defeat)
38. Dog-whistle politics (to play politics on racial basis covertly)
39. Bite the hands that feed (to harm sb who has helped you or supported you)
40. Don’t catch your chickens before they’re hatched (do wait until you know whether
something has produced results of your desire instead of acting before hand)
41. Judge a book by the cover (try to judge someone/thing by only his appearance and not
looking deeper inside that is more important)
42. Push someone’s buttons (to annoy someone)
43. Don’t trouble trouble until trouble troubles you (Don't go looking for trouble or
problems- let them come to you.)
44. Let the sleeping dogs lie
( to avoidmentioning a subject or sth that happenedin the past, in order to avoid any probl
ems or arguments)
45. Easier said than done (to be much more difficult to do than to talk about)
46. Render unto Caesar the things that are Cesar’s (
47. Someone’s eyes bigger than his stomach
(used to say that sb has been greedy bytaking more food than they can eat)
48. Fiddle while Rome burns (To occupy oneself with unimportant matters and neglect
priorities during a crisis.)
49. Fifth-columnist (one who helps the enemy to invade)
50. Trojan horse (a person or thing that is used to trick anenemy in order to achieve a secret
purpose)
51. Forbidden fruit (something illegal or immoral but enjoyable)
52. Get the monkey off your back (to pass your problem to someone other)
53. Give a dog a bad name
( when aperson already has a bad reputation, it isdifficult to change it because others will
continue to blame or suspect him/her)
54.
(teach your grandmother to suck ˈeggs to tell or show sb how to dosth that they can alrea
dy do well, andprobably better than you can
 55. (you can't) teach an old dog new ˈtricks(saying) (you cannot) successfully makepeople ch
ange their ideas, methods ofwork, etc, when they have had them for along time
56. Going Jesse (if something is going Jesse, it is viable, successful)
57. You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours (used to say that if sb helps
you, you will help them, even if this is unfair to others)
58. You’ve made your bed and now you must lie in it
(you must accept theresults of your actions)
59. You can lead a horse to water, but, you can’t make him drink it
(you cangive sb the opportunity to do sth, but youcannot force them to do it if they do not
want to)
60. Light years away ( a very long time
Full employment still seems light years away)
61. Two wrongs don’t make a right
(used to say that if sb does sth bad to you,the situation will not be improved by
doing somethings bad to them)
62. It’s easy to be wise after the event
(to understand sth, or realizewhat you should have done, only after school has happened)
63. See which way the cat jumps (to delay making a decision or doing something until you
know what is going to happen or what other people are going to do We'd better wait and
see which way the cat jumps before we commit ourselves.
64. Throw the baby out with the bath water
( to lose sth that you want at thesame time as you are trying to get rid ofsth that you do no
t want)
65. See when the balloon goes up (when the trouble that you are expecting begins)
66. Bury one’s head in the sand
(to refuse to admit that a problem exists orrefuse to deal with it)
67. Bark up the wrong tree (to pursue a mistaken line of action)
68. One’s bark is worse than one’s bite (one is not as ferocious as one seems)
69. Upset the apple cart (to spoil the plan)
70. A rotten apple (a corrupt person)
71. Rise from the ashes (be renewed after destruction)
72. A big ask (a difficult demand)
73. A bitter pill (an unpleasant or painful necessity)
74. Be a law unto oneself
(to behave in an independent way andignore rules or what other people want you to do)
75. Ask for moon (to ask for sth that is difficult or impossible to get or achieve)
76. Make omelets without breaking eggs (achieve sth important without causing a
few small problems)
77. Jump on the band wagon (join a party cause or a group that seems likely to succeed
78. Down hill all the way (easy compared to what came before)
79. Let the cat out of bag (to tell a secret carelessly or by mistake)
80. Put the cat among the pigeons (to say or do sth that is likely to cause trouble)
81. Like a cat on a hot bricks (very upset
82. Settle the score (take revenge on someone for something damaging that they have done in
the past.)
83. A big ask (a difficult thing to achieve or deal with)
84. Grass is not so green OR grass is always greener on the other side
(said aboutpeople who never seem happy with whatthey have and always think that other
people have a better situation than they have)
85. Rome wasn’t built in a day
(to say that a complicated task will take along time and needs patience)
86. One swallow doesn’t make a summer
( you must not take too seriously asmall sign that sth is happening or willhappen in the fu
ture, because the situation could change)
87. There’s no time like the present (now is the best time to do sth, not in the future)
88. Nothing succeeds like success
(when you are successful in one area ofyour life, it often leads to success in other areas)
89. Fall by the way side (to fail or be unable to make progress)
90. be even (with someone)
To not be indebted (to someone) for something; to not owe (someone) anything. I helped
Sarah set up the community center for her casino night in return for her helping me move,
so she and I are even now. Tell you what: buy me dinner this Friday. That way, you'll be
even with me for the money I lent you.
To no longer have cause to seek revenge (against someone). You broke the tail light on
my car, so I slashed your tires—now we're even.