Idioms and phrases of prevalent usage

1. A bad egg. (‫)بلکل بې کاره شخص‬,

Ex: I feel her boyfriend is a bad egg.
2. A blind alley. (‫)هغه وظیفه چی پرمختګ ونلري‬,
Ex: He will not progress as this profession is a blind alley.
3. A close- fisted. (‫)کنجوسه شخص‬,
Ex: Rahmat will spend nothing as he is a close-fisted.
4. A dog’s life. (‫)د ذلت ژوند‬,
Ex: He is poor and leads a dog’s life.
5. A necessary evil. (‫)بدي چې خالصون ترې ممکن نه وي‬,
Ex: War is a necessary evil.
6. A royal road. (‫)آسانه الره‬,
Ex: There is no royal road to success.
7. A square meal. (‫)ښه قوت ناکه غذا‬,
Ex: The poor cannot afford to get a square meal.
8. A turn coat. (‫ رایه بدلونکې‬/‫)زر خبرې‬,
Ex: Don’t depend on him, he is a turn coat.
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9. Above board. (‫)ښکاره‬,
Ex: You must keep the whole affair above board.
10. An axe to grind. (‫ مقصد‬،‫)ذاتي مفاد‬,
Ex: He will help you only when he has an axe to grind.
11. An eye-wash. (‫ فریب‬،‫)دهوکه‬,
Ex: His talk about his wealth is an eye-wash.
12. An iron will. (‫)قوي اراده لرونکې‬,
Ex: A good leader should be a man with an iron will.
13. A rolling stone. (‫)کسب بدلونکې شخص‬,
Ex: A rolling stone never learns anything.
14. At cross purpose. (‫ مقصد لرونکې‬،‫)مختلف اراده لرونکې‬,
Ex: They can’t agree as they are at cross purpose.
15. At stake. (‫)په خطره کې‬,
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Ex: We shall help her by all means.

18. By and large. ( ‫)په مجموعي توکه‬,
Ex: By and large, things are going quite well.
19. Child’s play. (‫)اسانه کار‬,
Ex: It is not child’s play to climb a mountain.
20. Fast living. (‫)عیاشه ژوند‬,
Ex: He has now indulged in fast living.
21. French leave. (‫)بې اجازې رخصت‬,
Ex: He always enjoys French leave.
22. High and mighty. ( ‫)ډیر مغروره‬,
Ex: He is very high and mighty in his behavior.
23. In a nut-shell. (‫)مختصرا‬,
Ex: I have put my story In anut-shell.
24. In keeping with. ( ‫)مطابق نه‬,
Ex: You are talk is not in keeping with your status.
25. In so far as. (‫)ترکومه چی‬,
Ex: In so far as he is concerned, we will not invite him.
26. In store. (‫)په ائنده کې‬,
Ex: There will be some problem in store for him.
27. Next to nothing. (‫)د هیڅ برار‬,
Ex: This small amount is next to nothing.
28. Off day. (‫)رخصت ورځ‬,
Ex: Sunday is an off day.
29. Off hand. (‫)بې له تبارۍ‬,
Ex: I cannot make a speech off hand.
30. On the alert. (‫)هوښیاره او خبردار‬,
Ex: We should be on the alert against our enemy.
31. On the score of. (‫)له وجې‬,
Ex: He was rejected on the score of ill health.
32. Once in a blue moon. (‫)کله کله‬,
Ex: She comes to see me once in a blue moon.
33. Out of question. (‫)ناممکن‬,
Ex: He doesn’t work, so his success is out of question.
34. Out-and-out. (‫ پوره‬،‫)مکمل‬,
Ex: He is an out-and-out liar.
35. Over and over again. (‫)باربار‬,
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Ex: I asked him over and over again to go to the party.

36. Rank and file. (‫ د ټیټې کچې خلک‬،‫)واړه خلک‬,
Ex: rank and file are not allowed to attend this meeting.
37. Sum and substance. (‫)خالصه‬,
Ex: Tell me the sum and substance of this topic.
38. Through and through. (‫)په مکمل ډول سره‬,
Ex: Abid is a gentleman through and through.
39. Up to date.(‫ جدی‬،‫) نوۍ‬,
Ex: This is up to date edition of this book.
40. Ways and means. (‫)ذریعه یه الره‬,
Ex: Find out ways and means to do this.
41. A bad debt. ( ‫)هغه قرض چی خالصول یی مشکل وي‬,
Ex: It is a bad debt, you cannot get it back.
42. A bee in a cap. (‫) ذهن کې خیال لرل‬,
Ex: He has a bee in the cap about going abroad.
43. A bird’s eye view, (‫)سر سري کتنه کول‬,
Ex: we had a bird’s eye view of the city from the airplane.
44. A bosom friend. (‫)کلک ملګرۍ‬,
Ex: I fully trust him as he is my bosom friend.
45. A dead letter. (‫)داسې یو قانون چی خلک پرې عمل نه کوي‬,
Ex: That rule is now just a dead letter.
46. A green hand. (‫) بې تجربې کس‬,
Ex: He is a green hand, but he will learn soon what to do.
47. A hard pill to swallow. (‫) سخت کار‬,
Ex: For him, examination proved a hard pill to swallow.
48. A maiden speech. (‫)لومړۍ تقریر‬,
Ex: He impressed the audience with his maiden speech.
49. A man of letters. (‫)پوه یا عالم شخصیت‬,
Ex: Ahmad Shah BaBa was a man of letter.
50. A man of parts. (‫)ښه والۍ لرنکې شخص‬,
Ex: Our president is a man of parts.
51. A man of straw. (‫)یو داسې کس چې خپله واک ونلري‬,
Ex: Don’t depend on him , he is a man of straw.
52. A narrow escape. (‫)بچ کیدل‬,
Ex: we had a narrow escape from the accident.
53. A red-letter day. (‫)د خوشحالۍ ورځ‬,
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Ex: The 1st of Asad is a red-letter day for us.

54. A white elephant. ( ‫داسې یو شی چی خرچه په ډیره وشي او ګټه‬
‫)یې کمه وي‬,
Ex: A car is a white elephant for a poor man.
55. Against a rainy day. (‫)د بدې ورځې لپاره‬,
Ex: Save something against the rainy day.
56. An apple of discord. (‫)د جنګ وجه‬,
Ex: This house is an apple of discord.
57. At daggers drawn. (‫)دشمن کیدل‬,
Ex: They were friends but now they are at daggers drawn.
58. At one’s heels. (‫) شاته ورپسې کیدل‬,
Ex: The police are at the robbers’ heels.
59. At sixes and sevens. (‫)ګد وډ پراته‬,
Ex: Everything in the room was at sixes and sevens.
60. Bad blood. (‫) رنجش‬,
Ex: The property created bad blood between the two
brothers.
61. Bread and butter. (‫)د روزي د امدن ذریعه‬,
Ex: Teaching is my bread and butter.
62. By hook or crook. (‫) په جائزه نا جائزه طریقه‬,
Ex: He will pass the examination by hook or crook.
63. By virtue of. (‫)په وجه ده‬,
Ex: She succeeded by virtue of hard work.
64. Crocodile tear. )‫)فرضي اوښکی‬,
Ex: After killing his friend, he shed crocodile tears.
65. Down and out. (‫)په پوره ډول‬,
Ex: He was defeated down and out in the election.
66. From scratch. (‫) معمولي حالت نه‬,
Ex: The Quaid-e-Azam build up a new state from scratch.
67. Give and take.)‫)سه واخله او سه ورکه‬,
Ex: I believe in give and take.
68. High time. (‫) مناسب وخت‬,
Ex: It is high time you should take the examination.
69. In the air. (‫) عامه خبره‬,
Ex: It is in the air that he is coming back.
70. Long and short. (‫ خالصه‬،‫)مختصر ډول‬.
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Ex: The long and short of the story is that he was killed.
71. Mid-summer madness. (‫)لیونتوب‬,
Ex: To talk like this is just mid-summer madness.
72. On the hands. (‫)په عمومي ډول‬,
Ex: It is agreed on the hands that he is a great man.
73. Shipshape. (‫)صاف ستره‬,
Ex: Everything in the room is shipshape.
74. Through thick and thin. (‫)ښه او بد حاالتو کې‬,
Ex: I will help you through thick and thin.
75. Tit for tat. (‫)د ورکړې بدله‬,
Ex: He is very revengeful and believes in tit for tat.
76. Tooth and nail. (‫) پورې طاقت باندې‬,
Ex: we will fight tooth and nail to depend our country.
77. To back out. (‫ منکریدل‬،‫)په شاه کیدل‬,
Ex: He promised to help but backed out now.
78. To back up. (‫)مالتړ مول‬,
Ex: we should always back up our friends.
79. To be at hand. (‫ قریب‬، ‫)نژدې‬,
Ex: Don’t worry, help is at hand.
80. To be cast-down.)‫)مایوسه کیدل‬,
Ex: After this tragedy they cast-down.
81. To be hard up. (‫)تنګ السه‬,
Ex: I can’t help you as I am hard up these days.
82. To be ill-at-ease. (‫)پریشانه کیدل‬,
Ex: I am ill at ease and do not know hat to do.
83. To beat back. (‫ ماته ورکول‬،‫)په شاه کول‬,
Ex: Our army beat back the enemy.
84. To blow one’s own trumpet. (‫)خپل ځان خپله ستایل‬,
Ex: We dislike him, because he always blows his own
trumpet.
85. To bring forth. (‫ میوه کول‬،‫)پیدا کول‬,
Ex: Trees bring forth new leaves in spring.
86. To bring to book. (‫ جواب طلبي کول‬،‫)پوښتل‬,
Ex: His teacher brought him to book for late coming.
87. To burn one’s boat. (‫)د بیرته راتګ الره بندول‬,
Ex: She burnt her boats and married the man she liked.
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88. To call names. (‫) کنځل کول‬,

Ex: His cruel father call him names.
89. To carry off. (‫)کټل او وړل‬,
Ex: He carried off all collage prizes.
90. To come to grief. (‫)په غم ککړیدل‬,
Ex: If you do this, you will come to grief.
91. To cry for the moon. (‫)د ناممکنه څیز خواهش کول‬,
Ex: Don’t cry for the moon: you cannot get her.
92. To cry over split milk. (‫)پښیمانه کیدل‬,
Ex: it is useless to cry over the split milk.
93. To cry up. (‫)بی حده تعریف کول‬,
Ex: He cried that book up.
94. To cry wolf. (‫)همیش په دروغو د خطرې اعالن کول‬,
Ex: If you cry wolf all times, no one will believe you.
95. To eat one’s words. (‫)شرمنده کیدل‬,
Ex: one day, you will have to eat your words.
96. To fall in with. (‫)متفق کیدل‬,
Ex: we fall in with you in this matter.
97. To flog a dead horse. (‫)کوشش ذایع کول‬,
Ex: Doing this work is flogging a dead horse.
98. To give the devil his due. (‫)د یو بد شخص ښه والي ذکرکول‬,
Ex: to give the devil his due, that rogue has some good
qualities.
99. By virtue of. ( ‫(په وجه ده‬
Ex: Wahidullah succeeded in science by virtue of
hardworking.
100. Broad day-light. (‫ د خلکو مخکې‬، ‫(په رڼا ورځ‬
Ex: The robbers robbed the bank in broad daylight.
101. Break the ice.)‫ خاموشي فضا ماتول‬،‫(خاموشي ماتول‬
Ex: All the students in the class were sitting silent but
Dawood broke the ice.
102. Bury the hatchet.
Ex: He advised to bury the hatchet between Niaz and
Mahboob,
103. Bring to mind.

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Ex: the old man brought to mind his youth and began to
weep.
104. Back out.
Ex: he backed out to help me in the bad time.
105. By and by.
Ex: by and by, he returned from Afghanistan,
106.

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