IDIOM MEANING EXAMPLE

A drop in the ocean A very small part or A donation of 100,000

insignificant amount dollars is just a drop in the
of something big or ocean compared to the
whole millions that need to be
spent.
Actions speak louder It’s better to actually I am going to work for an
than words do something than NGO in Africa fighting
just talk about it climate change. Actions
speak louder than words.
Add fuel to the fire Whenever something Don’t mention the product
is done to make a bad delay in the meeting. You
situation even worse are just adding fuel to the
than it is fire.
A penny for your When you want to Why are you staring at the
thoughts know what somebody sky? A penny for your
is thinking thoughts!
Ball is in somebody’s It is up to somebody I have laid out my plan.
court to make the next The ball is in your court
decision or step now.
Barking up the wrong Look in the wrong I’m not responsible for this
tree place or accuse the mess! You are barking up
wrong person the wrong tree.
Be a good catch Be someone worth Donald is such a good
marrying/having catch. I hope, he’ll propose
soon.
Beat around the bush Avoid the main topic Don’t beat around the
or not speak directly bush! We can have an
about the issue open discussion here.
Bend over backwards Do whatever it takes Our company is bending
to help. Willing to do over backwards to satisfy
anything our customers.

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Bite off more than you Take on a task that is You bit off more than you
can chew too big can chew. You are never
going to finish the
presentation on time.
Blow somebody away Be extremely The product demo just
impressed by blew me away. I’ve never
something seen such a powerful
software.
By the skin of your You only just I hadn’t studied much, but
teeth succeeded and nearly passed the test by the skin
failed of my teeth.
Couldn’t care less Have a total lack of I couldn’t care less what
interest in something my new co-workers think
of me.
Cry over spilt milk Complain about a loss There’s no way to win
from the past back this customer. Don’t
cry over spilt milk.
Cry wolf Call for help when My new co-worker is
you don’t need it constantly crying wolf.
Crunch time The period of time I’m not getting much sleep
just before a project these days, because it’s
has to be completed crunch time at work.
and everyone has to
work hard
Curiosity killed the cat Get into an unpleasant He shouldn’t have
situation by being searched for the secret
inquisitive files. Curiosity killed the
cat.
Cut corners Do something badly They really cut corners
or cheaply when they built this office.
The cubicles are way too
small.
Cut somebody some Give somebody a You have to cut me some

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slack break/ not to judge slack. I already worked on
somebody severely the report the whole
weekend.
Cut to the chase Leave out all the In an elevator pitch you
unnecessary details don’t have much time. You
and just get to the have to cut to the chase!
point
Dig in your heels / Refuse to compromise My parents always wanted
Stick to your guns or change your mind me to become a lawyer,
but I dug in my heels /
stuck to my guns and
started my own travel
business.
Down to the wire Something that ends With the deadline coming
at the last minute or up and the project not
last few seconds being on track, the team
worked right down to the
wire to complete it on
time.
Drive someone up the To irritate or annoy The music my co-workers
wall very much listen to at the office is
driving me up the wall.
Get out of hand Lose control of things The meeting got out of
hand and people started
yelling at each other.
Get your head around it Understand I just can’t get my head
something around the fact that my
boss is not giving me a
raise.
Give the benefit of the Believe someone’s I can’t check your results
doubt statement, without anyway, so I’ll give you
proof the benefit of the doubt.
Go down in flames End or fail suddenly Our company will go

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 and spectacularly down in flames, if we
don’t take these new
startups seriously.
Hear on the grapevine Hear a rumor or I heard on the
unconfirmed story grapevine that our boss
will be leaving us soon.
Hit the books Study very hard I have to hit the books. My
final exam is coming up
soon.
It takes two to tango Actions or I don’t think, she did this
communications need by herself. It takes two to
more than one person tango.
Judge a book by its Judge someone or I really disliked the
cover something based product’s packaging. But
solely on appearance you can’t judge a book by
its cover.
Jump on the Join a popular trend This new software is going
bandwagon or activity to disrupt the market. We
should jump on the
bandwagon.
Kill two birds with one Solve two problems at By cycling to work I kill
stone once / with one action two birds with one stone.
If saves me money and I
get to work out.
Leave no stone Do everything I’ll leave no stone
unturned possible to achieve a unturned until I find out
goal who did this.
Let the cat out of the Accidentally reveal a The CEO let the cat out of
bag secret the bag about the
company’s restructuring.
Make a long story short Come to the point There’s not much time left.
Let me make a long story
short.

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Miss the boat Miss the opportunity I think I have missed the
to do something boat. They didn’t accept
my application anymore.
Once in a blue moon When something You only achieve such an
rarely ever happens amazing return on your
investment once in a blue
moon.
Piece of cake When something is Piece of cake, with our
extremely easy to do new software we’ll win
this customer for sure.
Pull a rabbit out of a Do something I thought there was no fix
hat unexpected to the software bug, but
our programmer pulled a
rabbit out of his hat.
Pull yourself together Calm down and act I understand you’ve had a
normally bad day, but pull yourself
together and get on with
your job, will you?
Run on fumes Continue to stay I really have to take a nap
awake when feeling now. I haven’t slept for
exhausted twenty hours and I’m
running on fumes.
Sell somebody out Snitch on someone or I asked you to keep this
let their secret out information to yourself. I
can’t believe you sold me
out!
Shoot from the hip Speak directly If you want to get on well
with your new boss, try not
to shoot from the hip next
time.
Sit on the fence Stay neutral and not I’m sitting on the
take sides fence with this one. My
team prefers solution A,

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 but my boss favors
solution B.
Skeleton crew The minimum number Can you please come to
of people needed to the office this weekend?
keep a service/office We’re operating with a
operating skeleton crew at the
moment.
Step up your game Start performing If you really want to win
better this competition, you’ll
have to seriously step up
your game.
When pigs fly Something will never As long as my boss stays
happen in office, I will have to
wait for a raise till pigs fly.
Whole nine yards Everything I’ll do whatever it takes to
make my venture a
successful one – I’ll go the
whole nine yards.
Your guess is as good Have no idea, do not We just don’t have enough
as mine know the answer to a information. Your guess is
question as good as mine.