English Idioms In Use

English\nIdioms\nin\nUse\n\n60 units of vocabulary\nreference and practice\n\nSelf-study and classroom use\n\nMichael McCarthy\nFelicity O'Dell\nCAMBRIDGE\nUNIVERSITY PRESS Contents\nAcknowledgements 3\nUsing this book 4\n\nLearning about idioms\ni What are idioms?\nii Using your dictionary\n\nIdioms to talk about ...\n1 Health\n2 Happiness and sadness\n3 Anger\n4 Knowing and understanding\n5 Experience and perception\n6 Success and failure\n7 Having problems\n8 Dealing with problems\n9 Power and authority\n10 Structuring and talking about arguments\n11 Conversational responses\n12 Praise and criticism\n13 Opinions on people and actions\n14 Behaviour and attitudes\n15 Reacting to what others say\n16 Danger\n17 Effort\n18 Necessity and desirability\n19 Probability and luck\n20 Social status\n21 Feelings\n22 Human relationships\n23 Size and position\n24 Money\n25 Work\n26 Speed, distance and intensity\n27 Communication 1: commenting on language\n28 Communication 2: getting the message across\n29 Life and experience: proverbs\n30 Memory\n\nIdioms from the topic area of ...\n31 Time 1: the past and the future\n32 Time 2: clocks and frequency\n33 The elements\n34 Color\n35 Games and sport\n36 Animals 1: describing people\n37 Animals 2: describing situations\n38 Weapons and war\n\nEnglish Idioms in Use 39 Food\n40 Roads\n41 Houses and household objects\n42 Nature\n43 Boats and sailing\n44 Science, technology and machines\n\nIdioms using these keywords:\n45 Fingers, thumb, hand\n46 Foot, heel, toe\n47 Bones, shoulder, arm, leg\n48 Head\n49 Face, hair, neck, chest\n50 Eyes\n51 Ear, lips, mouth, nose, teeth, tongue\n52 Heart\n53 Brain, mind, blood and guts\n54 Back\n55 Long\n56 Line\n57 Act, action, activity\n58 Good and bad\n59 Ground\n\nKey 130\nList of phonetic symbols 170\nIndex 171\n\n2 English Idioms in Use How should I use this book?\nAs well as the 60 main units, there are two introductory units: Unit 1 What are idioms? and Unit 2 Using your dictionary. It is strongly recommended that you work through these units first. After that, you may work on the units in any order that suits you.\n\nWhat else do I need in order to work with this book?\nYou need a notebook or file in which you can write down the idioms that you study in this book as well as any others that you come across elsewhere.\n\nYou also need to have access to a good dictionary. We strongly recommend the Cambridge International Dictionary of Idioms as this gives exactly the kind of information that you need to have about idioms. Your teacher, however, may also be able to recommend other dictionaries that you will find useful.\n\nSo, we hope that this book will 'shed light' on all you need to know about English idioms (see Unit 8) and that, by the time you finish the units, you'll be saying: 'English idioms? A piece of cake!' (see Unit 17).\n\nEnglish Idioms in Use 5 Using this book\n\nWhy was this book written?\nIt was written to help you improve your knowledge of idioms in English. Idioms are fixed expressions whose meaning is not immediately obvious from looking at the individual words in the idiom. You will come across a great many idioms when you learn to read English. So it is important that you learn about the meanings of idioms and about how they are used. You can use this book either with a teacher or for self-study.\n\nWe wanted to encourage language learners to have a balanced approach to idioms in English. Sometimes in the past, teachers used to argue that it was a waste of time for learners to study idioms as they might start using them in an inaccurate or unsuitable way. But idioms are in such widespread use that it is inappropriate to ignore them. This book focuses just on those idioms which the modern student needs to know and it aims to provide the information and practice which will help you understand and use them correctly.\n\nHow were the idioms in the book selected?\nThere are a great many idioms in English, but some of them sound rather old-fashioned or are not very widely used. The 1,000 or so idioms which are worked on in this book were all selected from those identified as significant based on computer searches of huge language databases: the CANCODE corpus of spoken English, developed at the University of Nottingham in association with Cambridge University Press and the Cambridge International Corpus of written English. These databases show how the idioms have actually been used by native speakers of English in conversations, newspapers, novels, and many other contexts. The idioms selected are all to be found in the Cambridge International Dictionary of Idioms where additional examples and usage notes will also be found. You can search this dictionary online by going to the following website: http://dictionary.cambridge.org\n\nHow is the book organised?\nThe book has 60 two-page units. The left-hand page presents the idioms that are worked on in the unit. You will usually find an explanation of the meaning of each idiom, an example of it in use and, where appropriate, any special notes about its usage. The right-hand page checks that you have understood the information on the left-hand page by giving you a series of exercises that practise the material just presented. The exercises pay particular attention to checking your understanding of the idioms and how they are used because this is more important for most learners than being able to actively use the idioms.\n\nThe units are organised in three sections:\n\nIdioms to talk about... which groups idioms according to the topic area that they are used to talk about. Thus, to be snowed under [to have an enormous amount of work to do] is included in Unit 25, Work.\n\nIdioms from the topic area of... which groups idioms according to the image they are based on. Thus, hit the roof [react in a very angry way] is included in Unit 41, Houses and household objects.\n\nIdioms using these keywords which groups idioms according to keywords in them. For example, Unit 48 deals with a set of idioms based on the word head.\n\nThe book also has a key to all the exercises and an index which lists the 1,000 idioms we deal with and indicates the units where they can each be found.\n\nEnglish Idioms in Use 4 What are idioms?\n\nA Idioms and meaning\nIdioms are expressions which have a meaning that is not obvious from the individual words. For example, the idiom drive somebody round the bend means make somebody angry or frustrated, but we cannot know this just by looking at the words.\n\nThe best way to understand an idiom is to see it in context. If someone says: This tin opener's driving me round the bend! I think I'll throw it away and get a new one next time I'm in town.\n\nthen the context and common sense tells us that drive round the bend means something different from driving a car round a curve in the road. The context tells us the tin opener is not working properly and that it's having an effect on the person using it.\n\nB Types of idioms\nform example meaning\n\nverb + object/complement kill two birds with one stone produce two useful results by\n(and/or adverbial) just doing one action\n\nprepositional phrase in the blink of an eye in an extremely short time\n\ncompound a bone of contention something which people argue\n and disagree over\n\nsimile as dry as a bone very dry indeed\n\nbinomial (word + and + word) rough and ready crude and lacking sophistication\n\ntrinominal (word + word + word) cool, calm and collected relaxed, in control, not nervous\n\nwhole clause or sentence to cut a long story short to tell the main points, but not all\nthe fine details\n\nC Fixed aspects of idioms\nMost idioms are fixed in their form, and cannot be changed or varied. Sometimes, however, the grammar or the vocabulary can be varied slightly. Where this book or a dictionary gives information on what can be varied, always note it in your Vocabulary notebook.\n\nvariation example\n\nOccasionally an idiom in the active Government Ministers always pass the buck if they are challenged\nvoice can be used in the passive. about poverty. [blame somebody else / refuse to accept\n responsibility]\n\nSome verb-based idioms also have The buck has been passed from Minister to Minister. No one\nnoun-compound forms. seems prepared to accept the responsibility.\n\nOne or more words in the idiom Stop acting the fool/goat! [stop acting stupidly]\ncan be varied.\n\nEnglish Idioms in Use 6 Exercises\n\ni.1\nHow much can you guess about the meaning of these idioms just by looking at the context? Tick the boxes according to what you can understand about the words in bold.\n1 I decided I was going to get a place at university by hook or by crook. It had always been my dream to study for a degree in history.\n\nmeans using illegal methods if necessary 0 \nmeans nothing will stop me 0 \nmeans I was very determined 0 \n\n2 The government and the unions are at loggerheads; there may be a general strike.\n\nmeans have a good relationship 0 \nmeans hate each other 0 \nmeans disagree very strongly 0 \n\n3 We had to pay through the nose to get our visas in five days instead of the usual 30 days.\n\nmeans suffer in some way 0 \nmeans pay a small sum of money 0 \nmeans pay a large sum of money 0 \n\ni.2\nClassify the idioms in the sentences below according to their grammatical type:\nType A verb + object/complement (and/or adverbial)\nType B prepositional phrase\nType C compound\nType D simile\nType E binomial or trimodal\nType F whole clause or sentence\n1 Should we fly or go by train? What are the pros and cons?\nType: ............................\n2 I'm having second thoughts about going on holiday with Jean. She can be a bit difficult.\nType: ............................\n3 When I had finished all my exams, I felt as free as a bird.\nType: ............................\n4 I don't know much about design, so I gave the decorator a free hand in my new flat.\nType: ............................\n5 She comes from a rather well-to-do family. She's always had a comfortable life.\nType: ............................\n6 My old school friend Harriet arrived out of the blue. I hadn't seen her for 15 years.\nType: ............................\n\ni.3\nCorrect the mistakes in the idioms in these sentences. Use the clues in brackets. Use a good general dictionary or a dictionary of idioms if necessary.\n1 My father's foot was put down when I said I wanted a car for my seventeenth birthday.\nHe said I was too young. (grammar - voice)\n2 Her words put the cat among the birds; Jim is furious. (vocabulary)\n3 You'll be pleased to hear we arrived sound and safe in Peru. (binomial)\n4 He was lying in his teeth when he said he had got a first-class grade in his exam; the truth is he failed. (grammar - small word) Using your dictionary\n\nA What do you look up?\nAs it can be difficult to work out what an idiom means even when you know all the individual words in the idiom, you will often need to look up idioms in a dictionary. If you are working with a dictionary on CD-Rom, then you will have no problems finding the idiom in question, but working with a traditional dictionary, you have to find where the idiom is listed. As an idiom consists of several words, which of these do you look up in your dictionary? For example, do you try to find two birds with one stone under kill, two, birds or stone, or let the cat out of the bag under let, cat or bag?\n\nIf you are using either the Cambridge International Dictionary of Idioms (CIDI) or the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary (CALD), then the easiest way of finding what you need is to look in the alphabetical index at the back of the book. This lists all the expressions included in the dictionary with the word where an entry for the expression will be found in the dictionary highlighted in bold. This shows that in CIDI two birds with one stone will be found under two and let the cat out of the bag will be found under cat. In CALD these two idioms will be found under kill and cat.\n\nIf you are using a different dictionary, read its introductory notes now to see how it deals with idioms. This will avoid the frustration you would otherwise feel on deciding to look up the wrong element of the idiom first.\n\nB What information does your dictionary give you?\nYour dictionary will tell you a lot of other things as well as the meaning of the idiom. As idioms are used in such fixed ways, it is important to read the notes in your dictionary carefully if you want to use idioms as well as to understand them.\n\nYou will find all these things in a good dictionary of idioms:\n• information about words that are interchangeable, e.g. drive/send sb round the bend\n• information about how the idiom is used - brackets, for example, show if any words in the idiom can be left out, e.g. I (can) feel it in my bones.\n• notes about the grammar of the idiom - there may be notes, for example, to say that an idiom is usually used in a passive construction or in a continuous form or in a negative sentence.\n• examples of the idiom in use\n• comments on register - the register labels used in CIDI are informal, formal, very informal, old-fashioned, taboo, humorous and literary.\n\nTIP\nIt is not possible for this book to include as much information about each idiom as you will find in a dictionary. So, look up the idioms that you particularly want to learn from this book in a dictionary as well. In your Vocabulary notebook, write any further information or other examples of the idioms in the context that you find in the dictionary. Exercises\n\nii.1\nLook up the idioms in these sentences in your dictionary. What word is each idiom listed under?\n1 It's the person in the street who picks up the bill for the government's mistakes.\n2 She had a wonderful trip to Australia, but now she's come back down to earth with a bump.\n3 John had a furious argument with his supervisor, but he managed to stand his ground.\n4 He's feeling very miserable, so there's no need for you to stick the knife in too.\n5 You're banging your head against a brick wall trying to get him to help you.\n6 You scared the living daylights out of me by creeping up behind me like that.\n\nii.2\nWhich word(s) could be left out of the idioms in these sentences?\n1 It's always hard when you have to come back down to earth after a holiday.\n2 No one thought she could climb the mountain without oxygen, but she succeeded against all the odds.\n3 She hit him where it hurt most by telling him that he had always been a disappointment to his parents.\n4 The way he reacted scared the living daylights out of me!\n\nii.3\nWhich word in each idiom could be changed for another word?\n1 I don't worry about a thing - I'm sure the company will pick up the bill.\n2 I came back down to earth with a bump when I saw the pile of post waiting for me after the weekend.\n3 The army had lost many of its men, but it managed to stand its ground.\n4 Why do critics seem to enjoy sticking the knife into untalented actors and writers?\n5 I feel as if I'm banging my head against a brick wall with him at the moment.\n6 It's a terrifying film - it scared the living daylights out of me!\n\nii.4\nWhat grammatical information does your dictionary give about these idioms? Read the information and then write a sentence with each idiom.\n1 look a gift horse in the mouth.\n2 be pushing up the daisies.\n3 be on the brink of.\n4 tie yourself up in knots.\n5 be man enough.\n\nii.5\nMatch the register labels in the box with the idioms in the sentences below.\n\nFormal Humorous Informal Literary Old-fashioned Very informal\n1 I really don't like him - he's such a slime ball.\n2 OK. I'll do the washing-up. There's no peace for the wicked!\n3 Her family has lived in that village from time immemorial.\n4 My grandma always used to say that an apple a day keeps the doctor away.\n5 The food was so delicious - we stuffed our faces.\n6 I hope that what I have said will give you pause for thought. I\nHealth\nA\nIdioms describing health\nMark had been feeling under the weather for weeks. One day he came into work looking like death warmed up and so we told him to go away for a few days to recharge his batteries. After one day beside the sea, he no longer felt off-colour and by the second day he knew he was on the road to recovery. He sent us a postcard and we were all glad to learn that he was on the mend. By the end of the week, he returned to work as fit as a fiddle! And he’s been as right as rain ever since.\n1 not very well 2 looking extremely ill 3 do something to gain fresh energy and enthusiasm 4 felt unwell\n5 getting better 6 getting better 7 perfectly well 8 perfectly well\nas fit as a fiddle\nB\nInformal idioms for mad\nThere are many informal idioms which are used to say that someone is mad:\nHe’s not all there. He’s off his rocker. He’s not right in the head. She’s got a screw loose.\nHe’s a basket case. He’s as nutty as a fruitcake.\nrocker\ntrolley\nC\nInformal idioms for die\nThere are also a lot of very informal idioms meaning die, for example:\nShe’s popped her clogs. She’s given up the ghost. She’s kicked the bucket.\nHe’s bitten the dust. He’s fallen off his perch.\nD\nIdioms based on medical images\nidiom\tmeaning\n\na sore point/spot\ta subject which someone would prefer\not to talk about because it makes\nthem angry or embarrassed\n\ngive someone a\ntaste/dose of their\nown medicine\ndo the same bad thing to someone\nthat they have done to you in order to\nshow them how unpleasant it is\n\na bitter pill to\ndon’t swallow unpleasant, but has to be accepted\n\nsugar the pill\ndo something to make something\nunpleasant more acceptable\n\thave itchy feet\twant to travel or move on\n\nTry not to mention baldness while he’s here – it’s a sore spot for him.\nRefusing to lend him money now would give him a taste of his own medicine – he’s never lent you any.\nLosing my job was initially a bitter pill to swallow.\nThe boss has sugared the overtime pill by offering a large extra payment.\nI can’t stay in one place for more than a year without getting itchy feet.\n10 English Idioms in Use