Food
A piece of .....
CAKE
e.g. The exam was a piece of cake.
= used to describe something that is very easy to do.
On the tip of my .....
TONGUE
e.g. His name was on the tip of my tongue, but I needed to ask him.
= about to be said if you can remember it.
To be the ..... sheep
BLACK
e.g. My oldest brother was the black sheep in our family. He dropped out of school at fifteen.
= the odd or bad member of the group.
Raining cats and ........
DOGS
e.g. I forgot my umbrella, and it was raining cats and dogs.
= raining heavily.
Kill .... birds with one stone.
TWO
e.g. I killed two birds with one stone and picked the kids up on the way to the supermarket.
= to succeed in achieving two things in a single action.
Cup of .....
TEA
e.g. Rap music is not my cup of tea.
This expression is used in the negative: 'It's not my cup of tea'. It means something is not to your interests or tastes. Basically, you don't like it.
To cost an arm and a ......
LEG
e.g. My new laptop cost an arm and a leg.
= to be very expensive.
Once in a ....... moon
BLUE
e.g. I only see my grandmother once in a blue moon because she lives so far away.
= very rarely
To ...... out
CHICKEN
e.g. I was going to take a ride on Geoff's motorcycle, but I chickened out at the last minute.
= to decide not to do something out of fear (usually just before)
Back to square ......
ONE
e.g. The project failed so now we're back to square one.
= you have to start working on a plan from the beginning because your previous attempt failed completely.
Cry over spilt ......
MILK
e.g. 'Stop complaining about your lost pen - it's no use crying over spilt milk.'
= to feel sorry or sad about something that has already happened; used to emphasise that this is not helpful.
To have a sweet .....
TOOTH
e.g. I bought John a big box of chocolates for his birthday. He has such a sweet tooth!”
If you have a sweet tooth, you like eating sweet foods, especially sweets and chocolate.
Out of the .....
BLUE
e.g. Greg has decided to quit his job out of the blue and go travelling for a year!
= To appear out of nowhere without any warning, to happen quite suddenly or randomly by surprise.
To be a copy .....
CAT
e.g. My sister is such a copy cat. First she bought the same car as me, and now she's applying to my workplace.
= a person who does the same thing as someone else.
Two's company; ........ is a crowd
THREE
e.g. 'I don't think I'll come to the cinema with you and your new girlfriend because two's company and three's a crowd.'
= usually used when a boyfriend and girlfriend want to do something together without anyone else.
Take with a pinch of ......
SALT
e.g. You have to take everything she says with a pinch of salt, because she tends to exaggerate.
= to not completely believe something that you are told, because you think it is unlikely to be true:
To get something off your .....
CHEST
e.g. Thanks for listening to me complain about my brother. I needed to get it off my chest.
= to tell someone your problems or frustrations.
To catch ..... handed.
RED
e.g. The kids were caught red handed stealing chocolate bars.
= catch someone in the act of doing something wrong or illegal
Have ...... in your pants.
ANTS
e.g. Lisa had ants in her pants the day before Christmas.
= unable to sit still or remain calm out of nervousness or excitement.
On cloud .....
NINE
e.g. When my mum got me a new laptop I was on cloud nine.
= to be extremely happy and excited.
Bring home the ......
BACON
e.g. He worked hard all week to bring home the bacon for his family
= to earn money for a family to live on.
To give somebody the cold ......
SHOULDER
e.g. I thought she really liked me, but the next day she gave me the cold shoulder
= to intentionally ignore someone or treat someone in an unfriendly way.
To paint the town ......
RED
e.g. When quarantine is over, I’ll take you out and we’ll paint the town red.
= to go a little bit wild, to have a bit of a party and have a bit of fun.
No room to swing a .....
CAT
e.g. There's no room to swing a cat in my bedroom. I have the smallest room in the house.
= said about a place or space that is very small
Knock somebody for ......
SIX
e.g. The news of his death knocked me for six.
= to shock or upset someone very much, or to make someone very ill.