Questions tagged [idioms]
Use the idiom tag for questions which a dictionary cannot answer about set phrases with unusual meanings that can't be properly understood just from the separate words in them.
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1answer
10 views
An influential person / a very influential person who can pull strings in your favor
What do you call an influential connection in an organization or a governmental entity who can help you out of problems related to that organization or even more powerful one who has relations in ...
0
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2answers
17 views
When you're going to discover the amount of someone's financial loss
Let's suppose you have lost a specific amount of money in a deal and your partner is going to find out how much it had been. What shall he ask you?
Once, I had a close American friend who had ...
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2answers
31 views
An expression/idiom/proverb to say “losing a small amount would be much better than losing everything”
Is there any common English expression, idiom or proverb which implies:
Stop and accept a small loss, rather than continue and risk losing everything.
When someone is losing or possibly would lose ...
0
votes
1answer
14 views
Beating one's head against the wall / a brick wall
Dictionaries say that the idiom "beating one's head against the wall" means:
To attempt continuously and fruitlessly to accomplish some task or achieve some goal that is or seems ultimately ...
0
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1answer
35 views
What does “see himself off” mean?
The definition of see someone off is the following:
to accompany one to the point of departure for a trip and say good-bye
upon departure.
However, that begs the question what does "see himself ...
0
votes
1answer
21 views
When you are a role model for children
What does a child do (the verb / idiom / expression) when they look at their elderly and try to do what they are doing?
E.g. it is said that you'd better be careful when you're smoking etc. so that ...
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vote
2answers
37 views
An obvious model/example/type of someone or something
There is an expression in our current language which has entered from legal jargon into the common language. (I'm trying to translate it.) We say something like:
He/she is an obvious example/...
0
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1answer
37 views
Can “Down to business” be a shortened version of the idiom?
Can the idiom
Now, let's get down to business.
be shortened to
Now, down to business.
?
I don't want the part "let's" as it is, to some extent, a friendly approach when the speaker is far ...
0
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2answers
20 views
Can you replace “come to think of it with ”thinking of it"?
I've already used "thinking of it." Example:
Thinking of it, maybe I shouldn't knock on that door.
I made a Google Books search.
There are similar phrases but I couldn't find a sentence that ...
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votes
1answer
45 views
What does keeping one's arms covered up mean?
I was reading Eurotrash by Irvine Welsh. Richard in the novel says "You know what I mean. You keep your arms covered up." and I don't know what it means.
3
votes
3answers
48 views
How to express this idea that something doesn't matter as much as someone thinks?
Suppose there is a contract that states, I need to give 14 days' notice. But I want to give 13 days' notice, and I assume that the other person that contract affects is going to be fine with that. But ...
2
votes
1answer
21 views
Request a phrase similar to “flag planting”?
I am looking for a phrase to convey the activity in such a scenario:
I found a very interesting question on StackOverflow but know I cannot provide a satisfying answer at that moment. I was too ...
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0answers
35 views
What does the phrase “throw it in hard” mean here?
Here is a sentence from a drift race game's description:
After having controlled your car’s tune, you can start throwing it in
hard and start riding every wall you see.
I found the following ...
0
votes
3answers
44 views
Is there an idiom that means “fight each other with the intent to hurt each other severely”?
Is there an idiom that means "fight each other with the intent to hurt each other severely"? I was thinking about "be at each other’s throats", but it seems that it's not used to mean that, rather the ...
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0answers
9 views
Is “bat an eye over X” idiomatic?
I am wondering if I can use the idiom "bat an eye" and combine it with the preposition "over". I am not sure if this can be done, but to me this makes total sense, but maybe for native speakers this ...
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2answers
34 views
What does “cut the cheese ” mean?
I want to know the meaning in this sentence :
" Sorry isn't gonna cut the cheese this time "
the meaning of this slang doesn't make sense
in this example . I know cut the cheese means release ...
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1answer
16 views
Alternate name for Sand traps
Is there any technical name for the sand traps in some car races? I mean, those areas covered with soil and designed to prevent a car from hitting a track wall.
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votes
3answers
218 views
How to find proper phrasal verbs or idioms for the sentence you're translating?
Let's assume you're translating a sentence. You can translate everything in English but sometimes there are idioms and phrasal verbs that you can use to make your sentnce more clear and compact. e.g., ...
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votes
1answer
24 views
What does the idiom “come together” mean here?
Here is a sentence from a schedule planner app:
This app lets you see how a plan comes together.
I am not sure how the lexical meanings of the idiom "come together" fit here.
0
votes
2answers
34 views
What is the contrast that the idiom, “the other way round”, is pointing out here?
The idiom "the other way round" can be used for claiming that the opposite of what just has been said is true. For example:
I always thought that rugby was a rougher game than football, but in fact ...
0
votes
1answer
19 views
A saying / an expression to say: “most of the problems occure to the weakest people”
There is a proverbial sentence in our culture which says:
Every obstacle is often on the way of (the weakest / the most poore etc.) people. (literal translation)
Connotation: it means ...
0
votes
2answers
22 views
A proverb/an expression to convey “a tendency towards a very big and unrealistic objective can be indicative of a failure”
In the old times, when it came to a match between our ancient wrestlers, the participants in order to define the strongest ones used to grab a rock and raise it to gain more popularity; but prior to ...
0
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1answer
19 views
“Put a spoke in sb's wheel” Vs “Throw/put a (monkey) wrench in the works”
The English expressions:
throw a spanner in the works
put a spanner in the works
throw a (monkey) wrench in the works
Mean: to do something that prevents a plan or activity ...
0
votes
0answers
25 views
what does “drop one's balls” mean?
I see it in "Regular Show"
The whole sentence : Benson's gonna drop his balls when he sees how good we set up these chairs.
Is it a slang ? I haven't found anything in web.
0
votes
1answer
38 views
Using the idiom “the sky is falling down” in a hopegiving sentence
How should I use the idiom the sky is falling down when I'm going to say to someone in an understated way to that the situation is bad, but not too bad?
In other words, I need to make a similar ...
0
votes
1answer
49 views
How to say sarcastically “Wait for a long time (perhaps forever)”
Which one of the following phrases can be used in the context below in natural English:
A) Let me go! I won't come along with you. I don't like the company of such people.
B) But believe me; ...
3
votes
2answers
255 views
Even some useless stuff would be of use some day
Is there any common idiom or expression in English which can convey such a message that: anything that is of no use, will be used someday for sure. It is a translated proverb which believes do not ...
1
vote
1answer
22 views
An equivalent English saying for “Those who are more humble and calm are more knowledgeable”
How would you normally convey the following message throgh a fixed saying:
Those who are quiet and seem to be more humble, may belong very deep knowledge or even very strong feelings.
Note: It's not ...
0
votes
0answers
27 views
To say something indirecty to someone through telling it to a third person
Please imagine the person "A" is not going to tell something directly to the person "B" in a company. "A" says it to "C" who has a more friendly relations with "A", but in the manner that "C" (who is ...
1
vote
2answers
42 views
An equivalent for the proverb “A creaking door hangs longest or…”
Please have a look on the following scenarios and let me know what is the current English equivalent for the meaning in my question that can be used to fill in the blanks:
Please imagine a couple ...
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votes
1answer
47 views
What does “Don't hate” mean or imply here?
I am not quite get the logic between the lines here. Is "Don't hate" a slang or sth? Why did Bruce say it? (he sure knows Tony not hates him, so it's a joke, right? but meaning what?) This phrase ...
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votes
1answer
54 views
Meaning of “swearing on a stack of timetables”?
I read a sentence in a chapter named "The Third Level" which was:
THE presidents of the New York Central
and the New York, New Haven and
Hartford railroads will swear on a stack
of timetables that ...
2
votes
3answers
23 views
Where is the subject?
"Donald Trump’s desire to nominate Mr Cain had sparked a backlash, even among Republicans worried that the president was seeking to undermine the independence of the central bank by appointing his ...
3
votes
1answer
45 views
What is a proper response to “What's up”?
I am wondering what a proper response to "What's up" can be. In the following example, we have "Your time, Cage" as in you will die, but I am not sure how this can be a proper response, to "What's up" ...
0
votes
1answer
48 views
What's the meaning of “while the bands play” in this sentence?
It's all I can do to sit still while the bands play. I can’t believe Mirror Boy was in the system. I don’t know if he was when he died or not. (The Ghost Files, by Apryl Baker)
Who's "thinking" here ...
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vote
2answers
35 views
When someone/an animal hides and waits for their/its enemy/prey
Please imagine a troop of soldiers which are hiding and waiting for their enemies to arrive to their hiding place so that they could suddenly attack the enemies!
Or
Let's suppose an animal which is ...
0
votes
1answer
19 views
A seemingly difficult task at the beginning (while you've not started it yet)
How do you call a simingly quite difficult task (not necessarily mental or physical one) which requires lots of efforts and looks too difficult "at the beginning"?
The term / expression / idiom ...
3
votes
1answer
23 views
An expression or idiom to describe “magnifying” a news or an occurance
How would you call the action of someone who hears a news, magnifies it and then transmits it to someone else which would resault in an untrue story about (somebody / an event) comparing the original ...
0
votes
1answer
25 views
“You are friend with…”
In this answer I provided a sample sentence:
You are friend with Toby.
and as a result I received a comment from @JasonBassford:
*Both of your example sentences are ungrammatical. You can't be ...
0
votes
1answer
18 views
Is “have a conversation between us X” idiomatic?
I am not sure why, but I find the expression "have a conversation between us X" where X is a number, a bit weird. Is the expression idiomatic?
Just so that we're fully clear on what I am asking, here'...
1
vote
1answer
22 views
An unlucky person whose fortune doesn't favor them
Please imagine a person who is usually unlucky! The peron faces another unlucky situation and wants to criticize it and make a pejorative remark about his luck and relate his belief about the lack of ...
0
votes
1answer
23 views
A completely disorderly organization or country
In everyday English speech and in casual manner how would you describe an organization or a country which is too chaotic and disorderly, in which everything is in jumbled confusion, nobody is in their ...
5
votes
4answers
2k views
What is the meaning of the simile “quick as silk”?
It seems that the Internet is unhelpful at all. The original quote, where this simile appears, is:
“Once upon a time,” began Frank switching, quick as silk, to a
sonorous story-telling voice...
...
0
votes
2answers
25 views
I keep getting connected and disconnected when I'm on the phone
In a bad phone connection and when it sucks, how would you say that the conversation between you and the second person on the other side keeps getting connected and disconnected?
Is there any verb/...
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votes
1answer
32 views
“Get through to sb” and “Get (a)hold of sb”
I have looked up many definitions in various dictionaries, but still I can't tell these two similar expressions apart. What is the difference betwen the two idioms "get through to sb" and "get (a)hold ...
0
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2answers
29 views
What does “get through their brains” mean?
I can't seem to get through their thick brains.
Get through someone means: to succeed in talking to someone on the phone, but what does "get through their brain" means? Is it an idiom derived from ...
0
votes
1answer
25 views
When one's stockings tears [closed]
Which verb/idiom is normally used to describe this happening?
(https://i.stack.imgur.com/gGxq1.jpg)
Her stickings has torn (or what?)!
1
vote
1answer
14 views
The expression “play a geopolitical game of chess”
Is this idiomatic? I saw it being used by some people in forums, but never saw any renowned author used this expression. Is there a better way to say it?
For example:
India was playing a ...
0
votes
1answer
15 views
What's the difference between “walk someone over to” and “walk over to”
I heard that "walk someone over to" means accompany someone to a destination, but I am wondering "walk over to" means something, I want to say "walk a short distance to go talk to someone", but I am ...
0
votes
2answers
28 views
What does “doing X on the go” mean?
What does "doing X on the go" mean?
Example:
Use your phone camera to turn anything into a PDF on the go.
What I have read so far:
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/on_the_go lists 2 meanings for "...
