Idioms for Situations

Hi all, let’s learn this week what Idioms are and how they are used. Do you know that Idioms increase the beauty of language, and Idioms are language specific? Yes that’s right; we cannot translate the Idiom of one language into another. Wikipedia defines Idiom as a phrase whose meaning cannot be determined by the literal definition of the phrase itself, but refers instead to a figurative meaning that is known only through common use. Going by the definition we realize that the native speakers of English use Idioms more naturally than the non-native speakers. Let us now read and learn a few commonly used Idioms as mentioned by the Professors of Cambridge University. The meaning of the Idiom is mentioned within the brackets. We shall learn some more Idioms next week.

A. When things go right

If something or things…

1. works like a dream this means a plan succeeded absolutely perfectly
2. went according to plan this means they occurred exactly as intended
3. went/ran like clockwork this means they went smoothly with no difficulty
4. is/are up and running this means it has/ they have begun to work as planned
5. is/are falling into place this means it is/ they are on the point of starting to work well
6. is/are looking up this means they are looking very positive

B. When things go wrong

1. Oh no! That’s all we needed! [in response to news that makes current problems even worse]
2. That’s the last thing we wanted to hear!  [in response to news that fulfills your worst fears]
3. This is like a bad dream! [when one bad thing after other happens in quick succession]
4. It’s a real nightmare. [used very generally for traffic jams]
5. What a pain! [very general…for something that causes difficulty]
6. It’s the calm before the storm. [when things are quiet, but you fear they are about to change]

C. Confusing situations or situations you don’t understand

1. When she said her name was Bloor it threw me completely. [I did not know how to respond]
2. The event he organized was complete shambles. [a totally disorganized event]
3. It’s a mystery to me, how people know my private life. [something that I cannot understand]
4. I am sorry we must have got our wires crossed. [a miscommunication/ a misunderstanding]
5. We can’t see the wood for the trees.[too much detail prevents us to see the overall situation]

D. Resolving difficulty [or failing to do so]

1. It’s nothing it’s just a storm in the teacup. [a lot of fuss]
2. That was a close call/thing. [It was almost a disaster]
3. We solved the problem at the eleventh hour. [at the very last minute]
4. It was all just brushed under the carpet. [never resolved, never mentioned again]

Read and share with us a few Idioms you know! It’s going to be very interesting. We are awaiting your response.

Regards.

Source: LearnWordList.com/blog