An awesome book. Here are some idioms I found very useful in day to day life.
1. Ball park figure
Originally used in baseball game when batter hits the ball then the guess is made of the distance it goes
Usage:
- Never mind the details, All I want is a ball park figure
2. Ball is in your court
It came from the tennis.
Usage:
- You have to make a decision, the ball is in your court
3. Across the board
This expression derives from a reference to the entire width of a board, and may mean everything and everybody
Usage:
- The pay raise was across the board. Everybody get a hike in pay
- He made an across-the-board accusation, blaming everybody on the team
4. Nail down
The original meaning of "Nail down" is to fasten a board or some other piece of material to something else with the use of metal nails. The term has since come to mean to make certain of something, to final, finish something, to get an agreement
Usage:
- It took all day but we finally nailed down an agreement
- We have to nail this down before we leave
5. Acting fishy
Fish, especially small fish, habitually dart here and there, making it difficult to predict which way they are going to get next. This lead to "Acting fishy" being applied to people who behave in a suspicious manner.
Usage:
- The guy in front of the bank was acting fishy so someone called the police
- She said she didn't like you because you looked fishy
- My wife can smell fishy behavior a mile away
6. As American as apple pie
Apples are hugely available in America and it's easy to prepare apple pie and delicious too. Thus anything that was typically American came to came to compared to apple pie
Usage:
- Many immigrants become as American as Apple Pie in two or three years
-Baseball is as American as apple pie
7. Back out
Derived from physical action of backing up or backing out of a place for some reason, often to avoid some kind of danger. It is now used in reference to commitments of one kind or another
Usage:
- Once he makes a commitment he never backs out
- The company backed out of the deal before we got started
- If we don't back out it will be too late
8. Pay off
Originally it was meant to pay what you owe. Now a days it's been used to mean bribe
Usage:
- The mayor was forced to resign from his positions because he took pay off from some construction companies.
9. At stake
A stake is a piece of wood or metal sharpened at one end for driving into the ground, as a marker, a fence pole, or a tent peg. In earlier times, people were tied to stakes and burned as a form of execution. All of these meanings have come together in a term "At stake," in reference to something important that may be lost or gained.
Usage:
- I knew my reputation was at stake
- This was a huge amount of money at stake in the project
- The union put its existence at stake when it went out on strike
10. Cut off
Refers to stopping something as well as predetermined time or date when something is set to end
Usage:
- As soon as she started getting personal I cut off conversation
- The end of the month was set as the cut off date for completing the project
- Our communications was suddenly cut off without any explanation
11. White lie
The color white has long been associated with things that are good and desirable, thus a "white lie" is seen as harmless, as told just to be polite, to make some one feel good rather than bad
Usage:
- I told my boss a white lie just to keep things harmonious
- When it comes to telling white lie she is a master
- You may consider that a white lie but I don't
12. Wind up
One of the original meaning of "wind" is to encircle something or wrap it up. "wind up" is an expansions of the term and means to come to the end, to finish.
Usage:
- The meeting will wind up at 4:00 pm
- We need to wind this up no latter than this evening to make our deadline
- The game was scheduled to wind up in an hour but went into overtime
13. Living in a La La Land
This is an expression that is used to describe some one whose life style is far out, unrealistic, as in a fairy land.
- Newly rich rock stars and other entertainers often end up in la la land, spaced out on drugs and their fame
14. Lip service
This interesting expression refers to supporting something verbally, by words but not by action, and is therefore worth ver little or nothing
- All I ever get from that company is lip service
- Most politicians are experts at lip service
- If lip service is all I am going to get, then forget it!
15. Back to the drawing board
Many projects require detailed planning that includes the use of drawing board of one kind or another, giving rise to the expression "back to the drawing board" when a plan on project does not go well and has to be started again from the beginning
- As soon as the project was launched I knew we could have to go back to the drawing board
- When the negotiations slowed down we started talking about going back to the drawing board
- Going back to drawing board is a waste of time, lets forget it
16. Beat a dead horse
Repeat something over and over when it is useless from the obvious fact that no matter how much one might beat a dead horse, it will not do anything
- Asking your lazy brother-in-law to go look for a job is like beating a dead horse
- Stop spending time on that project! you're just beating a dead horse
- Trying to get him to do something is like beating a dead horse
17. Bog down
A bog down is ground that is so water-logged that it is soft and mushy, and may also be called a swamp or marsh. It is therefore difficult to walk on because you sink down into the soft ground. This gave rise to the term "bog down," meaning being slowed down or stopped
- As soon as the talks started, it goes bogged down on some small details
- The meeting has adjourned when it got bogged down
- If we take that approach all we are going to do is get bogged down
18. Bottom out
This expression refers to something that has been going down reaching its lowest point, beyond which it cannot go, and is commonly applied to the stock market and other market activities.
- A lot of people began to buy shares as soon as the stock bottomed out
- I'm waiting until the markets bottom out
- The market for blue jeans bottomed out, and then began rising
19. Brain drain
This provocative expression refers to educated and talented people of one country leaving for another country where economic opportunities are better, or they are returning to the ancestral homeland to help people build the economy
- For many years there was a brain drain from Asia country to the United States, as people sought better economic opportunities and lifestyles
- In the first decade of the 21st century the United States began to experience a brain drain, as many Asians choose to return to their home country
20. Break through
"Break through" has the obvious connotation of breaking down some kind of a barrier like a wall to get "through" to the other side. The phrase is used in reference to overcoming some kind of difficulty and being able to proceed
- The new computer cheap allowed us to break through the price barrier
- We need a break through if these talks are going to succeed.
- He came up with a solution that resulted in a complete break through
21. Carrot and Stick
This interesting expression refers to offering a combination of a reward ( a carrot) and a punishment ( a stick) to influence some ones behavior. It goes back to the days when mules and horses are trained by giving them carrots when they behaved well and punishing them when they misbehaved
- Some parents take a carrot and stick to bringing their children
- Dictatorships often rely on the carrot and stick approach to controlling people
- The carrot and stick approach doesn't work with me
22. Bread and butter
Bread and butter were long viewed as basic foods that were important to sustaining life. This resulted in the phrase being used to describe other things that were of special to people.
- the voters are worried about bread and butter issues like jobs and taxes
- This is not a bread and butter issue. It is strictly politics
- If you are seen as taking the bread and butter away from them you will be in serious trouble
23. A little bird told me
24. A needle in a haystack
25. After one's own heart
26. All shook up
27. An also-ran
28. Another day another doller
29. Ante up
30. Ants in the pants
31. Apple of one's eye
32. As flat as pancake
33. As guilty as sin
34. As slow as molasses
35. As smart as whip
36. As smooth as silk
37. As stubborn as mule
38. Asleep at the wheel
39. At heart
40. Bad apple
41. Bad egg
42. Be a sweetheart
43. Behind one's back
44. Below the belt
45. Benefit of the doubt
46. Bite your tongue
47. Black sheep in the family
48. Burning the candle at both ends
49. Butter up
50. Buy off
51. Call the shots
52. Carry the day
53. Cash cow
54. Cash in on
55. Caught in the act
56. Caught short
57. Caught with his/my/your pants down
58. Cave in
59. Change of heart
60. Chew the fat
61. Chip in
62. Chip off the old block
63. Chip on his 64. Clam up
64. Clip one's wing
65. Clue in
66. Cold shoulder
67. Come clean
68. Come crawling back
69. Come-on
70. Come on strong
71. Come to terms
72. Come up short
73. Common ground
74. Cook one's goose
75. Cool as a cucumber
76. Cool one's heels
77. Crazy like a horse
78. Cry wolf
79. Cut back
80. Cut corners
81. Cut off
82. Cut some slack
83. Dark horse
84. Deliver the goods
85. Dime a dozen
86. Dirty one's hands
87. Dog-eat-dog
88. Don't cry over spilt milk
89. Don't kid yourself
90. Don't sweat in
91. Down and dirty
92. Drag one's feet
93. Drag one's heel
94. Draw the line
95. Dressed to kill
96. Drive a hard bargain
97. Duck soup
98. Ear to the ground
99. Earn a quick buck
100. Easier said than done
101. Easy come, easy go
102. Eat crow
103. Eat one's words
104. Eat your hurt out
105. Egg on
106. Egg on one's face
107. Face down
108. Face value
109. Fake out
110. Fall flat on your face
111. Fall through
112. Falling into the lap of luxury
113. Fast buck
114. Fast money
115. Feather in one's cap
116. Feather one's nest
117. Fill like a million bucks/dollars
118. Feet on the ground
119. Fight tooth and nail
120. Fill the bill
121. Fine-tooth comb
122. Finger in the pie
123. Fish out of water
124. Fishing for something
125. Fit like a glove
126. Flat broke
127. Foam at the mouth
128. Follow through
129. Fool around
130. For a song
131. For the birds
132. For what it's worth
133. Fork over
134. Gain ground
135. Get a break
136. Get a green light
137. Get behind a person or something
138. Get behind the wheel
139. Get cold feet
140. Get down to business
141. Get hold of yourself
142. Get it on
143. Get the upper hand
144. Give-and-take
145. Give ground
146. Give in
147. Gleam in his eye
148. Go back on your word
149. Go for broke
