usingenglish.co m http://www.usingenglish.com/members/idioms/index.php?show=IdiomsEnglish Idioms: A
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Acid te st
An acid te st is so me thing that p ro ve s whe the r so me thing is g o o d , e ffe ctive , e tc, o r no t.
Acro ss the b o ard
If so me thing ap p lie s to e ve ryb o d y, it ap p lie s acro ss the b o ard .
Acro ss the d itch
(NZ) This id io m me ans o n the o the r sid e o f the Tasman Se a, use d to re fe r to Australia o r Ne w Ze aland d e p e nd ing o n the
sp e ake r's lo catio n.
Acro ss the p o nd
(UK) This id io m me ans o n the o the r sid e o f the Atlantic Oce an, use d to re fe r to the US o r the UK d e p e nd ing o n the sp e ake r's
lo catio n.
Act o f Go d
An act o f Go d is so me thing like an e arthq uake o r flo o d s that human b e ing s canno t p re ve nt o r co ntro l.
Act o f war
An act o f war is a actio n that is e ithe r inte nd e d to start a war o r that is inte rp re te d as b e ing sufficie nt cause fo r a war.
Actio ns sp e ak lo ud e r than wo rd s
This id io m me ans that what p e o p le actually d o is mo re imp o rtant than what the y say- p e o p le can p ro mise thing s b ut the n fail to
d e live r.
Ad am's ale
(d ate d , humo ro us) wate r
Ad am's ap p le
The Ad am's ap p le is a b ulg e in the thro at, mo stly se e n in me n.
Ad d fue l to the fire
If p e o p le ad d fue l to the fire , the y make a b ad situatio n wo rse .
Ad d insult to injury
Whe n p e o p le ad d insult to injury, the y make a b ad situatio n e ve n wo rse .
Afte r the wate rshe d
The wate rshe d is the time limit afte r which mo re co ntro ve rsial sub je cts, b ad lang uag e , e tc, can b e sho wn o n TV in so me
co untrie s, so if it's afte r the wate rshe d , the n d iscussio ns can b e fre e r, franke r and mo re co ntro ve rsial.
Afte r yo ur o wn he art
A p e rso n afte r yo ur o wn he art thinks the same way as yo u.
Ag ainst the clo ck
If yo u d o so me thing ag ainst the clo ck, yo u are rushe d and have ve ry little time to d o it.
Ag ainst the g rain
If d o ing so me thing g o e s ag ainst the g rain, yo u're unwilling to d o it b e cause it co ntrad icts what yo u b e lie ve in, b ut yo u have no
re al cho ice .
Ag e b e fo re b e auty
Whe n this id io m is use d , it is a way o f allo wing an o ld e r p e rso n to d o so me thing first, tho ug h o fte n in a slig htly sarcastic way.
Ag o ny aunt
An ag o ny aunt is a ne wsp ap e r co lumnist who g ive s ad vice to p e o p le having p ro b le ms, e sp e cially p e rso nal o ne s.
Ahe ad o f the curve
Similar to ahe ad o f the p ack, ahe ad o f the curve lite rally re fe rs to yo ur p o sitio n o n the statistical b e ll curve , whe re the to p o f the
curve re p re se nts the me d ian, ave rag e re sult. By b e ing ahe ad o f the curve yo u re p re se nt the to p p e rce ntile o f re sults that e ithe r
has the ad vance d skills o r und e rstand ing that se ts yo u ap art.
Ahe ad o f the p ack
If yo u are ahe ad o f the p ack, yo u have mad e mo re p ro g re ss than yo ur rivals.
Ahe ad o f time
If so me thing hap p e ns ahe ad o f time , it hap p e ns e arly o r b e fo re the se t time .
Air yo ur d irty laund ry in p ub lic
If yo u air yo ur d irty laund ry in p ub lic, yo u re ve al asp e cts o f yo ur p rivate life that sho uld re ally re main p rivate , b y te lling a se cre t,
arg uing in p ub lic, e tc.
Alb atro ss aro und yo ur ne ck
An alb atro ss aro und , o r ro und , yo ur ne ck is a p ro b le m re sulting fro m so me thing yo u d id that sto p s yo u fro m b e ing succe ssful.
Alike as two p e as
If p e o p le o r thing s are as alike as two p e as, the y are id e ntical.
Alive and kicking
If so me thing is active and d o ing we ll, it is alive and kicking . (It can b e use d fo r p e o p le to o .)
All ag e s and strip e s
A sho rthand fo r e xp re ssing a d ive rsity o f fo lks in a g ro up
All alo ng
If yo u have kno wn o r susp e cte d so me thing all alo ng , the n yo u have fe lt this fro m the b e g inning .
All and sund ry
This id io m is a way o f e mp hasising 'all', like saying 'e ach and e ve ry o ne '.
All b ark and no b ite
Whe n so me o ne talks to ug h b ut re ally isn't, the y are all b ark and no b ite .
All b e ts are o ff
(USA) If all b e ts are o ff, the n ag re e me nts that have b e e n mad e no lo ng e r ap p ly.
All b ut
If so me o ne all b ut d o e s so me thing , the y almo st d o it, b ut d o n't manag e to .
All cats are g re y in the d ark
Thing s are ind isting uishab le in the d ark so ap p e arance s d o n't matte r. ('All cats are g re y at nig ht' is also use d .)
All d re sse d up and no whe re to g o
Yo u're p re p are d fo r so me thing that isn't g o ing to hap p e n.
All e ars
If so me o ne says the y're all e ars, the y are ve ry inte re ste d in he aring ab o ut so me thing .
All e ye s o n me
If all e ye s are o n so me o ne , the n e ve ryo ne is p aying atte ntio n to the m.
All fing e rs and thumb s
If yo u're all fing e rs and thumb s, yo u are to o e xcite d o r clumsy to d o so me thing p ro p e rly that re q uire s manual d e xte rity. 'All
thumb s' is an alte rnative fo rm o f the id io m.
All hat, no cattle
(USA) Whe n so me o ne talks b ig , b ut canno t b ack it up , the y are all hat, no cattle . ('Big hat, no cattle ' is also use d .)
All he art
So me o ne who is all he art is ve ry kind and g e ne ro us.
All he ll b ro ke lo o se
Whe n all he ll b re aks lo o se , the re is chao s, co nfusio n and tro ub le .
All in a d ay's wo rk
If so me thing is all in a d ay's wo rk, it is no thing sp e cial.
All in yo ur he ad
If so me thing is all in yo ur he ad , yo u have imag ine d it and it is no t re al.
All mo d co ns
If so me thing has all mo d co ns, it has all the b e st and mo st d e sirab le fe ature s. It is an ab b re viatio n o f 'mo d e rn co nve nie nce ' that
was use d in ho use ad ve rts.
All mo uth and tro use rs
(UK) So me o ne who 's all mo uth and tro use rs talks o r b o asts a lo t b ut d o e sn't d e live r. 'All mo uth and no tro use rs' is also use d ,
tho ug h this is a co rrup tio n o f the o rig inal.
All my e ye and Pe g g y Martin
(UK) An id io m that ap p e ars to have g o ne o ut o f use b ut was p re vale nt in the Eng lish no rth Mid land s o f Staffo rd shire , Che shire
and De rb yshire fro m at le ast the turn o f the 20th ce ntury until the e arly 1950s o r so . The id io m's me aning is lite rally so me thing
said o r writte n that is unb e lie vab le , rumo r, o ve r e mb e llishe d , the re sult o f malicio us villag e g o ssip e tc.
All o f the ab o ve
This id io m can b e use d to me an e ve rything that has b e e n said o r writte n, e sp e cially all the cho ice s o r p o ssib ilitie s.
All o ve r b ar the sho uting
Whe n so me thing is all o ve r b ar the sho uting , the o utco me is ab so lute ly ce rtain. ('All o ve r b ut the sho uting ' is also use d .)
All o ve r He ll's half acre
(USA) If yo u have b e e n all o ve r He ll's half acre , yo u have b e e n trave ling and visiting many mo re p lace s than o rig inally inte nd e d ,
usually b e cause yo u we re unsucce ssful in find ing what yo u we re lo o king fo r. It can also b e use d to me an e ve rywhe re .
All o ve r the map
(USA) If so me thing like a d iscussio n is all o ve r the map , it d o e sn't stick to the main to p ic and g o e s o ff o n tang e nts.
All o ve r the p lace
If so me thing is co mp le te ly d iso rg anise d o r co nfuse d , it is all o ve r the p lace .
All o ve r the sho p
If so me thing is co mp le te ly d iso rg anise d o r co nfuse d , it is all o ve r the sho p .
All o ve r the sho w
If so me thing is all o ve r the sho w, it's in a co mp le te me ss. An alte rnative to 'All o ve r the sho p '.