usingenglish.co m http://www.usingenglish.com/members/idioms/index.php?show=IdiomsEnglish Idioms: P
Ho me > Me mb e rs > Id io ms & Slang
English Idio ms: 199 ent ries beginning wit h 'P'
Pig in a p o ke
If so me o ne b uys a p ig in a p o ke , the y b uy so me thing witho ut che cking the co nd itio n it was in, usually find ing o ut late r that it was
d e fe ctive .
Pig in clo ve r
So me o ne who is ve ry hap p y and p le ase d is as hap p y as a p ig in clo ve r.
Pig s g e t fat, ho g s g e t slaug hte re d
(USA) This id io m is use d to e xp re ss b e ing satisfie d with e no ug h, that b e ing g re e d y o r to o amb itio us will b e yo ur ruin.
Pig s mig ht fly
If yo u think so me thing will ne ve r hap p e n o r succe e d , yo u can say that 'p ig s mig ht fly' (o r 'p ig s can fly' and 'p ig s will fly'- the id io m
is use d in many fo rms)
Pile it o n thick
To p ile it o n thick is to e xag g e rate o r o ve rstate so me thing , usually flatte ry o r p raise . ('Lay it o n thick' is also use d .)
Pin d o wn with a lab e l
If yo u p in so me o ne d o wn with a lab e l, yo u characte rise the m, o fte n me ant ne g ative ly as the lab e l is re strictive .
Pin mo ne y
(UK) If yo u wo rk fo r p in mo ne y, yo u wo rk no t b e cause yo u ne e d to b ut b e cause it g ive s yo u mo ne y fo r e xtra little luxurie s and
tre ats.
Pinch o f salt
If what so me o ne says sho uld b e take n with a p inch o f salt, the n the y e xag g e rate and d isto rt thing s, so what the y say sho uld n't b e
b e lie ve d unq ue stio ning ly. ('with a g rain o f salt' is an alte rnative .)
Pink p o und
(UK) In the UK, the p ink p o und is an id io m fo r the e co no mic p o we r o f g ay p e o p le .
Pink slip
If so me o ne re ce ive s a p ink slip , the y re ce ive a le tte r te lling the m the y have lo st the ir jo b .
Pip e d re am
A p ip e d re am is an unre alistic, imp ractical id e a o r sche me .
Pip ing ho t
If fo o d is p ip ing ho t, it is ve ry ho t ind e e d .
Place in the sun
If yo u have yo ur p lace in the sun, yo u find we alth, hap p ine ss o r whate ve r yo u are lo o king fo r in life .
Plain as a p ike staff
(UK) If so me thing is as p lain as a p ike staff, it is ve ry cle ar.
Plain as the no se o n yo ur face
If so me thing is as p lain as the no se o n yo ur face , it is ve ry cle ar and o b vio us.
Plain Jane
A p lain Jane is a wo man who isn't p articularly attractive .
Plain sailing
If so me thing is re lative ly e asy and the re are no p ro b le ms d o ing it, it is p lain sailing .
Plan B
Plan is an alte rnate o r fall-b ack p o sitio n o r me tho d whe n the initial atte mp t o r p lan g o e s wro ng .
Plastic smile
Whe n so me o ne is we aring a p lastic smile , the y are ap p e ar to b e hap p ie r with a situatio n o r e ve nts than the y actually are . This is
actually a d e scrip tio n o f the fo rce d smile yo u mig ht se e in many p ho to g rap hs.
Play b all
If yo u p lay b all, yo u ag re e to d o what so me o ne asks yo u to d o , o r to ag re e to wo rk with so me o ne in o rd e r to achie ve so me thing
to g e the r (o fte n ne g ative )
Play b y e ar
If yo u p lay b y e ar, yo u d e al with so me thing in an imp ro mp tu manne r, witho ut g uid e line s o r rule s. It re fe rs to p laying music witho ut
using writte n no tatio n.
Play fast and lo o se
If p e o p le p lay fast and lo o se , the y b e have in an irre sp o nsib le way and d o n't re sp e ct rule s, e tc.
Play fo r ke e p s
If yo u are p laying fo r ke e p s, yo u take thing s ve ry se rio usly and the o utco me is ve ry imp o rtant to yo u; it is no t a me re g ame .
Play fo r time
If yo u p lay fo r time , yo u d e lay so me thing b e cause b e cause yo u are no t re ad y o r ne e d mo re time to thing ab o ut it. Eg . I kne w I
had to p lay fo r time until the p o lice arrive d .
Play hard to g e t
If so me o ne p lays hard to g e t, the y p re te nd no t to b e inte re wste d o r attracte d b y so me o ne , usually to make the o the r p e rso n
incre ase the ir e ffo rts.
Play hard b all
If so me o ne p lays hard b all, the y are ve ry ag g re ssive in trying to achie ve the ir aim.
Play havo c
Playing havo c with so me thing is cre ating d iso rd e r and co nfusio n; co mp ute r viruse s can p lay havo c with yo ur p ro g rams.
Play ho o ky
If p e o p le p lay ho o ky, the y d o n't atte nd scho o l whe n the y sho uld and d o n't have a valid re aso n fo r the ir ab se nce .
Play into so me o ne 's hand s
If yo u p lay into so me o ne 's hand s, yo u d o what the y we re e xp e cting yo u to d o and take ad vantag e o f this.
Play it b y e ar
If yo u p lay it b y e ar, yo u d o n't have a p lan o f actio n, b ut d e cid e what to d o as e ve nts take shap e .
Play o ut o f yo ur skin
If so me o ne p lays o ut o f the ir skin, the y g ive an o utstand ing p e rfo rmance .
Play p o ssum
To p re te nd to b e d e ad o r sle e p ing . His yo ung e r siste r jump e d o n him b e cause she kne w he was just p laying p o ssum.
Play se co nd fid d le
If yo u p lay se co nd fid d le , yo u take a sub o rd inate ro le b e hind so me o ne mo re imp o rtant.
Play the fie ld
So me o ne who p lays the fie ld d ate s o r has se xual re latio nship s with many p e o p le .
Play the fo o l
If so me o ne p lays the fo o l, the y b e have in a silly way to make p e o p le laug h. ('Act the fo o l' is and alte rnative fo rm.)
Play with fire
If p e o p le take fo o lish risks, the y are p laying with fire .
Playing to the g alle ry
If so me o ne p lays to the g alle ry, the y say o r d o thing s that will make the m p o p ular at the e xp e nse o f mo re imp o rtant issue s.
Ple ase re ve rt
(Ind ia) Ple ase re sp o nd to me if the so lutio n p ro vid e d is inco rre ct o r insufficie nt.
Ple ase d as p unch
Whe n so me o ne is p le ase d as p unch, the y are ve ry satisfie d ab o ut so me thing
Po ache r turne d g ame ke e p e r
So me o ne who g e ts a le g itimate jo b which is the o p p o site o f the ir p re vio us o ne . E.G a co mp ute r hacke r who the n he lp s to catch
o the r hacke rs o r an e x-b ank ro b b e r who the n ad vise s b anks o n se curity.
Po e try in mo tio n
So me thing that is p o e try in mo tio n is b e autiful to watch.
Po int the fing e r
Whe n yo u p o int the fing e r at so me o ne , yo u are accusing and b laming the m fo r so me thing .
Po inty-he ad s
Po inty-he ad s are sup p o se d inte lle ctuals o r e xp e rts, b ut who d o n't re ally kno w that much.
Po iso n p ill
A p o iso n p ill is a strate g y d e sig ne d to p re ve nt a co mp any fro m b e ing take n o ve r.
Po iso ne d chalice
If so me o ne is g ive n a p o iso ne d chalice , the y are g ive n a jo b o r task which ap p e ars attractive b ut is actually d o o me d to failure o r
b e se t with p ro b le ms that will d amag e the ir re p utatio n o r harm the m.
Po ke r face
So me o ne with a p o ke r face d o e sn't sho w any e mo tio n o r re actio n so that p e o p le d o n't kno w what the y are fe e ling .
Po le p o sitio n
If yo u're in p o le p o sitio n, yo u're in the b e st p o sitio n to win o r achie ve so me thing .
Po le s ap art
Whe n two p e o p le o r p artie s have an o p inio n o r p o int o f vie w that is as far ap art as the y co uld p o ssib ly b e , the y are p o le s ap art.
Po lish the ap p le s
(USA) So me o ne who p o lishe s the ap p le s with so me o ne , trie s to g e t into that p e rso n's favo r.
Po lishing p e anuts
To wo rk ve ry hard at so me thing fo r little o r no re turn. In o the r wo rd s, wasting time o n wo rk which will no t yie ld re aso nab le value .
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Ple ase No te
Ple ase no te that the se d atab ase s co ve r co llo q uial lang uag e and co ntain so me te rms that d e al with vulg ar and tab o o sub je cts. Yo u can
o p t to filte r-o ut e xp licit co nte nt o n yo ur p re fe re nce s p ag e .
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