Sputnik moment: This refers to the launching of the first satellite, the Sputnik 1, in order to beat the US in the race into space. It implies to a situation when people feel so challenged by an opponent or situation that they redouble their efforts in order to win or outdo the other.

Square meal: A substantial meal.

Square the circle: To square the circle is to do something impossible.

Squared away: To be prepared to do the required task.

Squeaky clean: Very clean.

Squeaky wheel gets the grease: Those who complain or make noise end up getting attention and service while those who remain silent and in the background are served latter.Stalking horse: This refers to a strategy used to conceal one`s real intention or a candidate in an election who is brought forward to divide the opponents or hide the identity of the real candidate.

Stand head and shoulders above: To be much better than the rest, or a group, of people.

Stand in good stead: Something that will prove to be good for you in the future. If something will stand you in good stead, it will probably be advantageous in the future.

Stars and stripes: This refers to the American flag.

Stars in your eyes: To dream of being famous and rich.

State of the art: Something that is of the latesttechnology.

Status quo: To maintain or preserve the status quo is to keep the situation unchanged.

Steal someone`s thunder: To take the credit and praise for the work and efforts of someone else.

Steal the show: To get the most attention during a performance which has others in it too.

Stem the tide: To try and stop something bad from getting to worse.

Step on it: A way of telling someone to hurry up or move faster.

Step on someone`s toes: To annoy someone by doing what they should have done or getting what they should have got.

Step up to the plate: To accept a challenge.

Stew in your own juices: To leave someone to worry about the results of their actions, which are likely to be bad.

Stick in your craw: To be annoyed by someone or something.

Stick out like a sore thumb: Something that stands out clearly in the midst of other things around it.

Stick to your guns: To maintain your position or stance even when you are criticised for what you are doing.

Stick your neck out: To take a risk because of someone or something you support.

Stick-in-the-mud: A person who is averse to change.

Sticking point: Something thatproves to be a block or obstacle, and the situation becomes such that it is difficult to move ahead or reach a compromise.

Sticks and stones may break mybones, but names will never hurt me: This is usually used by youngsters as an answer to teasing by others. It means that you are not bothered by criticism and name calling by others.

Sticky fingers: It refers to peoplestealing or simply keeping things that they come across.

Sticky wicket: To be on a stickywicket is to be in a difficult situation.

Stiff as a poker: An inflexible person or thing.

Stiff upper lip: To maintain your composure or control your emo-tions in troubled situations; it particularly refers to stopping your self from crying or breaking down when something bad happens.

Stiff-necked: Someone who is very formal and reserved.

Still waters run deep: It refers to people who are quiet and not very expressive but may actually have alot in them that makes them interesting.

Stir the blood: Something that arouses one`s emotions.

Stir the pot: To do something to provoke or cause a reaction.

Stone deaf: Totally deaf.

Stone`s throw away: Something not too far away.

Stop cold: To be taken by surprise and stop.

Storm in a teacup: To exaggerate in order to make a small problem appear greater.

Straddle the fence: To be unable to come to a decision about something.

Straight as an arrow: An honest and sincere person.

Straight face: To show no emotions.


Source - | ePaper | DAWN.COM

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Tables are turned: When the tables are turned, it means that things have changed to turn a situation opposite to what it was, leaving the person who was at a disadvantage to be in a favorable position.

Take a hike: A polite way of telling someone to `Get lost`.

Take a leaf out of someone`s book: To learn from someone else`s experience and do what they have done in order to succeed or do well.

Take a rain check: To politely refuse an offer while asking the person to ask you later when you might agree.

Take aback: To be surprised or shocked by something.

Take by the scruff of the neck: To take full charge or control of something.

Take for a test drive: To try something to see if you like it or not before buying it.

Take forty winks: To take a nap or short sleep.

Take it in your stride: To accept something and not be bothered by it, even though it might be somewhat unpleasant or difficult.

Take it on the chin: When something bad happens to you, you take it bravely and without any sign of stress.

Take sand to the beach:To take sand to the beach is to do something totally useless and unnecessary.

Take someone for a ride: To deceive someone.

Take someone to task: To scold or confront someone about something bad that they have done.

Take someone to the cleaners: To cheat someone, or to cheat someone out of a lot of money.

Take someone to the woodshed: To punish someone for something bad that they have done.

Take someone under your wing: To guide and teach someone.

Take the bull by its horns: To deal with a difficult situation directly.

Take the cake: To get the best of what was on offer.

Take the edge off: To make something less severe, referring to blunting the edge of a cutting instrument.

Take the fall: To accept the blame for something, when the wrongdoer is someone else, and thus the punishment.

Take the flak: To be criticized for something.

Take the floor: To stand in front of a group of people to present something or give a speech.

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Take the heat: To take the blame or criticism for something that you have not done, usually in a bid to save the person who is at fault.

Take the plunge: To commit yourself to something, despite the chances of facing some risk in doing so.

Take the rough with the smooth: To accept both the good points and bad points of something or someone.

Take to your heels: To run away from something or someone.

Take up the torch: To take up a responsibility from someone when they retire or leave a job, referring to passing of the Olympic stadium; the idiom can also mean to take up a challenge.

Take your breath away: To leave you surprised in a very pleasing way.

Take your hats off: To show respect and admiration for someone.

Take your medicine: To accept the consequences for something that you have done and which has gone wrong.

Talk a glass eye to sleep: Someone who talks a glass eye to sleep is very boring.

Talk nineteen to the dozen: To talk very quickly and a lot.

Talk of the town: Something or someone about which many people are currently talking about, usually in a positive manner.

Talk out of the back of your head -OR- Talk out of your hat: To talk nonsense.

Talk shop: To talk about work related issue, usually outside the work place and after working hours.

Talk the hind legs off a donkey: To be very talkative.

Talk turkey: To talk about something very frankly, often in a business context.

Talk your arm off: To be so talkative that listeners get totally fed up.

Talking to the brick wall: To talk to someone who does not pay attention and respond to what you say.

Tall order: Something that is difficult to achieve or do.

Tall story: A false story that is also unbelievable.

Taste of your own medicine: Someone gives you 'a taste of your own medicine' when they act towards you in the same way that you act towards others in order to teach you a lesson about the way you are acting.

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Teeny-weeny: Something very small. Tiny

Tempest in a teapot: To make a big issue out of a small thing; to exaggerate the seriousness of a situation and make things look worst than they are.

Temp fate/providence: To do something that involves great risk and most likely to have an unpleasant result.

Ten/Two a penny: When something is ten( or two) a penny, it is very common.

Test the waters: Just as one puts one's toes into the water first to see how cold it is before jumping in for a swim, this idiom means to first give something a try to see if it works or not before accepting or implementing it.

That and 50 cents will buy you a cup of coffee: It implies that something is worthless, for example when someone says that they got an A+ in a subject that really doesn't have much scope, you can tell them, " So? That and 50 cents will buy you a cup of coffee.

That is the way the cookie crumbles: It means that things cannot always turn out like we want them to and as there is not much that we can do about it,we should not get upset.

That makes two of us: To show agreement with the speaker on something.

That ship has sailed: This idiom is used to say that you have missed an opportunity.

The be all and end all: This idiom comes from Shakespeare's play Macbeth; it means that something is the central and all-important part, or the final and ultimate outcome of an action or situation.

The bigger they are, the harder they fall: It means that those with more power or at a higher position are at the risk of losing more and tend to suffer more as a result.

The Common weal: For the benefit or interest of the general public.

The long and short: The gist or the most important part of something.

The more the merrier: The more people or things there are, the better it will be.

The Apple does not fall far from the tree: Offspring grow up to be like the parents.

The ball's in your court: If somebody says this to you, they mean that it's up to you to decide or take the next step.

The cat's meow: If something is the cat's meow, it's excellent.

The grass is always greener: This idiom means that what other people have or do looks preferable to our life. The complete phrase is 'The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence'.

The penny dropped: When the penny drops, someone belatedly understands something that everyone else has long since understood.

The sands of time: The sands of time is an idiom meaning that time runs out either through something reaching an end or through a person's death. It comes from the sand used in hourglasses, an ancient way of measuring time.

The shoemaker's son always goes barefoot: A skilled or knowledgeable person often fails to use their skills for the benefit of their family and people close to them.

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The short straw: To be unluckily or unfairly selected to do an unpleasant job.

The sun might rise in the west: When people say this, they mean that they don't expect something to happen.

There are many ways to skin a cat: This is an expression meaning there are many different ways of doing the same thing.

There goes the neighbourhood: This is said when something bad happens in an area or some undesirable people shift into a neighbourhood and the living conditions, as well as the value of the properties, are sure to decline.

There’s a dead cat on the line: This idiom is used to indicate that there is something fishy or suspicious going on.

There’s never a road without a turning: It means that things don’t remain the same way forever.

There’s no ‘I’ in ‘Team’: It signifies that an individual’s achievements are not greater than the achievements/victories of the team, which is especially true in the case of team sports such as football and cricket.

There’s no accounting for taste: It is difficult to explain or justify people’s likes or dislikes.

There’s no fool like an old fool: It means that an older person who acts foolishly seems worst than a younger person who does the same thing.

There’s no such thing as a free lunch: It means that nothing comes for free, and if you are being offered something free by someone, that person is bound to ask you a favour later on.

Thick as mince: If someone is as thick as mince, they are very stupid indeed.

Thick as thieves: If people are thick as thieves, they are very close friends who have no secrets from each other.

Thick-skinned: To be unaffected by criticism and what others say. Not easily offended.

Thin as a rake: A rake is a garden tool with a long, thin, wooden handle, so someone very thin is thin as a rake.

Thin end of the wedge: Something that is very small, apparently insignificant, but one that will prove to be of great importance later on.

Thin line or fine line: If there's a thin line between things, it's hard to distinguish them.

Thin-skinned: Someone who is oversensitive, especially to criticism or insult.

Think outside the box: To think in a creative and unconstrained way in order to come up with innovative ideas, especially for business. A box signifies restricted thinking and rigidity.

Those who live by the sword die by the sword: This means that violent people will be treated violently themselves.

Thousand pound gorilla in the room: A thousand pound gorilla in the room is an idiom which can be used to say something is the biggest problem in the relationship between two or more persons or countries. It is based on the idea that a thousand pound gorilla in the room would be impossible to overlook.

Thrilled to bits: If you are thrilled to bits, you are extremely pleased or excited about something.

Through gritted teeth: If you do something through gritted teeth, you accept or agree with it against your will and it is obvious to others how you really feel.

Through the ceiling: If prices go through the ceiling, they rise very quickly.

Through the floor: If prices go, or fall, through the floor, they fall very quickly.

Through thick and thin: If someone supports you through thick and thin, they support you during good times and bad.

Throw a curve: If you throw someone a curve, you surprise them with something they find difficult to deal with. ('Throw' a curveball' is also used)

Throw a monkey wrench (or spanner) into the works: To throw a monkey wrench (or spanner) into the works is to disrupt an active process; to cause problems for someone's plans.

Throw down the gauntlet: Throw down the gauntlet is to issue a challenge to somebody to argue, fight, or compete with you.

Throw pearls to the pigs: Someone that throws pearls to pigs is giving someone else something they don't deserve or appreciate. ('Throw pearls before pigs' and 'Cast pearls before swine' are also used.)

Throw someone to the wolves: If someone is thrown to the wolves, they are abandoned and have to face trouble without any support. Or, to sacrifice someone to save the rest, on the image of giving one person to the wolves to eat so the rest can get away.

Throw the baby out with the bath water: If you get rid of useful things when discarding inessential things, you throw the baby out with the bath water.

Throw the book at someone: If you throw the book at someone, you punish them as severely as possible, for breaking rules or the laws.

Throw/ Toss your hat in the ring: Throw your hat in the ring is to announce that you want to take part in a competition or contest, esp. a political position.

Throw your toys out of the pram: To make an angry protest against a relatively minor problem, in the process embarrassing the protester. The analogy is with a baby who throws toys out of the pram in order to get their parent to pay attention to them. The implication in the idiom is that the protester is acting like a baby.

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Third time’s the charm: This implies that when something is attempted for the third time, there is bound to be success.

Thorn in your side: Someone or something that causes problems for you.

Throw a sickie: To pretend to be sick in order to skip school or work.

Throw in the towel: To accept that you can’t do something or accept defeat.

Throw someone a bone: To give someone a reward or praise them just to make them feel a good.

Throw someone a line: To give help out someone who is in trouble.

Throw someone in at the deep end: To make someone do a difficult job without giving them any help or letting them prepare for it first.

Throw your weight around: If someone throws their weight around, they use their authority or force of personality to get what they want in the face of opposition.

Thumb your nose at: If you thumb your nose at something, you reject it or scorn it.

Thumbs down & thumbs up: If something gets the thumbs up, it gets approval, while the thumbs down means disapproval.

Tick all the right boxes: To meet or fit the criteria or expectations. For example, "This product ticked all the right boxes for me", or "That applicant's interview didn't go so well; it didn't tick any of my boxes".

Tickle your fancy: If something tickles your fancy, it appeals to you and you want to try it or have it.

Tickled pink: If you are very pleased about something, you are tickled pink.

Tie the knot: When people tie the knot, they get married.

Tied to your mother's apron strings: If someone, usually a man, is tied to their mother's apron strings, they still need their mother and cannot think or act independently.

Tie up loose ends: Finish a project, complete the details of some work.

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Tidy desk, tidy mind: An organised surrounding, workplace and method helps to make a person mentally clear and organised.

Tight rein: To keep firm and careful control of something.

Tight ship: To run a tight ship is to have firmly control and monitor the running of an organisation.

Tighten your belt: To do things to economise, cut costs.

Till the cows come home: A very long but indefinite time. Use in sentence: I can explain this to you until the cows come home but you’re just never going to get it until you try it.

Till the pips squeak: If someone will do something till the pips squeak, they will do it to the limit, even though it will make other people suffer.

Till you’re blue in the face: To do something till you are blue in the face is to repeatedly try and do something but fail each time until you become totally frustrated.

Tilt at windmills: To do things that are not practically applicable.

Time and again: If something happens time and again, it happens repeatedly. ('Time and time again' is also used).

Time does sail: This idioms means that time passes by unnoticed.

Time flies: This idiom means that time moves quickly and often unnoticed.

Time and tide wait for no man: If people should not waste time and act at once or at the right time, otherwise they will miss the opportunity or fail.

Time is on my side: To have plenty of time to do something.

Time of your life: To have the time of your life is to be enjoying yourself to the fullest.

Time-honoured practice: A time-honoured practice is a traditional way of doing something that has become almost universally accepted as the most appropriate or suitable way.

Tip of the iceberg: A small evident part or aspect of something largely hidden.

Tipping point: Small changes may have little effect until they build up to critical mass, then the next small change may suddenly change everything. this is the tipping point. - OR - A time when important things start happening in a situation, especially things that you cannot change.

Tit for tat: An equivalent given in return (as for an injury, Insult or in trade). A retaliation.

To a fault: To an excessive degree. If someone does something to a fault, they do it excessively. So someone who is generous to a fault is too generous.

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To a man: If a group of people does, believes, thinks, etc, something to a man, then they all do it. Use in sentence: The committee voted against the proposal to a man.

To a T: To do something perfectly.

To all intents and purposes: In all the important ways.

To be as thick as two bricks: To be very stupid.

To be dog cheap: Very cheap.

To err is human, to forgive divine: It implies that anyone can make a mistake or do something wrong, so it be best to forgive them.

To have the courage of your convictions: To be brave enough to do something despite objections and pressure to do things differently.

To little/no avail: When something is to no avail, it means despite the hard work put into it, things ended in failure; “The guards tried to keep the crowd away from the movie star, but to little avail.”

To the end of time: Forever.

Toe the line: To follow the rules or orders.

Tomorrow’s another day: It is an optimistic expression which implies that things may turn out to be better in the future.

Tongue in cheek: Something said as a joke and should not be taken seriously.

Tongue-lashing: To scold someone.

Tongue-tied: To be speechless.

Toss-up: A result that is still unclear and can go either way is a toss-up.

Too big for your boots: To behave as if one is more important, influential or clever than they really are.

Too many cooks spoil the broth: This means that where there are too many people trying to do something, they make a mess of it.

Too big for your britches: To be conceited and arrogant.

Too many chiefs and not enough Indians: It means there are too many people ready to be the manager or be in charge of things but not enough workers.

Too many irons in the fire: It means a person has started working on too many projects at the same time and so he will not be able to handle them all effectively.

Toot you own horn: To boost about your achievement yourself.

Top brass: The people at the highest positions in an organisation.

Top dog: To head or a place or organisation.

Top notch: Of excellent quality and standards.

Touch base: To touch base with someone is to contact that person.

Touch-and-go: A very uncertain situation.

Tough cookie: A tough cookie is a person who will do everything necessary to achieve what they want. OR - A person who is very difficult to deal with.

Tough luck: Bad luck.

Tough as old boots: Something or someone that is as tough as old boots is strong and resilient.

Tough nut to crack: Something that is difficult to handle or find a solution to or a person who is very difficult to deal with and it is impossible to get them to do what you want.

Trade barbs: When people attack or insult each other.

Trail your coat: If you trail your coat, you act in a provocative way.

Train of thought: Sequence of thoughts

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Tread on someone’s toes: To upset or offend someone.

Tread the boards: When someone treads the boards, they perform on stage in a theatre.

Tread water: To be active but not make any progress in the work you are trying to do.

Treasure trove: A great source of something or to be of great value.

Tried and tested: If a method has been tried and tested, it is known to work or be effective because it has been successfully used long enough to be trusted.

True blue: A very reliable and loyal person.

True colours: When you show your true colours, you are revealing what you really are like and reveal your real character. It usually implies that a negative or weak aspect of a person’s personality is revealed as a result.

Trump card: Something that is advantageous and is held back to be used at a crucial time.

Tug at the heartstrings: Something that makes you feel sad or sympathetic.

Turf war: A dispute where one party seeks to gain more influence than the others, such as gangs fighting over the right to operate within a particular area.

Turn a blind eye: When people turn a blind eye, they deliberately ignore something, especially if people are doing something wrong.

Turn a deaf ear: Not to listen to someone or pay much attention to what someone is saying.

Turn a new leaf: To change one’s behaviour and stop doing what they were doing, usually when someone stops doing wrong things and becomes a good person.

Turn something on its head: To turn something upside down or reverse something.

Turn the corner: To get over a bad phase or recover from a bad experience.

Turn the crack: If you turn the crack, you change the subject of a conversation.

Turn the other cheek: To be so humble and polite that when someone insults you or gets angry with you, you do not retaliate.

Turn the tables: When the situation changes completely, usually when the weaker position becomes the dominant one.

Turn turtle: When something, like a car, turns upside down.

Turn water into wine: If someone turns water into wine, they transform something bad into something excellent.

Turn your nose up: To reject something out of snobbishness, because you think it is not good enough.

Turn up one's toes to the daisies: If someone has turned up their toes to the daisies, it means that the person died.

Turn-up for the books: An unexpected and surprising event.

Twenty-four seven: It means all the time, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Twinkling of an eye: Very quickly.

Twist someone’s arm: To put pressure on someone to do what you want him to do.

Twisting in the wind: To be twisting in the wind is to be without support or help from anyone.

Two cents: To add your two cents is to give your views/opinion on a given issue.

Two heads are better than one: It means that when two (or more) people work together, more can be accomplished by their combined effort.

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