Phrases for fun.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P R Q S T U V W X Y Z

A

About to: Something that will happen in the very near future.
E.g. We are about to go out, the taxi is coming in two minutes.
See our tenses page

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B

Bare minimum: To do as little work as it is possible to do and still finish the job.
e.g. He is very lazy, he does the bare minimum.
e.g. 2: Does he do what you ask? Yes, but he does the bare minimum. His work is very low quality.

Bring up: To look after a child until they are an adult.
E.g. My parents brought me up well. (My parents looked after me well when I was a child.)

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C

Chalk and Cheese: Two things or people that are very different.
E.g. Your brothers are like chalk and cheese; one is short and fat, the other is tall and thin.

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D

Day off: to stop work for a day.
E.g. I had yesterday off = I did not work yesterday.

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E

Elephant in the room: Something that everybody knows about, but does not want to talk about.
E.g. The topic of Liverpool not winning the league was the elephant in the room. My father got angry whenever it was metioned.

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F

Free lunch: There is no such thing as a free lunch.= Nobody will give you anything for free.

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G

Get up: To get out of bed in the morning.
E.g. I get up at seven o'clock every morning.

Give up: quit.
E.g. He gave up smoking. E.g.2: He didn't finish his master's degree, he gave up half-way through it.

Grow up: To grow from a child into an adult.
E.g. I grew up in Wales, but moved to London when I was twenty. (I lived in Wales until I was twenty years old then lived in London after that.)

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H

Hang up the phone: To finish a phone call. To turn off the connection.
e.g. When I called him, he got very angry and hung up. (He finished the call quickly and didn't say goodbye.)
e.g.2: Did he hang up on you? Yes, he put the phone down on me before I could say anything. (put the phone down on me = hung up on me = hung up)

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I

In the eyes of the law: legally.
E.g. In the eyes of the law you should give any money you find to the police.

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J

Jelly legs: The feeling your legs have when you ride a bicycle then get off and can’t walk straight.

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K

Kick the bucket: To die.
E.g. He kicked the bucket. = He died.

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L

Lazy bones: Someone who likes sleep more than work.

Looks like rain: It looks like rain. = The sky is grey and you think that it will rain soon.

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M

Made of money: rich.
E.g. He is made of money. = He is rich.

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N

Never mind:It does not matter. It is not important.
E.g. I'm sorry, I just spilt my tea on your carpet. Nevermind, I'm cleaning it tonight anyway.

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O

Out of the blue:Unexpectedly.
E.g. She was shocked. She had got the news out of the blue.

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P

Pouring down: It's pouring down. = Outside, it is raining hard. (A lot of rain is falling quickly)
Same as: It’s pouring out there, It’s pouring, It’s raining cats and dogs, It’s chucking it down, The heavens have opened.

Put up: to build
E.g. Put up your tent there.

Put up with: to endure, to bear
E.g. How do you put up with this heat? It's over forty degrees!

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Q

Out of the question: Something that cannot be done.
E.g. We cannot do that, it's out of the question.

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R

Rule of thumb: A method that is not exact.
E.g. As a rule of thumb you should use a handful of pasta for every person.

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S

Stand up: To be still on your feet.
E.g. Stand up for the teacher please.

To be straight down the line: To be honest and obey all rules.
e.g. He is straight down the line. They are straight down the line.

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T

The Big Apple: New York.

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U

Upper Hand: Advantage.
E.g. In football the team playing at home have the upper hand.

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V

Vanish into thin air: disappear completely.
E.g. He vanished into thin air and was never seen again.

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W

Wing it: To do a job without preparation or knowledge of the job.
E.g. He didn't know what he was doing. He just winged it.

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X

X-ray vision: ability to see through or inside things.
E.g. Superman has x-ray vision.

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Y

Year in, year out: Every year for a long time.
E.g. They go on holiday to Spain year in, year out.

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Z

Zoom about/Zoom around:Rush around.
E.g. He zoomed about collecting the plates from the tables.

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