ENGLISH MATERIAL FOR BANK PO CLERK SSC IDIOMS
Smart Idioms
- A hot potato
- Speak of an issue (mostly current) which many people are talking about and which is usually disputed
- A penny for your thoughts
- A way of asking what someone is thinking
- Actions speak louder than words
- People’s intentions can be judged better by what they do than what they say.
- Add insult to injury
- To further a loss with mockery or indignity; to worsen an unfavorable situation.
- An arm and a leg
- Very expensive or costly. A large amount of money.
- At the drop of a hat
- Meaning: without any hesitation; instantly.
- Back to the drawing board
- When an attempt fails and it’s time to start all over.
- Ball is in your court
- It is up to you to make the next decision or step
- Barking up the wrong tree
- Looking in the wrong place. Accusing the wrong person
- Be glad to see the back of
- Be happy when a person leaves.
- Beat around the bush
- Avoiding the main topic. Not speaking directly about the issue.
- Best of both worlds
- Meaning: All the advantages.
- Best thing since sliced bread
- A good invention or innovation. A good idea or plan.
- Bite off more than you can chew
- To take on a task that is way to big.
- Blessing in disguise
- Something good that isn’t recognized at first.
- Burn the midnight oil
- To work late into the night, alluding to the time before electric lighting.
- Can’t judge a book by its cover
- Cannot judge something primarily on appearance.
- Caught between two stools
- When someone finds it difficult to choose between two alternatives.
- Costs an arm and a leg
- This idiom is used when something is very expensive.
- Cross that bridge when you come to it
- Deal with a problem if and when it becomes necessary, not before.
- Cry over spilt milk
- When you complain about a loss from the past.
- Curiosity killed the cat
- Being Inquisitive can lead you into an unpleasant situation.
- Cut corners
- When something is done badly to save money.
- Cut the mustard
- To succeed; to come up to expectations; adequate enough to compete or participate
- Devil’s Advocate
- To present a counter argument
- Don’t count your chickens before the eggs have hatched
- This idiom is used to express “Don’t make plans for something that might not happen”.
- Don’t give up the day job
- You are not very good at something. You could definitely not do it professionally.
- Don’t put all your eggs in one basket
- Do not put all your resources in one possibility.
- Drastic times call for drastic measures
- When you are extremely desperate you need to take drastic actions.
- Elvis has left the building
- The show has come to an end. It’s all over.
- Every cloud has a silver lining
- Be optimistic, even difficult times will lead to better days.
- Far cry from
- Very different from.
- Feel a bit under the weather
- Meaning: Feeling slightly ill.
- Give the benefit of the doubt
- Believe someone’s statement, without proof.
- Hear it on the grapevine
- This idiom means ‘to hear rumors’ about something or someone.
- Hit the nail on the head
- Do or say something exactly right
- Hit the sack / sheets / hay
- To go to bed.
- In the heat of the moment
- Overwhelmed by what is happening in the moment.
- It takes two to tango
- Actions or communications need more than one person
- Jump on the bandwagon
- Join a popular trend or activity.
- Keep something at bay
- Keep something away.
- Kill two birds with one stone
- This idiom means, to accomplish two different things at the same time.
- Last straw
- The final problem in a series of problems.
- Let sleeping dogs lie
- Meaning – do not disturb a situation as it is – since it would result in trouble or complications.
- Let the cat out of the bag
- To share information that was previously concealed
- Make a long story short
- Come to the point – leave out details
- Method to my madness
- An assertion that, despite one’s approach seeming random, there actually is structure to it.
- Miss the boat
- This idiom is used to say that someone missed his or her chance
- Not a spark of decency
- Meaning: No manners
- Not playing with a full deck
- Someone who lacks intelligence.
- Off one’s rocker
- Crazy, demented, out of one’s mind, in a confused or befuddled state of mind, senile.
- On the ball
- When someone understands the situation well.
- Once in a blue moon
- Meaning: Happens very rarely.
- Picture paints a thousand words
- A visual presentation is far more descriptive than words.
- Piece of cake
- A job, task or other activity that is easy or simple.
- Put wool over other people’s eyes
- This means to deceive someone into thinking well of them.
- See eye to eye
- This idiom is used to say that two (or more people) agree on something.
- Sit on the fence
- This is used when someone does not want to choose or make a decision.
- Speak of the devil!
- This expression is used when the person you have just been talking about arrives.
- Steal someone’s thunder
- To take the credit for something someone else did.
- Take with a grain of salt
- This means not to take what someone says too seriously.
- Taste of your own medicine
- Means that something happens to you, or is done to you, that you have done to someone else
- To hear something straight from the horse’s mouth
- To hear something from the authoritative source.
- Whole nine yards
- Everything. All of it.
- Wouldn’t be caught dead
- Would never like to do something
- Your guess is as good as mine
- To have no idea, do not know the answer to a question