Idiomatic Expressions

Idiomatic Expressions

1. Something or someone that can be compared to something or someone else, but is not as good is a poor man's version; a writer who uses lots of puns but isn't very funny would be a poor man's Oscar Wilde.

2. This phrase occurs in the official records of meetings or deliberations of various government bodies. If a proposal or motion is laid on the table, it is essentially a euphemism, meaning that "nothing further will be done in this matter" or "we are not going to do anything about this" or "we refuse the petition".

3. If something puts or throws you off your track, it distracts you or keeps you from achieving what you want.

4. If your paper over the cracks, you try to make something look or work better but only deal with superficial issues, not the real underlying problems.

5. A woman who is pre-eminent in her area is a Queen of Hearts.

6. If you rub salt in a wound, you make someone feel bad about something that is already a painful experience. 'Pour salt on a wound' is an alternative form of the idiom.

7. If someone does something bad and unnecessary without consideration for another’s feelings, what they do is uncalled for.

8. If someone vents their spleen, they release all their anger about something.

9. When someone is waiting for a raindrop in the drought, they are waiting or hoping for something that is extremely unlikely to happen.

10. The time when something important is to begin is zero hour.

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