idiomatic expressions and their meanings Misc

[Bogomir]

hi folks,

you probably know that there are language specific expressions or word combinations which got a special meaning. In some cases this meaning differs a lot from the meaning of their containing words.

I'd like to start a thread to collect some of these idiomatic expressions which can't be translated into other languages mostly.
In case you'd like to join this thread please post an answer which contains an idiomatic expression you know and try to explain what it means (maybe a hint where to use it or where to avoid it)

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"to freeze one's butt off" (colloq. not to be used in business conversations)

A picture to support the meaning :

describes that it's "really very cold indeed"
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Don't be shy and join
/Bog

--- reminder ---
as this is an English subforum, your idioms and explanations should be in English of course

 

[sorei]

@bog:
sweet

get your foot in the door (also: have your foot in the door)
to have an opportunity, to complete the first step in a process.

 

[Bogomir]

"not being one's cup of tea"

describes that you don't like s.th. very much

 

[sorei]

"cat got your tongue?"

...meaning:
Why are you not saying anything?

 

[Bogomir]

"it's raining cats and dogs"

meaning:
It's raining that much that you won't be able to see anything else than raindrops only

 

[sorei]

(having to) eat crow

to publicly admit you were wrong about something

 

[Bogomir]

"to pay through the nose"

meaning:
to pay a lot of money without receiving what you wanted (e.g for car repair )

 

[sorei]

mad as a hornet

When someone is beyond angry. Full of rage. Hornets are really angry and relentless, hence the term, "mad as a hornet".

 

[Bogomir]

"to smell a rat"

meaning:
to suspect that s.th. is wrong about what you've been told

 

[Eidi]

"Hit the nail on the head"

meaning:

...do or say something exactly right!

 

[Bogomir]

"to put a feather in somebody's cap"

meaning:
s.th. really good that s.o. has done to please s.b. else
(a rather old-fasioned phrase, but a lovely one)

 

[Eidi]

"Let sleeping dogs lie"

meaning:

...do not disturb a situation as it is - since it would result in trouble or complications.

 

[Bogomir]

"to get into hot water"

meaning:
to get into trouble with s.th. or s.o.
a situation in which you are likely to be punished

 

[Eidi]

"Don't put all your eggs in one basket."

meaning:

...do not put all your resources in one possibility.

 

[littleprof]

to get up somebody's nose



... means "to annoy somebody", e.g. "People who drive car like this get up my nose!"

 

[Eidi]

"A penny for your thoughts."

meaning:

...a way of asking what someone is thinking.

 

[Bogomir]

"back to the drawingboard"

meaning:
in case an attempt failed you have to start again from scratch (from the very beginning)

 

[Eidi]

"Best thing since sliced bread"

meaning:

A good invention or innovation. A good idea or plan.

 

[Cheesecake]

"to sit on the fence"

meaning:

to refuse to take sides in a dispute; to lack the courage to decide

ex. "The councilman is afraid he'll lose votes if he takes sides on the zoning issue, but he can't sit on the fence forever."

 

[Eidi]

"To hear something straight from the horse's mouth"

meaning:

To hear something from the authoritative source >
you hear it from the person who has direct personal knowledge of it.

 

[monkeypapst]

eat my shorts

meaning:
I ignore what you`re saying/doing

 

[Eidi]

"Take with a grain of salt"

meaning:

Not to take what someone says too seriously.

To take a statement with 'a grain of salt' or 'a pinch of salt' means to accept it but to maintain a degree of skepticism about its truth.

The idea comes from the fact that food is more easily swallowed if taken with a small amount of salt. Pliny the Elder translated an ancient antidote for poison with the words 'be taken fasting, plus a grain of salt'.

 

[Bogomir]

"no room to swing a cat"

meaning:
An awkwardly small, confined space.

 

[Eidi]

"an arm and a leg"

meaning:
Very expensive or costly. A large amount of money.

 

[littleprof]

"bend over backwards"



=> try very hard to please someone