Yesterday I introduced you to ten new food related idioms, today I have ten more! First though, here are some important points about idioms to keep in mind.
- Native speakers of English use idioms all the time. Thus a strong knowledge of idioms will help you to be a better speaker and negotiator.
- There are four common types of ‘non-literal language’: metaphor, simile, proverb, and idiom. Idioms are considered the most prevalent non-literal language in English.
- In a research study (reference: Cooper, T.C. (1998) “Teaching Idioms”, Foreign Language Annals, 31, 2, 255-266.) in a transcribed 3 hours of taped television programs, idioms occurred at the rate of about 3 per minute!
Now, here are ten more common food related idioms with examples:
a/the big cheese: an important person or the boss
For example: Which one of those women is the big cheese around here? I want to introduce myself to her.
a couch potato: a lazy person, often someone who sits around watching TV on the couch much of the day
For example: Time to stop being a couch potato, let’s go out and see something.
the gravy train: a job or work that pays more than it is worth
For example: My friend asked if I could get him a job at my office. He wants to hop on the gravy train and start working here too.
to take with a grain of salt: to consider something to be not completely truthful or correct
For example: Everything Joan says I have to take with a grain of salt. She exaggerates so much.
to cry over spilt milk: cry or complain about something that has already happened and can’t be changed
For example: It is too late to do anything about it. There is no use crying over spilt milk.
the cream of the crop: the best of a group, the top choice
For example: The college search committee is looking through applications to find the cream of the crop.
a bad egg: a bad person
For example: My mom doesn’t want me to play with Billy anymore, she says he is a bad egg.
to have bigger fish to fry: to have more important things to do
For example: I don’t have time to do that small job; I have bigger fish to fry.
as thick as pea soup: very thick (can be used to describe weather like fog as well as liquids)
For example: We went to the beach for a week and the whole time the fog was as thick as pea soup.
food for thought: something that gives a person something to think about or to think very hard about something
For example: My new course gives me a lot of food for thought. The professor is always presenting interesting ideas.
And now for the answers to yesterday’s fill-in-the blanks and remember if you are ever looking for more resources to learn English, we here at Transparent Language have a lot of resources for you.
Answers:
1) cool as a cucumber
2) put all my eggs in one basket
3) eat crow
4) my cup of tea
5) walking on eggshells
6) bring home the bacon
7) the apple of my eye
8 ) in a nut shell
9) a piece of cake
10) spilled the beans
