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- 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.<\/li>\n
- There are four common types of ‘non-literal language’: metaphor, simile, proverb, and idiom. \u00a0Idioms are considered the most prevalent non-literal language in English.<\/li>\n
- 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!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Now, here are ten more common food related idioms with examples:<\/p>\n
a\/the big cheese<\/strong><\/em>: an important person or the boss
\nFor example: Which one of those women is the big cheese<\/em> around here? \u00a0I want to introduce myself to her.<\/p>\na couch potato<\/strong><\/em>: a lazy person, often someone who sits around watching TV on the couch much of the day
\nFor example: Time to stop being a couch potato<\/em><\/strong>, let\u2019s go out and see something.<\/p>\nthe gravy train<\/strong><\/em>: a job or work that pays more than it is worth
\nFor example: My friend asked if I could get him a job at my office. \u00a0He wants to hop on the gravy train<\/em> and start working here too.<\/p>\nto take with a grain of salt<\/strong><\/em>: to consider something to be not completely truthful or correct
\nFor example: Everything Joan says I have to take with a grain of salt<\/em>. \u00a0She exaggerates so much.<\/p>\nto cry over spilt milk<\/strong><\/em>: cry or complain about something that has already happened and can’t be changed
\nFor example: It is too late to do anything about it. \u00a0There is no use crying over spilt milk<\/em>.<\/p>\nthe cream of the crop<\/strong><\/em>: the best of a group, the top choice
\nFor example: \u00a0The college search committee is looking through applications to find the cream of the crop<\/em>.<\/p>\na bad egg<\/strong><\/em>: a bad person
\nFor example: My mom doesn\u2019t want me to play with Billy anymore, she says he is a bad egg<\/em>.<\/p>\nto have bigger fish to fry<\/strong><\/em>: to have more important things to do
\nFor example: I don\u2019t have time to do that small job; I have bigger fish to fry<\/em>.<\/p>\nas thick as pea soup<\/em><\/strong>: very thick (can be used to describe weather like fog as well as liquids)
\nFor example: We went to the beach for a week and the whole time the fog was as thick as pea soup<\/em>.<\/p>\nfood for thought<\/strong><\/em>: something that gives a person something to think about or to think very hard about something
\nFor example: My new course gives me a lot of food for thought<\/em>. \u00a0The professor is always presenting interesting ideas.<\/p>\nAnd now for the answers to yesterday\u2019s fill-in-the blanks and remember if you are ever looking for more resources to learn English<\/a>, we here at Transparent Language have a lot of resources for you.<\/p>\n
Answers:<\/strong>
\n1) cool as a cucumber
\n2) put all my eggs in one basket
\n3) eat crow
\n4) my cup of tea
\n5) walking on eggshells
\n6) bring home the bacon
\n7) the apple of my eye
\n8 ) in a nut shell
\n9) a piece of cake
\n10) spilled the beans<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2012\/04\/couch-potato.jpg\")
Yesterday I introduced you to ten new food related idioms, today I have ten more! \u00a0First 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…<\/p>\n