R

Rack and ruin
If something or someone goes to rack and ruin, they are utterly destroyed or wrecked.
Rags to riches
Someone who starts life very poor and becomes rich, goes from rags to riches.
Raining cats and dogs
When it is raining cats and dogs, it is raining very heavily.
Rainy day
If you save something, especially money, for a rainy day, you save it for some possible problem or trouble in the future.
Raise Cain
If someone raises Cain, they make a big fuss publicly, causing a disturbance.
Rake over old coals
If you go back to old problems and try to bring them back, making trouble for someone, you are raking over old coals.
Rake someone over the coals
If you rake someone over the coals, you criticize or scold them severely.
Rank and file
The rank and file are the ordinary members of a company, organisation, etc, excluding the managers and directors.
Rat race
The rat race is the ruthless, competitive struggle for success in work, etc.
Rather you than me
Rather you than me is an expression used when someone has something unpleasant or arduous to do. It is meant in a good natured way of expressing both sympathy and having a bit of a laugh at their expense.
Raw deal
If you get a raw deal, you are treated unfairly.
Read someone the riot act
If you read someone the riot act, you give them a clear warning that if they don’t stop doing something, they will be in serious trouble.
Real McCoy
Something that’s the real McCoy is the genuine article, not a fake.
Real trooper
A real trooper is someone who will fight for what they believe in and doesn’t give up easily.
Recipe for disaster
A recipe for disaster is a mixture of people and events that could only possibly result in trouble.
Red herring
If something is a distraction from the real issues, it is a red herring.
Red letter day
A red letter day is a one of good luck, when something special happens to you.
Red light district
The red light district is the area of a town or city where there is prostitution, sex shops, etc.
Red mist
If someone sees the red mist, they lose their temper and self-control completely.
Red rag to a bull
If something is a red rag to a bull, it is something that will inevitably make somebody angry or cross.
Red tape
This is a negative term for the official paperwork and bureaucracy that we have to deal with.
Reinvent the wheel
If someone reinvents the wheel, they waste their time doing something that has already been done by other people, when they could be doing something more worthwhile.
Rest is gravy
If the rest is gravy, it is easy and straight-forward once you have reached that stage.
Rest on your laurels
If someone rests on his laurels, he rely on his past achievements, rather than trying to achieve things now.
Revenge is sweet
When you are happy to be proved right, then you know that revenge is sweet.
Rewrite history
If you rewrite history, you change your version of past events so as to make yourself look better than you would if the truth was told.
Rice missionary
A rice missionary gives food to hungry people as a way of converting them to Christianity.
Rich as Croesus
Someone who is as rich as Croesus is very wealthy indeed.
Ride roughshod
If someone rides roughshod over other people, they impose their will without caring at all for other people’s feelings.
Right as rain
If things are right as rain, then everything is going well in your life.
Right royal
A right royal night out would be an extremely exciting, memorable and fun one.
Ring a bell
If something rings a bell, it reminds you of something you have heard before, though you may not be able to remember it very well.
Ringside seat
If you have a ringside seat, you can observe something from a very close and clear position.
Rip van Winkle
Rip van Winkle is a character in a story who slept for twenty years, so if someone is a Rip van Winkle, they are behind the times and out of touch with what’s happening now.
Rob Peter to pay Paul
If you rob Peter to pay Paul, you try to solve one problem, but create another in doing so, often through short-term planning.
Rock the boat
If you rock the boat, you destabilise a situation by making trouble. It is often used as advice; ‘Don’t rock the boat’.
Rocket science
If something is not rocket science, it is not very complicated or difficult to understand. This idiom is normally used in the negative.
Rolling in the aisles
If the audience watching something are laughing loudly, the show has them rolling in the aisles.
Rome was not built in a day
This idiom means that many things cannot be done instantly, and require time and patience.
Rooted to the spot
If someone is rooted to the spot, they cannot move, either physically or they cannot think their way out of a problem.
Rough diamond
A rough diamond is a person who might be a bit rude but who is good underneath it all.
Rough-hewn
If something, especially something made from wood or stone, is rough-hewn, it is unfinished or unpolished.
Round the bend
If someone has gone round the bend, they have stopped being rational about something. If something drives you round the bend, it irritates you or makes you angry.
Round the houses
If you go round the houses, you do something in an inefficient way when there is a quicker, more convenient way.
Rub someone up the wrong way
If you annoy or irritate someone when you didn’t mean to, you rub him up the wrong way.
Ruffle a few feathers
If you ruffle a few feathers, you annoy some people when making changes or improvements.
Rule of thumb
Rule of thumb means approximately.
Run before you can walk
If someone tries to run before they can walk, they try to do something requiring a high level of knowledge before they have learned the basics.
Run circles around someone
If you can run circles around someone, you are smarter and intellectually quicker than they are.
Run out of gas
If a campaign, project, etc, runs out of gas, it loses energy and momentum, and progress slows or halts.
Run rings around someone
If you run rings around someone, you are so much better than them that they have no chance of keeping up with you.
Run the gauntlet
If somebody is being criticised harshly by a lot of people, they are said to run the gauntlet.
Run the show
If someone runs the show, they like to be in control and make all the decisions.
Run-of-the-mill
If something is run-of-the-mill, there is nothing exceptional about it—it is ordinary or average.
Running on empty
If you are exhausted but keep going, you are running on empty.
Russian roulette
If people take a dangerous and unnecessary risk, they are playing Russian roulette.