Achilles’ heel
A person’s weak spot is their Achilles’ heel.
Any Tom, Dick or Harry
If something could be done by any Tom, Dick or Harry, it could be done by absolutely anyone.
Even Stevens
If everything is equal between people, they are even Stevens.
Every Tom, Dick and Harry
If every Tom, Dick and Harry knows about something, then it is common knowledge.
Freudian Slip
If someone makes a Freudian slip, they accidentally use the wrong word, but in doing so reveal what they are really thinking rather than what they think the other person wants to hear.
Home, James
This is a cliched way of telling the driver of a vehicle to start driving. It is supposed to be an order to a privately employed driver.
Jack-of-all-trades
A jack-of-all-trades is someone that can do many different jobs.
Jane Doe
Jane Doe is a name given to an unidentified female who may be party to legal proceedings, or to an unidentified person in hospital, or dead.
Job’s comforter
Someone who says they want to comfort, but actually discomforts people is a Job’s comforter.
John Doe
John Doe is a name given to an unidentified male who may be party to legal proceddings, or to an unidentified person in hospital, or dead.
John Q Public
John Q Public is the typical, average person.
Mickey Mouse
If something is Mickey Mouse, it is intellectually trivial or not of a very high standard.
Painted Jezebel
A painted Jezebel is a scheming woman.
Pandora’s box
If you open a Pandora’s box, something you do causes all sorts of trouble that you hadn’t anticipated.
Patience of Job
If something requires the patience of Job, it requires great patience.
Raise Cain
If someone raises cain, they make a big fuss publicly, causing a disturbance.
Real McCoy
Something that’s the real McCoy is the genuine article, not a fake.
Rich as Croesus
Someone who is as rich as Croesus is very wealthy indeed.
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.
Uncle Sam
Uncle Sam is the government of the USA.
Vicar of Bray
A person who changes their beliefs and principles to stay popular with people above them is a Vicar of Bray.
(PLACE NAME)
All road lead to Rome
This means that there can be many different ways of doing something.
Coals to Newcastle
Taking, bringing, or carrying coals to Newcastle is doing something that is completely unnecessary.
From Missouri
If someone is from Missouri, then they require clear proof before they will believe something.
New York minute
If something happens in a New York minute, it happens very fast.
On Carey Street
If someone is on Carey Street, they are heavily in debt or have gone bankrupt.
Rome was not built in a day
This idiom means that many things cannot be done instantly, and require time and patience.
When in Rome, do as the Romans
This idiom means that when you are visiting a different place or culture, you should try to follow their customs and practices.
(PLANTS & FLOWERS)
Babe in the woods
A babe in the woods is a naive, defenceless, young person.
Barking up the wrong tree
If you are barking up the wrong tree, it means that you have completely misunderstood something or are totally wrong.
Beat about the bush
If someone doesn’t say clearly what he mean and try to make it hard to understand, he is beating about (around) the bush.
Cut down the tall poppies
If people cut down the tall poppies, they criticise people who stand out from the crowd.
Demon weed
Tobacco is the demon weed.
Flowery speech
Flowery speech is full of lovely words, but may well lack substance.
Forest for the trees
If someone can’t see the forest for the trees, they get so caught up in small details that they fail to understand the bigger picture.
Gild the lily
If you gild the lily, you decorate something that is already ornate.
Grasp the nettle
If you grasp the nettle, you deal bravely with a problem.
Grass roots
This idiom is often used in politics, where it refers to the ordinary people or voters. It can be used to mean people at the bottom of a hierarchy.
Jungle out there
If someone says that it is a jungle out there, they mean that the situation is dangerous and there are no rules.
Kick something into the long grass
If an issue or problem is kicked into the long grass, it is pushed aside and hidden in the hope that it will be forgotten or ignored.
Lead someone up the garden path
If someone leads you up the garden path, they deceive you, or give you false information that causes you to waste your time. ‘Lead someone down the garden path’ is also used.
Mighty oaks from little acorns grow
Big or great things start very small.
Never a rose without the prick
This means that good things always have something bad as well; like the thorns on the stem of a rose.
Nip it in the bud
If you nip something in the bud, you deal with a problem when it is still small, before it can grow into something serious.
No bed of roses
If something isn’t a bed of roses, it is difficult.
Olive branch
If you hold out or offer an olive branch, you make a gesture to indicate that you want peace.
Primrose path
The primrose path is an easy and pleasurable lifestyle, but one that ends in unpleasantness and problems.
Pushing up the daisies
If someone is said to be pushing up the daisies, they are dead.
Shrinking violet
A shrinking violet is a shy person who doesn’t express their views and opinions.
The grass is always greener
This idiom means that what other people have or do looks preferable to our life. The complete phrase is ‘The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence’.
Turf war
If people or organisations are fighting for control of something, it is a turf war.
Wallflower
A woman politician given an unimportant government position so that the government can pretend it takes women seriously is a wallflower.
Wither on the vine
If something withers on the vine, it fails to get the intended result, doesn’t come to fruition.
Wood for the trees
If someone can’t see the wood for the trees, they get so caught up in small details that they fail to understand the bigger picture.
(POLICE, CRIME & POLITICS)
Bandit territory
An area or an industry, profession, etc, where rules and laws are ignored or flouted is bandit territory.
In the dock
If someone is in the dock, they are on trial in court.
Make out like a bandit
If someone is extremely successful in a venture, they make out like a bandit.
On the case
If someone is on the case, they are dealing with a problem.
Stool pigeon
A stool pigeon is a police informer.
Carpetbagger
A carpetbagger is an opportunist without any scruples or ethics, or a politician who wants to represent a place they have no connection with.
Economical with the truth
If someone, especially a politician, is economical with the truth, they leave out information in order to create a false picture of a situation, without actually lying.
Fifth columnist
A fifth columnist is a member of a subversive organisation who tries to help an enemy invade.
Fourth estate
This is an idiomatic way of describing the media, especially the newspapers.
Get on your soapbox
If someone on their soapbox, they talk a lot about a subject they feel strongly about.
Megaphone diplomacy
If negotiations between countries or parties are held through press releases and announcements, this is megaphone diplomacy, aiming to force the other party into adopting a desired position.
Pork barrel
Pork barrel politics involves investing money in an area to get political support rather than using the money for the common good.
Toe the line
If someone toes the line, they follow and respect the rules and regulations.
(PROFESSIONS)
Agony aunt
An agony aunt is a newspaper columnist who gives advice to people having problems, especially personal ones.
Bad workers always blame their tools
If somebody does a job badly or loses in a game and claims that they were let down by their equipment, you can use this to imply that this was not the case.
Baker’s dozen
A Baker’s dozen is 13 rather than 12.
Bean counter
A bean counter is an accountant.
Busman’s holiday
A busman’s holiday is when you spend your free time doing the same sort of work as you do in your job.
Game plan
A game plane is a strategy.
Gardening leave
If someone is paid for a period when they are not working, either after they have given in their notice or when they are being investigated, they are on gardening leave.
Glass ceiling
The glass ceiling is the discrimination that prevents women and minorities from getting promoted to the highest levels of companies and organisations.
New brush sweeps clean
It means that someone with a new perspective can make great changes.
Number cruncher
A number cruncher is an accountant or someone who is very good at dealing with numbers and calculations.
On the line
If somebody’s job is on the line, they stand a very good chance of losing it.
Pointy-heads
Pointy-heads are supposed intellectuals or experts, but who don’t really know that much.
Swear like a sailor
Someone who is foul-mouthed and uses bad language all the time, swears like a sailor.
Swear like a trooper
Someone who is foul-mouthed and uses bad language all the time, swears like a trooper.
Tread the boards
When someone treads the boards, they perform on stage in a theatre.
Shopping Cart
