IDIOMS
Up-Market – Relatively expensive and designed to appeal to wealthy consumers
Sentence – an up market restaurant that is quite pricey but also quite good
Cram – to try to accomplish a lot quickly, also can mean to try to put a lot of items in a tight fit, which is probably not idiomatic with that meaning.
Sentence – The students are all cramming to get ready for the exams.
In High Spirits – extremely happy
Sentence – They’d had a couple of drinks and were in high spirits.
Keep One’s Chin Up – remain brave and keep on trying ; remain cheerful in difficult circumstances.
Sentence – Keep your chin up. Don’t take your troubles to bed with you
Read My/Your/His Mind – W – guess what somebody is thinking
Sentence – I was surprised he knew what I was planning, like he could read my mind.
Get The Ball Rolling – start doing something, especially something big
Sentence – I decided to set the ball rolling and got up to dance.
For Ages – for a very long time
Sentence – I waited for ages but he never showed up
Fill In For Someone – do someone’s work while he is away; substitute for
Sentence – Bill is going to be filling in for me while I’m out on maternity leave.
Antsy – getting restless.
Sentence – The guys are getting antsy, we need to go somewhere else before they get too noisy.
(As) Easy As Pie – very easy
Sentence – For Tom, getting a graphic design certificate was easy as pie –he seemed to have a natural talent for it.
Fingers-Crossed = keep one’s fingers crossed (for someone or something) – to wish for luck for someone or something
Sentence – fingers crossed for your driving test
Have A Chin-Wag – have a long conversation between friends; have a chat
Sentence – We had a good chinwag over a bottle of wine.
Chicken Scratch (N) – the handwriting that is crammed or illegible
Sentence – His signature—an unforgeably idiosyncratic chicken scratch
The Wee Hours – after midnight
Sentence – He was up until the wee hours trying to finish his work.
A Blessing In A Disguise – something that seems bad or unlucky at first, but results in something good happening later
Sentence – Losing that job was a blessing in disguise really.
All In The Same Boat – in the same difficult situation as someone else
Sentence – None of us has any money, so we’re all in the same boat.
Beating Around The Bush – avoid the main topic and not speaking directly about it
Sentence – Let’s stop beating about the bush and discuss this matter.
Early Bird (someone who gets up early)
Sentence – I never miss sunrise. I’m an early bird.
A Breath Of Fresh Air – something that is new & refreshing
Sentence – Selena was a talented and beautiful entertainer, a breath of fresh air in an industry full of people all trying to copy each other.
Keep An Eye On – W – to monitor a situation, not forget about it.
Sentence – Keep an eye on the noodles, there almost done.
Keep Your Nose To The Grindstone – continue to put forward a good effort
Sentence – If you keep your nose to the grindstone, you will finish this job tonight.
Know Something [It, This] Inside Out – to be totally familiar with
Sentence – He knows that subject backwards and forwards.
Leave Well Enough Alone – W – to not try to change something that is good enough
Sentence – This repair is not perfect, but let’s leave well enough alone.
Now And Then – W – on an occasional basis, often every is used as the first word of this idiomatic phrase.
Sentence – Every now and then I have a good idea.
