English common idioms

Filed under: SPM BAHASA INGGERIS

IDIOMS / PHRASAL VERBS	MEANING
Absence of mind	inattention
Above-board	Honest
Above someone	Too difficult to someone to understand
About to	Ready to
Above all	Most importantly
Account for something	To explain something
Achilles’ heel	The weakest point in the person character
Acquiesce in something	To agree/accept something
Acquit someone well	To perform one’s task well
Ad to something	To increase something
Advanced in years	Old
Advisable to	Wise
After a storm comes a calm	There must be something better after an unpleasant event
Time and again	Very often; repeatedly
Agape with	In the state of wonder etc
Agree to differ	to stop trying to persuade each other
Akin to	Like/ similar
Alien to	Different to nature and character
Alive and kicking	Healthy and active
All agog	Eager and full of excited anticipation
All alone	Completely by oneself
All and sundry	Everybody; all types of people
All at once	Suddenly
All day long	The whole play
All for nothing	With no result
All good things come to an end	No pleasure will go on forever
All honey and no sting	Excellent things without unpleasant feelings
All grist to the mill	Something which bring profit/advantage to a person
All hours	At all the time
All in convulsions	In a violent fit of laughter , etc
All in favour	Supporting fully
All lay loads on a willing horse	Everyone take advantages of a good-nature and helpful person
All talk and no action	Talking abt something but never doing it
All the rage	Very fashionable
All told	All together
All too	Very
Allow the heart to rule the head	Influence by one emotions rather than by one’s reasons
And the like	And so on
An whatnot	And so on
Answer the door	To open the door to et someone in
Antagonistic to/towards	Unfriendly / oppose to
Anxious about	Worried about
Any stick will serve to beat a dog with	It is easy to find fault with a person if you want to
Apart from	Besides
Apples on the other side o the wall are the sweetest	Anything we cant get seems to be better than what we have already had
Apply double standards	To treat one person differently from the other
Apt to	Likely to
Around the corner	Very near
A general rule	Usually; in most cases
As a matter of fact	Actually; in fact
As a rule	Generally
As cool as a cucumber	Serene and calm under stress
As different as night and day	Completely different
As it is	In reality
As of now	From this time on
As one man	Together
As stubborn as a mule/ as obstinate as a donkey	Very stubborn
As well	Too
As well as	In addition to
As yet	Until now
Aside from	Besides
Ask for the moon	Ask for the impossible
At a crawl	Very slow movement or speed
At a gallop	In the fastest pace; in a rush
At a loose end	With nothing to do
At a low ebb	In a bad or inactive state
At a pinch	If absolutely necessary
At a stretch	Continuously
At bottom	In reality
At first	At the beginning
At heart	Really
at the top of one’s voice	Very loudly
As your pleasure	As you wish
Barking dogs seldom bite	A man who utters threats in a loud voice not be taken seriously
Bark up the wrong tree	To direct an injury or accusation at the wrong place or person
Be that as it may	Even so
Be of roses	A happy comfortable state
Before long	Soon
Before you can say Jack Robinson	Very quickly and unexpectedly
Beggar description	Cant be described
Behind time	Late
Beside the point	Irrelevant
Better an egg today than a hen tomorrow	Something sure is better than something unsure
Better late than never	It is better do a thing a bit late than not to do it at all
Between two stools, you fall to the ground	If cant do two things together, you are liable to do neither
Beyond me	I don’t understand
Beyond measure	Very great
Beyond reproach	Perfect
Big name	Famous
Bite the hand that feeds you	To be very ungrateful to a benefactor
Blacken someone’s name	To spoil someone’s reputation
Bleed for someone	Feels sorry to someone
Blood is thicker that water	The ties between relatives are closer than those between friends
Bored to death	To be very bored
Bound for (a place)	Ready to go to some place
Bury the past	To forget about the past; let bygones be bygones
By day	During that day
By the same token	In the same way
Call it a day	To stop work/cease activities
Camp out	To sleep outdoors
Cannot but	Must
Cap in hand	Humbly
Carry coals to Newcastle	To do something unnecessary
Cat-and-mouse game	A state of suspense or uncertainty, treating someone cruelly and kindly by turns
Change of heart	A change of opinion and mind
Chance in a million	A very little changes
Cheap-jack	Cheap but of bad qualities
Chatter like a magpie	To talk incessantly
Cheek by jowl with someone	Very close with someone
Chew over something	To think abt something carefully
Clean bill of health	An assurance that one in good health
Close at hand	Nearby
Clothes do not make the man	A person’s character is something tat really matter, not his outward appearance
Cock-a-hoop	Very happy
Come in handy	To be useful
Come to a standstill	To stop
Come what may	Whatever happens
Cost a bomb	To cost a lot money
Copy-cat	A person who copies what someone do else
Crack a joke	To tell funny story
Crime doesn’t pay	Crime will not benefit a person
Cross with someone	Angry with someone
Crux of the matter	The most difficult part of the problem
Cry over split milk	To waste time being sorry abt something which cant be changed
Curiosity killed the cat	Excessive curiosity can lead one into trouble
Cupboard love	Love shown only for a purpose of gaining a reward
Crystal clear	Very clearly stated; understood
Cry wolf	To complain abt something when nothing really wrong
Cut both ways	To affect both sides
Cut your coat according to your cloth	To adjust your expenses according to your resources
Daylight robbery	Charging too much money
De facto	In fact
Devil is not black as he is painted/ give the evil his due	No one is completely bad or as bad as he is described
Devil-may-care	(Attitude) not caring what happened
Devoid of something	Lacking something
Dog-tired	To be exhausted after a hard work
Don’t make your self a moue, or the cat will eat you	If you look down on yourself, others will take advantages of you.
Don’t put all your eggs in one basket	Spread your risk
Don’t teach your grandma to suck eggs	Don’t try to instruct someone who is more experience than you
Drink like a fish	To be an excessive drinker
Earn a honest penny	To make money honestly
East or west, home is best/ there is no place like home	No matter you go, home is the best place for you
Easy on the eye	Pretty; attractive
En route	On the way (to)
Empty vessels make the most sound	Empty-headed persons are always the most talkative and noisy
Err is human, to forgive, divine	It is a nature mankind to makes a mistakes, so one should forgiving as possible
Ever so/such	Very
Every nook and then	Everyway
Every now and then	Sometimes, but not often
Feel ill at ease	To feel uneasy or uncomfortable
Fish around	To search
Fish in troubled water	To try t gain advantage out of other people troubles
Fit for human consumption	Fit for people to eat
Flood the market	To have too much than necessary
Fly into a temper	To become very angry suddenly
Food for tough	Something to think about
Foot the bill	To pay the bill
For a laugh	For fun
For pity’s sake	(used to add force to a request) please
For the most part	Mostly
From hand to mouth	With just enough money to live on
Get together	To meet