IB English B - Essential idioms

a pain in the neck

A pest. His little brother is a real pain in the neck.

a basket case

A wreck. He was a basket case after he was thrown off the basketball team.

ish

About. I'll meet you at 4ish.

be that as it may

As things stand. Be that as it may, I think you should re-consider your decision to move to Antarctica.

Just my luck!

Bad luck. Just my luck to lose the winning lottery ticket.

be in hot water

Be in trouble. If you tell you boss off, you'll really be in hot water.

draw a blank

Can't remember. I drew a blank when I tried to remember his brother's name.

had it up to here

Can't take any more. I've had it up to here with noisy students!

in the bag

Certain. His new job is in the bag. He signed the contract.

a change of heart

Change my mind. I've had a change of heart.

get cold feet

Chicken out. John wanted to ask Maria out but he got cold feet and chickened out.

go all out

Do your utmost for someone or something. His parents went all out for his graduation party.

miss the point

Don't understand the basic meaning. You are missing the point entirely.-.

don't have the faintest idea

Don't understand. I don't have the faintest idea what that article was talking about.

go up in smoke

Evaporate/disappear. His dreams of being a professional athlete went up in smoke when he broke his leg.

a gut feeling

Feeling in my stomach. I have a gut feeling that everything is going to turn out all right.

cross your fingers

For good luck. Cross your fingers that I pass the English exam with flying colors.

for the time being

For now. For the time being everything is fine at work.

give him a piece of your mind

Get angry and tell someone off. If I were you I would give him a piece of your mind.

get your act together

Get organized/stop wasting time. You better get your act together or you're going to fail all your classes.

throw a fit

Get really angry. His mother threw a fit when she heard that he lost her i-Phone.

go downhill

Get worse. After he got divorced, everything went downhill.

bend over backwards

Go out of your way. She really bent over backwards to make my stay enjoyable.

don't have a clue

Have no idea. I don't have a clue what the professor was talking about.

give him the cold shoulder

Ignore someone. Brett walked right post me without saying a word. He gave me the cold shoulder.

no way

Impossible. You got all A's on your exams and you never studied. No way!

get out of the wrong side of the bed

In a bad mood. He must have gotten up out of the wrong side of the bed today.

a matter of opinion

It's a matter of opinion whether eating fried tarantulas is a gourmet treat.

bear in mind

Keep it in mind. Bear in mind, learning a new language isn't as easy as it seems.

from scratch

Make from basic ingredients. Her carrot cake was made from scratch.

make my day

Make my day great. The guy I have a crush on finally called me. He made my day.

learn by heart

Memorize. You have to learn irregular verbs by heart.

Easier said than done.

More difficult than it seems.

Big deal!

Not important (sarcastic). Losing an old sock is not a big deal.

up in the air

Not sure. Plans are up in the air- we haven't decided what to do yet.

on the dot

On time. He arrived at 6 o'clock on the dot.

mixed feelings

Positive and negative feelings together. I have very mixed feelings about her marrying a fisherman.

up in arms

Really angry. His father was up in arms when he learned that he had crashed his new car.

a breath of fresh air

Refreshing/fun. She's a breath of fresh air.

Am fed up with

Sick and tired of something. I'm fed up with whining friends who have everything!

a blessing in disguise

Something bad that turns out good. Losing his job turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

let the cat out of the bag

Spill the beans. Tell a secret. Don't let the cat out of the bag. Keep his surprise birthday party a secret.

a piece of cake

That test was a snap- it was a piece of cake. (easy)

a dead end

That's a dead end job- time to find a new one.

have a chip on your shoulder

Think you are great. He has such a chip on his shoulder that he hardly ever relates to anyone.

second thoughts

Thinking again about a decision. I'm having second thoughts about trekking in Greenland this summer.

I'm all ears.

To listen intently. Tell me about your wedding plans- I'm all ears.

give it a shot

Try. Why not try bungee jumping. Give it a shot.

get the picture

Understand. Do you get the picture?

cost an arm and a leg

Very expensive. His new Ferrari cost an arm and a leg.

be on the ball

Very sharp. Very smart. He's really on the ball.

it's only a matter of time

Very soon. It's only a matter of time until his boss realizes that he is the one stealing money from the till.

keep an eye on

Watch carefully. Will you keep an eye on my nephew while I walk the dog?

in the middle of nowhere

Way out in the country. Their ski chalet is in the middle of nowhere.

on the same wave length

We have the same ideas and opinions. We're on the same wave length.

in the same boat

We're in the same situation. We're all in the same boat- so be cool.

off the top of my head

Without thinking. Off the top of my head, I think it's worth $6 million.

out of sight, out of mind

You forget someone you don't see anymore.

a rip off

You spent $500 for a watermelon! What a rip off! You were cheated.