Idiomatic expression

jueves, 16 de octubre de 2014

03:11 p.m.

Food Idioms: Examples and Explanations

Apple of his eye - A favorite

As busy as popcorn on a skillet - Very active
As easy as apple pie - Something simple
As flat as a pancake - Very flat
As hungry as a bear - Very hungry
As nutty as a fruitcake - Crazy
As slow as molasses in January - Very slow
As sour as vinegar - Disagreeable
As sweet as honey - Very sweet
As thick as pea soup - Very thick
As warm as toast - Very warm
Bad apple - Bad person
Bear fruit - Get results
Big cheese - Important person
Big enchilada - Important thing or person
Bite off more than you can chew - Try to do more than you can handle
Bite the hand that feeds you - Act badly to someone who helps you
Bitter pill to swallow - Hard to take
Bread and butter - Basic needs
Bring home the bacon - Earn a living
Butter up - Flatter someone to get something
Buy a lemon - Buy something worthless
Chew the fat - Talk
Coffee break - A break from work to eat or drink
Compare apples and oranges - Compare things that are very different
Cook his goose - Damage or affect negatively
Cook up a storm - Cook a large quantity
Cool as a cucumber - Doesnt get easily upset
Couch potato - Someone who watches a lot of TV
Cream of the crop - The best
Cut the mustard - Do what is necessary
Cry over spilt milk - Worry about something in the past
Drop like a hot potato - To immediately stop
Eat crow - Admit a mistake
Eat dirt - Be humble
Eat high on the hog - Eat fine food
Eat humble pie - To apologize
Eat like a bird - Eat a small amount
Eat like a horse - Eat a lot
Eat one's heart out - To be jealous
Eat out - Dine in a restaurant
Eat out of her hands - Do what she wants
Eat us out of house and home - Eat a lot
Eat your words - Take back words
Egg on - Urge someone
Either feast or famine - Either too much or not enough
Everything from soup to nuts - A wide variety of items
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Everything from soup to nuts - A wide variety of items

Fat is in the fire - Big problem
Fine kettle of fish - A mess
Finger in the pie - Participating
Food for thought - Something to think about
Forbidden fruit - Something banned
For peanuts - Inexpensive
Full of beans - Feel energetic
Go bananas - Excited or crazy
Goose is cooked - Finished or in trouble
Gravy train - Well-paying job
Greatest thing since sliced bread - Something that is excellent
Half a loaf is better than none - Something is better than nothing
Half-baked - Not thought through
Hand to someone on a silver platter - Cater to someone
Hard nut to crack - Difficult person
Have a lot on one's plate - Very busy
Have a sweet tooth - Like sweet foods
Have bigger fish to fry - Have more important things to do
Have egg on your face - Be embarrassed
Have one's cake and eat it too - Having something both ways
In a nutshell - In summary
In a pickle - In trouble
Life is a bowl of cherries - Life is good
Like taking candy from a baby - Easy to do
Like two peas in a pod - Very similar
Meat and potatoes - Basics, simple food
Melt in one's mouth - Delicious
Not for all the tea in China - Not for any price
Not know beans about - Unfamiliar or ignorant
Not worth a hill of beans - Not valuable
Nutty as a fruitcake - Crazy
Packed in like sardines - Crowded
Piece of cake - Easy
Pie in the sky - A dream
Rotten to the core - Very bad
Salt of the Earth - Ordinary people
Sell like hotcakes - Sell a lot
Slice of the pie - A share of something
Small potatoes - Unimportant
Spill the beans - Tell a secret
Stick to your ribs - Last a long time
Sugarcoat - Gloss over bad information
Take with a grain of salt - Dont take something seriously
That's the way the cookie crumbles - Things happen
There is no such thing as a free lunch - Cant get something for nothing
Top banana - Leader
Variety is the spice of life - Differences give life interest
Walk on eggshells - Be cautious
Whole enchilada - Entire thing
Worth your salt - Worthwhile
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A lemon
A lemon is something that you buy which turns out to have problems - it is defective / it doesn't
work well.
'That second-hand car I bought was a real lemon. It broke down a week after I bought it.'

A piece of cake
When something is a piece of cake it is very easy to do.
'I was worried about taking the test, but it was a piece of cake. I got 100%.'

Bread and butter

Things which are bread and butter are the basic things you need to survive e.g. food and shelter.
It is also used to describe the job or activity that provides you with the money you need to live.
'Teaching is my bread and butter.'

Bring home the bacon

Like the idiom above, this also means to earn money to live.
'I'm looking for a job. I need to do something to bring home the bacon.'

Cheap as chips
When something is as cheap as chips it is very cheap.
'I didn't pay much for these shoes. In fact, they were as cheap as chips.'

Cry over spilt milk

When we cry over spilt milk we are upset, sad or complaining over something bad that
happened in the past. It is usually used in this phrase: 'There's no use crying over spilt milk.'
'Stop complaining about your lost pen - there's no use crying over spilt milk.'

Cup of tea
This expression is used in the negative: 'It's not my cup of tea'. It means something is not to your
interests or tastes. Basically, you don't like it.
'Rap music is not my cup of tea; I prefer rock.'

Finger in every pie

When someone has a finger in every pie they are involved in many activities and have a lot of
influence or power. It usually has a negative meaning.
'He's very controlling - he has a finger in every pie.'

Have one's own cake and eat it

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Have one's own cake and eat it

To want more than someone can handle or deserves; to try to have two incompatible things: you
can not eat the cake and still have it.
'She doesn't want to work hard, but she wants a pay rise. You can't have your cake and eat it!'

Take with a pinch of salt

To take something with a pinch of salt means that you should not completely believe what you
are told. Someone is telling you something which may not be true or it is exaggerated.
'Take everything you read in that newspaper with a pinch of salt.'

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