Groceries
Idioms with bread and butter
Idiom | Explanation | Example |
---|---|---|
the best thing since sliced bread | a brilliant invention or something you find fantastic | I finally got some wireless headphones. I can’t believe I waited so long, they’re the best thing since sliced bread! |
your bread and butter | a person’s main source of income | Steve does some custom work, but fitting kitchens is his bread and butter. |
butter someone up | flattering someone before asking for a favour so that they are more likely to do what you want | —I’m going to ask Alan to cover my shift tomorrow. —Make sure you butter him up first or he will just say no. |
know which side your bread is buttered (on) | know when you have an advantage or a good situation | —Every time Michael visits his grandma, she gives him £20. —No wonder he visits so often, he clearly knows which side his bread is buttered! |
(look) like butter wouldn’t melt | appear innocent (even if this may not be the case) | I heard the vase smash and when I turned around the cat was just sitting there like butter wouldn’t melt. |
butterfingers | a clumsy person | Kathy spilled red wine all over her white dress, she’s such a butterfingers |
Idioms with egg
Idiom | Explanation | Example |
---|---|---|
a bad egg | a person who is dishonest, unreliable or of questionable character | Stay away from Colin, he’s a bad egg. |
a chicken and egg situation | when it’s impossible to identify the beginning or root cause of an issue | Is the team unproductive because the boss is mean, or is the boss mean because the team is unproductive? It’s a chicken and egg situation. |
egg someone on | encourage someone to do something bad, foolish or dangerous | He jumped off the roof because his friends egged him on. |
you can’t make an omelette without breaking a few eggs | in order to achieve something you have to make mistakes and/or experience negative effects | —I fell off my skateboard again. I’m never going to be able to do this. —Keep going! You can’t make an omelette without breaking a few eggs. |
Idioms with milk
Idiom | Explanation | Example |
---|---|---|
milk something | get as much as possible out of a person or situation, often in an unfair way | Tom only had a slight cold, but he really milked it and took two whole weeks off work. |
There’s no use crying over spilled/spilt milk. | it’s useless to be upset about something that has already happened and cannot be changed | —I can’t believe Fred forgot my birthday. —I know, but there’s no use crying over spilled milk. Try to look forward. |
Idioms with tea
Idiom | Explanation | Example |
---|---|---|
a storm in a teacup | when people are angry, outraged or upset about an issue that is unimportant | —People are furious about the new iPhone update. —It’s a storm in a teacup. They’ll get used to it. |
as useful as a chocolate teapot | useless | —These concert tickets are about as useful as a chocolate teapot. —Why? —They are for yesterday! Not today! |
not my cup of tea | not what I like, not what I’m interested in | —Do you want to come to a music festival at the weekend? —No thanks, festivals aren’t really my cup of tea. |
Idioms with jam
Idiom | Explanation | Example |
---|---|---|
be in a jam | find yourself in a difficult situation | Can you help me? I’m in a bit of a jam. I’ve locked myself out of the house. |
Complete the sentences with the words below. Use each word once.
jam – milk – tea – teacup – teapot
- We’re talking about one tiny change that only affects a handful of people, all this outrage is nothing more than a storm in a .
- I have to go and help Rob, he’s got himself into a bit of a .
- The press love a political scandal, they will this story as much as they can.
- Lots of people enjoy the beach but it’s just not my cup of .
- Well, having a car in this traffic is about as useful as a chocolate .
Choose the correct idiom.
- —How’s it going?
—Not great. I forgot about my tax return and now I owe a lot of money. I’m … - —I love the theatre.
—I’m not that keen. It’s just … - —The postman left a note saying that our parcel is with a neighbour, but it doesn’t say which one.
—Well, that’s … - —Joe sprained his wrist last week. He says he can’t do anything at all and he’s treating me like his personal butler.
—It sounds like he’s … - —I can’t believe I lost my favourite earrings.
—I know it’s sad, but you have to move on, … - —I’m concerned that the rest of the office isn’t happy about the new shorter lunch break.
—Don’t worry about it, it will blow over soon. It’s nothing more than …
Idioms with apple
Idiom | Explanation | Example |
---|---|---|
it’s apples and oranges | it’s pointless to compare two fundamentally different or opposing things | You can’t compare Max’s job with Emma’s; he’s a footballer and she’s a brain surgeon, it’s apples and oranges. |
the apple of my eye | favourite or most beloved person | Silvia’s little grandson is the apple of her eye, they spend every day together. |
the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree | children grow up to be similar to their parents | —Clara is studying medicine, she wants to be a doctor like her mum. —Well, you know what they say. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree! |
a bad apple | a person with questionable character whose behaviour has a negative effect on others | I was a bad apple at school. I played tricks on the teachers and made my friends help me. |
Idioms with other fruit
Idiom | Explanation | Example |
---|---|---|
go bananas | become extremely angry or excited | Alice will go bananas when she opens her birthday present. She’s been asking for a bike for months. |
cherry pick | the practice of only selecting the very best items from what is available | You have to look at all the facts instead of just cherry picking those that support your ideas. |
sour grapes | having a negative attitude towards something because it can’t be obtained, similar to being a sore loser | Paula said that she didn’t really want the job anyway, but I think that’s just sour grapes because they gave it to Jeff. |
Complete the sentences with the words below. Use each word once.
apple – bananas – cherry – grapes – oranges
- I borrowed my mum’s car and crashed it. She’s going to go when she finds out.
- Alfie is an only child, he’s the of his dad’s eye.
- I hate working with Dan, he just picks his tasks and I have to do all the difficult and boring stuff.
- I don’t know which is better; one is a rock star and one is a country music singer, it’s apples and .
- Ben says that he’s not coming to watch the final. I think it’s sour because his team didn’t qualify.
Choose the correct idiom.
- The politician ignored all of the difficult questions and only answered when it suited him. Typical …
- Daisy is always getting into trouble, she’s a bad influence on the rest of the group. She’s …
- I forgot to water Maria’s plants while she was away and they all died. When she came back she …
- Remy has started guitar lessons, he’s got a real talent for it, just like his dad.
- Walter loves his cat Whiskers so much. She’s …
- The Jamesons were rejected from the country club. They said that they were never that interested anyway, but it’s just …
- —I prefer Paris to Berlin.
—They have totally different vibes, you can’t compare them. It’s …
Idioms with potato
Idiom | Explanation | Example |
---|---|---|
a couch potato | a lazy person | I enjoy being a couch potato on Sundays. |
small potatoes (always plural) | something that is unimportant or insignificant when compared to something else | In comparison to your news, my new job is small potatoes! |
hot potato | a controversial topic | The new power plant is a hot potato in the press. |
the meat and potatoes | the basic, most essential part of something | The meat and potatoes of this job is customer service. |
Idioms with fish
Idiom | Explanation | Example |
---|---|---|
a different kettle of fish | something totally different or unrelated to the topic at hand | —I’m a native speaker, teaching English should be easy for me. —Speaking a language is one thing but teaching it is a different kettle of fish. |
like shooting fish in a barrel | very easy | Once the other team went down to ten players, we won easily. It was like shooting fish in a barrel. |
Other campfire idioms
Idiom | Explanation | Example |
---|---|---|
how the sausage gets made | the unpleasant, behind-the-scenes process that creates a product, service or situation | People buy fast fashion, but they ignore the realities. No one wants to know how the sausage gets made. |
age like a fine wine | improve with age | My grandma is 82 and she looks fantastic, she’s ageing like a fine wine! |
meat in the room | a person or group of people who are present just to give the impression that a space is full or an event is well-attended | —You’ve invited so many people to the wedding, I don’t know half of them. —We just need meat in the room. |
Complete the sentences with the words below. Use each word once.
fish – potato – potatoes – meat – sausage – wine
- Compared to buying a whole new laptop, the cost of replacing the battery is small .
- Frank looks amazing for 70. He’s ageing like a fine !
- Don’t mention the wedding at dinner, it’s a bit of a hot in our family.
- We had to do some questionable things to make this happen. Trust me, you don’t want to know how the gets made.
- They paid actors to attend the event just to have some in the room.
- I’ve always worked with adults, working with children is a different kettle of .
Choose the correct idioms.
- That company will hire anyone, they don’t care about qualifications. They are just looking for …
- Jenny is so lazy, she never does anything. She’s a real …
- Katherine, I haven’t seen you for years! You look amazing, you’re …
- We won the match 10-0. It was …
- Callum lost his job last week and he’s being evicted from his house. Compared to his problems, mine are just …
- Everyone loves next-day delivery, but the conditions for the warehouse workers are terrible. No one talks about …
- Lending a friend £10 is one thing, but lending £10,000 is …
- For the trade union, a cost-of-living pay rise is really the …
- The reporters are definitely going to ask about this topic at the press conference, it’s a political …
Idioms with vegetables
Idiom | Explanation | Example |
---|---|---|
dangle a carrot (in front of someone) | encourage or persuade someone by offering an incentive or a reward | All you have to do is dangle a carrot and he will accept the job. |
a carrot top | a person with red hair | The baby is so cute, she’s a carrot top like her mum. |
cool as a cucumber | be calm and collected | The situation was stressful, but Laura was cool as a cucumber. |
be full of beans | have a lot of energy | The children are always full of beans on Christmas morning. |
spill the beans | reveal a secret | We wanted to share our big news ourselves, but Nadia had already spilled the beans. |
a bean counter | a person whose job involves accounting | My job isn’t that interesting, I’m just a bean counter in the planning department. |
tomato, tomato (pronounced: to-may-to, to-mah-to) |
what difference does it make? (only used in spoken language) |
—Shall we use the green plates or the blue ones? —Tomato, tomato. |
Complete the sentences with the words below. Use each word once.
carrot – cucumber – bean – beans x2
- You said you had some exciting news? Come on, spill the .
- I was freaking out, but luckily Jess was cool as a about the whole thing.
- You’re energetic this morning! Why are you so full of ?
- They’re going to have to dangle a pretty big to get Margot to come back to the firm.
- We were excited about this project, but the counters said that it would be too expensive.
Choose the correct idiom.
- I have red hair, my nickname at school was …
- —Should I transfer the money to you or your partner?
—It’s a joint account, … - Tom is an accountant. He’s a …
- So the secret is out already? Who …
- Ben never gets stressed. Whatever the situation, he’s always …
- I slept for 12 hours last night so this morning I’m …
- If we want this candidate to accept our offer, we have to …