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John Vlachopoulos and Peny Polychronopoulou
www.polydynamics.com
Dundas, ON, Canada
2008
ABSENCE. Absence makes heart grow fonder. Separation makes love
stronger. The opposite is familiarity breeds contempt.
ACCIDENT. An accident (or disaster) waiting to happen. A bad
situation or thing that is likely to lead to an accident (or disaster) e.g. 1) Drinking
before you drive is an accident waiting to happen. 2) An incompetent government is a
disaster waiting to happen.
ACROSS. Across the board. Everyone and everywhere e.g. The pay raise for
this coming year will be 4% across the board and 2% for merit.
Ad hoc. For a specific case or situation (not on a regular basis) e.g. An ad hoc
committee was formed to address the problems caused by the sudden snow storm,
because there was no standing committee for weather related issues.
ALLIGATORS. He (she) is up to his (her) ass in alligators. He (she) is
in an extremely difficult situation full of problems.
ALMA. Alma mater. (My) University (Latin) e.g. The wealthy businessman
donated $100,000 to his Alma Mater.
AMERICAN. As American as apple pie. All- American, very American,
American virtue. e.g. Baseball is as American as apple pie. A slight variation is the
expression used by a civil right leader in the 1960’s: Violence is as American as
cherry pie.
ANNUS. Annus horribilis. Terrible year (Latin). It became famous in 1992
when Queen Elisabeth described that year of a fire at her Windsor castle and marital
problems with her children. The opposite is Annus mirabilis: A wonderful year.
Ante up. To pay one’s share. e.g. The members of the club were asked to ante up
$1000 each for repairs in the tennis courts.
APPEARANCE. Appearances are often deceiving.
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APPLE. An apple a day keeps the doctor away. A proverb used since long
ago.
APPLE. Apples and oranges. Different things or persons. This expression is
frequently used by politicians, lawyers, teachers and other educated people e.g.
Studying the economic problems in Europe, for the solution of problems in Africa is
like comparing apples and oranges.
APPLE. Bad apple. A metaphor indicating a bad person or scoundrel e.g. In
every classroom teachers expect to find a few bad apples.
APRIL. April fool’ s day. April 1st is a day of jokes and tricks in several
American and European countries.
APRIL. April showers bring May flowers. Popular expression.
ARM. An arm and a leg. A great effort or a huge amount of money. E. g He
would give an arm and a leg to get this job.
ARMS. At arm’ s length. Not terribly friendly or personally intimate. Used
frequently in professional language e.g. The relations between the company president
and his employees should be at arm’ s length.
ASK. Ask me no question and I’ ll tell you no lies. Frequently used
expression.
ASSETS. Assets and liabilities. This financial term means what you have
(assets) and what you owe (liabilities). It is also used for a great variety of other
situations, for the positives (assets) and the negatives (liabilities) e.g. Knowledge of a
foreign language is an asset. Having a criminal record is a liability.
Attitude. Overused word meaning a way of thinking or behavior. He has an
attitude usually means he is uncooperative. Other cliches: good attitude, bad
attitude, a teenager with an attitude, wait- and- see attitude, attitude problem, I
don’ t like his attitude.
ATTITUDE. Cavalier attitude. Arrogant disregard e.g 1) Many young people
have a cavalier attitude towards old persons. 2) The company displayed very cavalier
attitude by neglecting the warnings for better pricing.
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AVERAGE. Average Joe. Average person, common, unremarkable e.g. He is
your average Joe.
AVOID. Avoid it like the plague. Dislike something very much e.g. Some
people like to visit a Casino and others avoid it like the plague.
Awesome. Frequently used by teenagers and other young persons to indicate
wonderful e.g. It is awesome, I had an awesome time during my vacation in Hawaii.
AX. An ax to grind. Having hidden selfish motives e.g. I do not trust a politician
that tells he has no ax to grind.
BABY. (Don’ t) throw the baby out with the bath water. When there is a
big clean up (figuratively), (don’ t) throw out something very valuable due to
overreaction.
BACKWARDS. Bend over backwards. Try very hard. e.g. He had to bend
over backwards to please his demanding boss.
BACON. Bring home the bacon. Figuratively, to earn a living e.g. Both
husband and wife had to work hard to bring home the bacon.
BAG. Left holding the bag. Left to suffer the consequences e.g. He spent all the
money and left her holding the bag.
BALLGAME. A whole new ballgame. A completely changed situation (from
baseball).
Ballpark. An expression from the game of baseball meaning approximately
e.g. Give me a ballpark figure how much it costs to buy a Mercedes car.
BALONEY. Bunch (a lot) of baloney. A lot of nonsense.
BANDWAGON. Jump on the bandwagon. Figuratively, joining a popular
movement or trend e.g. Too many scientists jumped on the bandwagon and started
working on nanotechnology because that is where the action is.
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BANG. Not with a bang, but with a whimper. Not with something loud and
noticeable, but with something quiet and unnoticeable e.g. 1) He started at the
company with a bang and left three years later with a whimper. 2) The storm arrived
with a bang and left with a whimper.
BAR. Bar none. A frequently used expression meaning nobody is excepted
e.g. He is the best lawyer in the city, bar none.
BARRAGE. A barrage of. A lot of e.g. When he walked in he faced a barrage
of questions.
BATTLE. Battle of the bulge. Lose weight (diet). Figuratively, after a famous
battle on the river Bulge, but bulge also means something protruding, like fat.
BEAT. It beats me. A frequently used expression when someone admits losing an
argument or some sort of misunderstanding.
BEAT. To beat the heck out of. To give a serious beating literally or
figuratively.
BEATEN. This price can’ t be beaten. There is no lower price. Also used in
commercials etc. Unbeatable prices.
BEAUTY. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. A frequently used
quotation.
BED. Get up on the wrong side of bed. Be in a very bad mood e.g. I could
not talk with him today, because he seemed to have gotten up on the wrong side of
bed this morning.
BEE. Busy as bee. Very industrious and hardworking.
Beef. In addition to meat it means complaint. e.g Got any beefs means got any
complaints.
Beef-up. It means reinforce e.g. This company’s committee has been beefed-up with
three members of the owner’ s family.
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BELLS. Bells and whistles. (Figuratively) decorations, ornaments, qualities,
characteristics e.g. This new computer program has a lot of bells and whistles.
BELT. Tighten the belt. Live with less or near poverty e.g. He had to tighten his
belt after he lost his job
.
Berserk. Wild and uncontrollable.
BEST. The best defense is good offense. A popular expression.
BEST. The best (that) money can buy. A frequently heard expression.
BEST. The best of all possible worlds. A frequently heard expression e.g. In
the best of all possible worlds no students would fail in their exams.
BEST. The best and the brightest. Used in the title of a best selling book and
quoted occasionally by well educated speakers.
BEST. The best thing since sliced bread. This is frequently used jokingly.
e.g He thinks that he is the best thing since sliced bread.
BETTER. (My) better half. (My) wife, (My) husband, (My) spouse.
BETTER. Better safe than sorry. A popular expression.
BEWARE. Beware of Greeks bearing gifts. A popular expression that dates
back to Roman times regarding the Trojan horse.
BEYOND. Beyond a shadow of a doubt. Unquestionably.
BEYOND. Beyond the pale. A metaphor meaning inappropriate or
unacceptable.
BEYOND. Beyond (my) wildest dreams. Truly astonishing and surprising.
e.g He got a job with a salary beyond his wildest dreams.
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BIBLICAL. In the biblical sense. Humorous suggestion of sexual intimacy
e.g. They knew each other in the biblical sense. (This expression avoids the use of
other more vulgar words)
BIBLICAL. Of biblical proportions. Of enormous scale usually related to a
disaster e.g. The devastation in South Asia after the Tsunami was of biblical
proportions.
BIG. Big deal. Very significant, substantial.
BIG. Big fish in small pond. A metaphor as in the example: If he gets a job in
this small company he will be like a big fish in a small pond.
BIG. Big gun, also big shot, also big wheel. The boss, top administrator,
powerful person.
BIGGER. The bigger they are the harder they fall. A popular expression.
BILL. To foot the bill. It means to pay the bill or to be prepared to pay the bill.
However, to fit the bill, means to be suitable e.g. The prime minister must have a
good knowledge of economics, but the newly elected one does not fit the bill. The
company president will foot the bill for the expensive dinner.
Billion. In American English is 10^9 (a thousand million). However in British
English it is 10^12 (a million millions).
Bird. Slang for woman or girlfriend (especially in England). Soccer legend George
Best once said, “I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest was just
squandered.”
BIRD. A bird in hand is worth two in the bush. A popular quotation.
BIRD. Bird’ s eye- view. Overview.
BIRDS. Birds of a feather flock together. A popular metaphor meaning
similar, undifferentiated.
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BIRDS. For the birds. Something untrustworthy and trivial aimed at
unintelligent people e.g. He said that courses about mixing drinks are for the birds.
BITE. Bite the dust. A metaphor meaning terminate, die, or be beaten, be
defeated, be unsuccessful.
BITE. Bite the hand that feeds. A metaphor meaning ungrateful, unthankful
e.g. Receiving a big gift from your grandmother and joking about her old age is like
biting the hand that feeds you.
BITE. Don’ t bite off more than you can chew. Figuratively, don’ t try to
do more than you are capable of doing.
BITE. (His) bark is worse than (his) bite. He is more threatening with words
than actions e.g. This guy threatens a lot, but don’t worry, his bark is worse than his
bite.
BITTER. Bitter acrimony. These two words have the same meaning and they
are frequently used together for emphasis, meaning extreme bitterness.
BITTER. Bitter (tough) pill to swallow. A metaphor meaning it is hard to
accept.
BITTER. To the bitter end. To do or experience something very unpleasant
until the end e.g. She said that she will keep fighting for a divorce settlement to the
bitter end.
Blah- blah. Nonsense, something dull and unexciting. Blah- blah- blah means a
long speech or writing equivalent to etc-etc-etc.
Blarney. Persuasive flattery. It is frequently accosiated with the Irish after a castle
in the Republic of Ireland.
BLESSING. Blessing in disguise. Used frequently to indicate a hidden good
thing that may accompany a misfortune e.g. The failure in an exam for weak students
is a blessing disguise because they will learn the subject better by repeating the exam.
BLIND. Blind faith. Faith without questioning.
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BLIND. Blind leading the blind. A metaphor used frequently in situations
where a person that does not know tries to explain things to other persons that they do
not know.
Bling- bling. New word in the American vocabulary meaning expensive jewelry.
BLOOD. Blood is thicker than water. Family bonds are stronger than
friendships.
BLOOD. Blood, sweat and tears. A metaphor meaning significant effort and
exertion e.g. To get a doctoral degree requires a lot of blood, sweat and tears.
BLOOD. Bad blood. Animosity and hate e.g. There was a lot of bad blood
between them.
Bloody. An expletive popular with the British, such as in bloody hell, bloody
nuisance, bloody murder, to indicate something very cruel.
BLOODY. Bloody Mary. A drink composed of Vodka and tomato juice.
BLOW. Blow a fuse. A metaphor from electricity meaning rage, anger and
accompanied by yelling e.g. He blew his fuse when he heard that the waiter charged
too much for their dinner. Also used, (he) has a short fuse.
BLOW. Blow away. Has two meanings. 1) Destroy, 2) Astonish
BLOW. Blow my mind. Amaze, astonish, surprise.
BLOW. Blow your own horn. A nice way of saying brag, boast or self- praise
e.g. You must blow your own horn if you want to become famous.
BLOW. Blow to smithereens. A metaphor meaning completely destroy,
annihilate.
BLOW. Blow off- steam. Has two meanings. 1) Protest, object 2) Be merry and
play. e.g Let’ s go to the beach to blow off some steam.
BLUE. Blue- ribbon committee. A committee with important members and
significant decision making power.
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BLUE. Out of the blue. Unexpectedly. e.g He decided to quit his job, out of the
blue.
BOARD. Back to the drawing board. Back to the start of plans. e.g After the
discussion led to nowhere they had to go back to the drawing board.
Bobby. Policeman in London and generally policeman in British English.
■Boilerplate. In addition to a rolled plate of steel for making boilers, it is
frequently used to describe standardized texts of bureaucratic regulations and
language. Contracts drafted by lawyers are full of boilerplate. Also used for a
computer subroutine that can easily be repeated or for predictable ideas or writing. E.
g 1) This legal agreement is full of boilerplate, 2) The politician’ s speech was all
boilerplate without any fresh ideas.
BONE. Bone of contention. A metaphor from the animal world meaning a thing
or a subject of dispute or disagreement. e.g After their divorce, ownership of their
home was the bone of contention.
Bonnet. (of a car) In British English is what Americans call hood (of a car). The
word bonnet is not understood in U.S.A.
BOOK. Never judge a book by its cover. This frequently used expression
urges not to judge someone or something from first or external appearances.
BOOK. Throw the book at a person. Give the maximum possible sentence or
punishment. e.g The judge threw the book at the criminal and sentenced him to 20
years in jail.
BOOM. Boom and bust. Used frequently to indicate the ups (boom) and downs
(bust) of the economy.
BOOMER. Baby boomer or simply boomer. Persons born between 1946
and 1960 because there was a baby boom after the second world war.
BOON. Boon, benefit, favor but boondoggle means a wasteful activity or
project.
Boot. (of a car) In British English is what Americans call trunk.
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