Idioms and slangs
1. Hit the books
Meaning:
Study very hard.
If you hit the books, you start to study hard seriously with determination.
Example:
2. A hand-me-downa
Meaning:
A shirt, dress, pants, etc. that an older person (especially your older brother or sister) in your family has given to you because it is too small or he/she doesn’t want to wear it anymore.
A hand-me-down is a piece of clothing that has been worn by someone (especially your older brother/sister) and given to you.
Example:
3. Give someone a hand
Meaning:
Help someone when he/she is doing something difficult.
If you give a person a hand, you give him/her assistance because he/she is trying to do something difficult.
Example:
4. Be fishy
Meaning:
Seem not to be true / honest; be suspicioius
If a situation or something/someone is fishy, you mean it seems someone is not completely honest or someething is not true.
Example:
5. Be (as) cool as a cucumber
Meaning:
very calm and relaxed even in a difficult situation
If someone is (as) cool as a cucumber, he/she is very relaxed and/or calm when you expect him/her to be nervous or upset.
Example:
He had very bad news last night, but he came to the office as cool as a cucumber this morning as if nothing had happened.
6. Be broke
Meaning:
Without money
If you are broke, you don’t have money.
Example:
7. Stay up
Meaning:
Not go to bed at a time when most people are in bed or when you would be normally in bed.
If you stay up, you go to bed later than usual.
Example:
The students stayed up late last night to prepare for the final exam.
We stayed up all night telling our stories.
8. A bad apple
Meaning:
A (morally) bad person who makes a whole group bad.
A bad apple is someone who has a bad effect on a whole group or system.
People also say, “One bad/rotten apple spoils the (whole) bushel/barrel.”
Example:
9. Hit the ceiling / Hit the roof
Meaning:
Become extremely angry.
If you hit the ceiling / roof, you get very angry.
Example:
10. Be tongue-tied
Meaning:
Unable to speak.
If you are tongue-tied, you cannot speak and express yourself easily because you are shy, nervous, or embarrassed.
Example:
به وبلاگ آموزش زبان خوش آمديد. هدف ما کمک به شما براي آموزش و یادگیری هرچه بهتر زبان انگليسي است. در اين وبلاگ ميتوانيد علاوه بر مقالات، منابع و مطالب آموزشي، از تازهترين خبرهاي مربوط به زبان انگليسي نيز مطلع شويد.