Vocabulary and Idioms
• Two-Year Program
• Weekend College
Mastering Vocabulary:
High Intermediate GEPT Level
Professor: Ludmilla Cawdrey
Learning Activities
• Preview the material of a next week class at
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home
Learn recommended vocabulary
Prepare stories of recommended idioms
Listen to the teacher’s explanations
Do practical in class
Correct mistakes under the supervision of the
teacher
Course Methods
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Individual home work
• Prepare idioms and their stories •
Individual home work
• Preview and memorize
vocabulary
• Listen to your group mates’
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Classroom activity
• Discuss peculiarities of Modern
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The teacher’s explanations
and presentations
• Do practical: use idioms and
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Group or pair-work
stories of idioms
English vocabulary
new vocabulary in
communicative situations
Sources of Material
1.
Material for vocabulary practice is taken from the list
of words recommended by the Ministry of Education of
Taiwan (GEPT High Intermediate Level)
http://www.lttc.ntu.edu.tw/academics/gepthilist.htm
2. The list of idioms is taken from the following site:
http://www.voanews.com/specialenglish/words_and_their_
stories.cfm
(100 phrases)
3. A dictionary for self-control: www.dictionary.com
Other Recommended Sites
for Self-Practice
• http://www.sky-net•
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eye.com/eng/dictionary/english/idioms/american/i_a
http://www.phrases.org.uk/
http://www.synonym.com/synonyms/
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Wiktionary:Main_Page
http://etlc.wtuc.edu.tw/ePaper/e_quarterly/200802/14TeachingThe1000WordLittleLanguageList.pdf
http://iteslj.org/links/ESL/Vocabulary/Lists/
http://www.stickyball.net/GEPT.html
http://www.lttc.ntu.edu.tw/E_LTTC/gept_eng_main.htm
http://etlc.wtuc.edu.tw/ePaper/e_quarterly/200802/14TeachingThe1000WordLittleLanguageList.pdf
Lesson plan (in weeks)
1. Morphemic structure of a word;
2. Productive ways of word-building in Modern English:
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4.
5.
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9.
word-derivation;
Productive ways of word-building: word-derivation
(cont);
Productive ways of word-building: word-composition;
Productive ways of word-building: conversion;
Productive ways of word-building: shortening;
Minor ways of word-formation in Modern English;
Review;
Midterm.
Lesson plan (continued)
1.
2.
3.
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9.
Lexico-Semantic
Lexico-Semantic
Lexico-Semantic
Lexico-Semantic
Lexico-Semantic
Lexico-Semantic
Lexico-Semantic
paronyms;
Review;
Final Test.
Groupings of
Groupings of
Groupings of
Groupings of
Groupings of
Groupings of
Groupings of
Words:
Words:
Words:
Words:
Words:
Words:
Words:
synonyms;
synonyms (cont);
antonyms;
antonyms (cont);
homonyms;
homonyms (cont);
hyponyms,
Ways of Word Building
from GEPT List
Formation of words by adding
prefixes and suffixes
Prefixes are used before the root
Suffixes are used after the root
A root is an unchangeable part of the word that carries the
main meaning of a word
e.g., unpleasant:
un- is a prefix
-ant is a suffix
“please” is a root
Suffixes - Prefixes
Suffixes and prefixes are used to build up new words
organized in words nests:
To defend (verb) – defender (noun),
(a) defendant - defense (noun) – defensible (adjective)
To develop – developed – developing – a developer
To detach – detached
To devastate – devastating
To descend – (a) descendant – a descent
To deteriorate – deterioration
To destine - destiny (noun) – destined (adjective)
Deficit – deficiency – deficient
More examples
To define - d́efinite – d́efinitely – définitive – definitively –
definitiveness
To deploy – deployment
To dictate – a dictator – dictatorship
A diplomat – diplomatic – diplomacy
Disable – disability
Close – to disclose – disclosure
Obsess – obsession
To oblige – to obligate – obligation – obligatory
To occur – occurrence,
to operate – operative - operational
Offer – offering,
to oppress – oppressed – oppression
Practice:
Find roots, suffixes and prefixes in the following words
Deepen, attendance, breadth administrator,
brotherhood, addiction, boxing, glossary,
advertiser, adaptation, advertising, birdie,
astronomer, adjustment, bomber, bulky,
autonomy, accumulation, bowler, bowling,
boundary, breeder, broadcaster, booking,
advisory, accusation, assumption, boredom,
attendant, activist, allied, boxer, awesome,
accessory, banking, appraisal, aggression,
advisory, library, accounting , acting,
borrowing, abstraction, anticipation, bodily,
abundant alarming, boyhood, bureaucracy,
absent-minded, agricultural, ambiguous,
advisable, allergic, approximate, etc.
(see hand-outs: the table of affixes)
disappointment
• “dis-” is a prefix,
• “appoint” is a root
• “-ment” is a suffix;
Sound-and-stress Interchange
Sound-and-stress-interchange is traced in the formation of new
words that differ in a root-forming vowel/ consonant or stress
patterns, e.g.,
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Wide - width [ai – i], [- Ө]
Strong – strength [o – e], [- Ө ]
to invite – invitation [ai – i]
to describe – description [ai – i], [b – p]
to analyze – analysis [ai – i], [z – s]
a house – housing [s – z],
to conclude – conclusion [d - ʒ]
a ŕecord – to rećord
́
a pŕotest – to protest
a ćontrast – to contŕast
a ŕebel – to rebé l
an ́ally – to alĺy
a śuspect – to susṕect
to ŕidicule – ridículous
(for more examples see handouts)
Suffixation: Splinters
Splinters are parts of words which appeared as a result of clipping
the end or the beginning of a word:
mini- (from: miniature) minicar, miniradio;
maxi- (from: maximum) maxi-house, maxi-sculpture;
Euro- (from: European) Euromarket, Eurotunnel, Eurocard,
-napper (from: kidnapper) busnapper, dognapper;
-omat (from: automat) cashomat, laundromat;
-eteria (from: cafeteria) booketeria, groceteria;
-quake (from: earthquake) Moonquake, youthquake;
-tel (from: hotel) motel, boatel, airtel;
-burger (from: hamburger) fishburger, beefburger;;
-scape (from: landscape) seascape, townscape;
Compounding
Compounding is combining of 2 or more stems of
words in order to form a third word with a new meaning:
e.g., a handbag, duty-free
The second word usually identifies an object while the
first word specifies what kind of object it is:
e.g., water tank, washing machine, videophone
It is usually the second stem that is a structural and
semantic center of a compound:
e.g., a matchbox, freehanded, well known
Additive compounds
Additive compounds are formed from stems of
independently functioning words of the same part of
speech.
They denote an object that is two things at the same
time:
e.g., a secretary-stenographer, a director-manager,
parent-teacher (association).
Reduplicative compounds
Reduplicative compounds are made up by repetition
of the first stem; as a result duplicates are made:
e.g., fifty-fifty, tick-tock, etc.
Reduplicative compounds may be of 3 kinds:
1. an exact duplication of the first stem in a word: hushhush, goody-goody, bye-bye;
2. variation of consonants in the root: clap-trap, willy-nilly
3. variation of vowels in the root: chitchat, zigzag, ping-
pong.
Neo-classical compounds
(p. 124)
Some compound words contain parts which are not
themselves independent words.
They are mostly compounds formed from Latin and
Greek loanwords, for example, in a word like
bibliography neither biblio-, nor -graphy are words in
Modern English.
Such compounds are treated as neo-classical compounds
and their parts are defined as “combining forms”: bio-,
electro-, tele-, -ology, -phile, -scope
e.g., biography, telescope, Philology
Compounding: Practical
Define types of the following compound words
One-sided, way-laid, onrush, hotchpotch, two-party (system), saw
dust, shipshape, tricolor, freshman, tear-gas, hustle-bustle, goodygoody, take-home, week-end, week-ender, go-between, lipstick,
fellow-lodger, willy-nilly, athlete-gymnast, triennial, eye-lid, AngloAmerican, tick-tacks, hoity-toity, bye-bye, round-faced, star-chart,
tit-bit, woman-hater, hotchpotch, helter-skelter, finger-print,
director-manager, hurdy-gurdy, a blow-ball, hobnob, dairymaid,
Afro-Asian, eyelevel, standpoint, hush-hush, director-producer,
quake-stricken, slink-pink, shake-shack, mother-daughter
(relationships), detective-policeman, flip-flop, Chinese-Canadian
Morphological Classification:
Types of stems joined together
(p. 124)
Neutral compounds may be of 3 types:
1. compounds proper that are formed by simple stems: ice-cold,
bedroom, tallboy;
2. derivational compounds one of the stems of which is derived:
kind-hearted, music-lover, absent-mindedness, grass-hopper;
3. compounds with a shortened stem: T-shirt, TV-set, phone call.
Syntactic compounds consist of elements typical of a phrase or a
sentence (articles, prepositions, particles, etc.):
e.g., a mother-in-law, a sit-in, a forget-me-not, a man-of-war, upto-date, etc.
Compounding: Practical 2
Define types of the following compounds according to the
morphological types of stems joined together:
- neutral: proper, derivational, with shortened stem;
- syntactic
Heart-felt (talk), eye-witness (video), difficult-tounderstand (proposal), shoe-maker, first-time (voter),
Jack-o’-lantern, drive-in (restaurant), hanky-panky, email, walk-in (closet), four-volume (piece), week-ender,
sit-in (demonstration), larger-than-life (character),
merry-go-round, T-shirt, icebound (waters), shilly-shally,
coin-box, actor-manager, stand-up (meal), puffed-up,
short-sighted, shooting-star, sitter-in, paper-money,
panic-stricken, detective-manager, stay-at-home
(moms), a feel-good (factor)
Compounding: Practical 3
Define the degree of motivation in the following
compounds:
completely motivated, partially motivated, non-motivated
a cold duck, a grasshopper, hoodwink, a tricycle, a chatterbox, a
cool beggar, a loudspeaker, horse-collar, earphones, huntsman, a
bus-driver, hot-house, fireproof, higgledy-piggledy, hotheaded, a
bookworm, hopscotch, star-dust, man-of-war, happy-go-lucky, red
tape, will-o’-the-wisp, kith-and-kin, devil-may-care, hide-and-seek,
hand-to-hand (fighting), hang-dog, hen-hearted, herring-bone,
highwayman, heyday, highball, holystone, hugger-mugger, hushmoney, tableland, onlooker, out-and-out, bolster savings, hot dog,
hot-headed, humbug, scandalmonger, shorthand, singsong, woolgathering, runoff, walkie-talkie
Functional Classification
Functionally, compounds are viewed as words of different parts of
speech: their word-class is indicated by the second stem of a
compound.
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Compound words may belong to different word-classes:
nouns: a birthday, a weekend, a single mother;
adjectives: long-legged, peace-loving, easy-going;
adverbs: everywhere, outdoors, inside;
pronouns: someone, nothing;
connectives: within, without;
verbs formed by means of conversion: to blacklist;
verbs with verbal and adverbial stems: to bypass, to offset.
Functional Classification:
Word-class patterns of compound words
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N + N: railway, summerhouse, cigar-ash;
Adj + N: short-term, blackberry, bluestocking;
N + Part I: soul-baring, fence-building, law-making,
N + Part II: horror-struck, smoke-blackened, technology-rejected;
Adj + Part II: short-lived, ill-prepared;
Adv + Part II: well known, badly-injured, half-seen;
Adj + Part I: freethinking, aggressive-sounding, slow-burning;
N + Adj: air tight, tobacco-mad;
Num + N: four-volume, one-vote, first-time; etc.
Functional Classification:
Functions in a Sentence
In a sentence, compound words fulfill different functions. They may
become the following members of a sentence:
• Subject - Japan’s old job-for-life security has vanished…
• Object – I forced my manservant to help me…
• Predicate – My mentor was a great waterman. Langdon
backpedaled;
• Attribute – A definite end-of-the-holiday gloom was in the air;
• Adverbial modifier of manner, time and order –
… beautifully written in a neat penmanship…
… He sat white knuckled in a passenger seat…
Compounding: Practical 5
Identify syntactic functions of the following compounds in a
sentence:
(subject, object, predicate, attribute, adverbial modifier, etc.)
1. He was a little, white-faced, clean-shaven, grizzly-haired fellow…
2. I made a rash decision forcing my manservant to help me bring him
to England.
3. … if she has to cook a crab, or anything else still alive, she grows
teary-eyed and sings to them (Geisha).
4. … moving to the portentous stuff – like why-oh-why does he keep
saying…
5. …it amounts to a keep-your-nerve-and-keep-your-chin-up appeal to
Tory troops…
6. They shared an uninhibited, girl-behaving-badly attitude.
7. They had swallowed all his dim-witted lies (J.K. Rowling).
8. Sauniere was a no-brainer.
9. Langdon sat white-knuckled in passenger seat, twisted backward
10.The team conducted its review on-site.
11.The runoff from farmland can carry dirty water into the river.
Phonetic Classification
(p. 123)
Phonetically, a compound word gets a new stress pattern.
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Compounds may be built according to the following stress
patterns:
primary stress on the first component (┴ ─): doorway, blackboard.
double stress, i.e. primary stress on the first component and
secondary stress on the second component (┴ ┬): blood-vessel,
washing-machine.
level stress – both stems possess individual stresses(┴ ┴): open-
minded, grass-green.
Primary stress is traditionally typical of nouns,
Secondary and level stress – of adjectives and adjectival groups.
Graphical Classification
(p. 123)
According to the means of connection, compounds are divided into
four groups:
1. compounds formed by simple placing one stem after another
without any linking element: headache, warpath, flowerpot;
2. compounds stems of which are coined with the help of linking
letters such as -o-, -i-, -s-: Afro-Asian, handicraft, statesman,
neuroscience;
3. compounds written with a hyphen: third-rate, best-seller, wellbeing;
4. compounds written as separate words: writing table, dining room,
school bus, single mother.
Conversion
Conversion is a process when a word is converted from
one word-class to another without any changes of a
form, but only through the changes in its paradigm
e.g., to cut – a cut, to swim – a swim, a shoulder – to shoulder.
Paradigm is an ordered set of grammatical forms of a
certain part of speech:
Nouns: a girl – girls – girl’s – girls’
Verbs: to write – wrote – written – writing – writes – write – will
write – will be writing – is written – was written – will be written –
would write – would be written, etc.
Converted parts of speech
Traditionally, conversion regards verbs and nouns transformations.
Verbs made from nouns (N  V) are the most numerous:
• e.g., to hand, to face, to eye, to room, to monkey, to honeymoon,
to can, to chin, to fist, etc.,
• cf., My mother clothed and shoed me.
Verbs can also be made from adjectives (Adj  V):
• e.g., to pale, to yellow, to cool, etc.,
• cf., He narrowed his eyes.
Nouns are made from verbs (V  N):
• e.g., a do, a go, a make, a run, a find, a catch, a walk, a move, a
show, etc.,
• cf., She gave a little shiver.
Converted parts of speech
(cont)
Adjectives are made from nouns (N Adj):
• a rich, a blind, a mute, etc.,
• cf., He is an absolute imbecile in his profession.
Other parts of speech are not entirely unsusceptible to conversion:
• to but, to down, to out, the ups and downs, the ins and outs, etc.,
• cf., I was speculating with various whys, and whats and whos.
Conversion. Semantic correlations
Semantic associations of converted verbs may be traced in:
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action characteristic of the object: witness – to witness, dog – to dog;
instrumental use of the object: elbow – to elbow, hammer – to
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acquisition or addition of the object: to fish, to tail, to grass, to dust;
derivation of an object: to skin, to dust, to bone;
location: to bag, to pocket, to house;
temporal relations: to winter, to week-end.
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hammer;
Nouns converted from verbs may denote:
moment of an action: a jump, a swim, a step, a laugh;
agent or doer of an action: a help, a cheat, a bore;
place of an action: a drive, a walk, a stand;
result of an action: a cut, a peel, a find, a make.
Conversion: Practical 1
Define semantic correlations within
the following pairs of converted words:
a pocket – to pocket, to jump – a jump, supper – to
supper, grass – to grass, a winter – to winter, to shave –
a shave, to make – a make, a face – to face, to cut – a
cut, to smoke – a smoke, to swim – a swim, milk – to
milk, to come down – a come down, pale – to pale, in /
out – ins and outs, wounded – the wounded, a nose – to
nose, a shoulder – to shoulder, an elbow - to elbow, a
suspect – to suspect
GEPT vocabulary
Aboriginal Adj – N, Absurd Adj – N, Accessory N – Adj, Acting N –
Adj, Advocate V – N , Aggregate Adj – N – V , Ageing (aging) Adj –
N , Alien Adj – N , Ally N – V, Alternate V – Adj , Ambush V – N ,
Anchor N – V , Animate Adj – V , Antarctic Adj – N, Antibiotic – N –
Adj, Antique N – Adj , Apprentice N – V , Approximate Adj – V , Arc
N – V , Archive N – Adj , Arctic Adj – N , Armor N – V , Array N – V,
Articulate Adj – V , Assault N – Adj – V , Assuming Conj – Adj ,
Astray Adv – Adj , Attribute V – N, Auction N – V , Audit V – N, Avail
V – N, Awe N – V, Bodily Adj – Adv
(for more examples see hand-outs)
Conversion. Functional correlations
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Functionally, in a sentence converted words may be:
Subject: The silver had been taken by the murderer;
Object: I suggested a blind;
Attribute: I bought a new put-together toy set;
Predicate: My mother clothed and shoed me;
Predicative: She is still an evil;
Adverbial modifier: He paused a moment longer, eyeing the
metal threshold, etc.
Conversion: Practical 3
Define cases of conversion in the following sentences:
1.
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7.
8.
Sometimes nothings mean more than many somethings.
Good has come out of evil.
She gave a little shiver.
The English exercised a surprisingly tolerant hand-off policy…
My wife was dogged by ill health for twelve years (M Spark)
I narrowed my eyes…
Her face blushed – then paled (A. Christie)
What would happen to our father who was khakied like every other man?
(L. Lee)
9. I was speculating with various whys and whats and whos …
I saw no blinds on the window.
Blind(s) –
• It is a Noun converted from an Adjective
• It denotes “an object of a certain quality”
• It functions as an Object in the sentence
Shortening
Shortening (abbreviation) of words is a way of formation
of new words by means of substituting a part of the
word for a whole.
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2 different types of abbreviations:
graphical abbreviations and
lexical abbreviations
Productive Ways of Word-Formation:
Shortening. Graphical abbreviations
Graphical abbreviations – substitutes of words used for writing
purposes in written speech: scientific books, advertisements, letters,
articles, etc.
According to the way of formation, graphical abbreviations are
subdivided into:
1. initial shortenings – shortened words that keep the initial letter
only; the shortened variant is read as its full English equivalent
e.g., cc – cubic centimeter, ml – milliliter, i.e. – “that is”, e.g. –
“for example”
2. syllable shortenings – shortened words that keep syllables; the
remaining part is read as a full word
e.g., Oct - “October”, Dr.- “Doctor”
Productive Ways of Word-Formation:
Shortening. Lexical abbreviations
Lexical abbreviations represent shortened words used in oral
speech.
Lexical abbreviations proper are formed by a simultaneous
operation of shortening and compounding.
In this case they are made up of the following components:
1. initial sounds
e.g., IT - “informational technology”
2. syllables of the components of a word-group
e.g., pop-music - “popular music”
Shortening. Lexical abbreviations
Lexical abbreviations proper differ in the ways of their formation
and reading.
Alphabetisms are formed and read as a succession of alphabetical
reading of the constituent letters:
e.g., V.I.P. - “a very important person”;
EU - “European Union”,
INTL – “international”,
oj - “orange juice”;
Acronyms are formed and read as a succession of syllables denoted
by the constituent letters (see: names of organizations):
e.g., UNO – “United Nations Organization”,
SARS – “Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome”,
SWAK – “sealed with a kiss” (at the end of a letter).
Shortening. Clipping
Words may be built by the process of clipping – the
process of cutting off one or several syllables of a word.
There are 4 types of clipping:
1. aphaeresis (initial clipping),
2. apocope (final clipping),
3. syncope (middle clipping) and
4. a mixed type.
Shortening. Clipping
• Aphaeresis takes place when the first part of a word is clipped:
e.g., phone (telephone), fence (defense), spite (despite), cologne
(au-de-cologne), bach (bachelor’s snack).
• Apocope occurs when the last part of a word is clipped:
e.g., demo (demonstration), limo (limousine).
• Syncope happens when the middle part of a word is clipped:
e.g., maths (mathematics), specs (spectacles).
• A mixed type involves clipping at the beginning and at the end of a
word: e.g., tec (detective), flu (influenza).
Shortening. Ellipsis
Ellipsis is the omission of a word or words in a phrase
when the remaining part keeps the lexical meaning of a
whole phrase:
e.g., a sit-down is “a sit-down demonstration”,
a Nat is “a National Party member”.
Shortening: Practical 1
Define types of the following shortened words
(lexical abbreviations proper: alphabetisms, acronyms; clipping:
aphaeresis, apocope, syncope, mixed type; ellipsis; substantivation)
UNO, doc, sis, T-shirt, Aussie, e.g., A.D., P.T.O., prep, ft,
FBI, gent, memo, maths, co-ed, M.P., fence, LA, U.K.,
SARS, finals, taxi, EU, CNN, demo, exams, comfy, flu,
Feb, USA, adj, Dr, Mrs, N.Y., info, e-mail, hol, 30℃, Vday, deco, cc, Joe, usu, in, a foot, metrop, circs, veggy,
H.L., H.C., i.e., op. cit., Jan, TV, Beth, p.m., flu, fence,
specs, spite, DOG-phone, comfy, a pub
GEPT vocabulary
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Ad, advert = advertisement
AI = artificial intelligence
ATM = automatic teller machine
Auto = automobile, automatic
BS = British Standard; Bachelor of Science
Brassiere = bra
Shortening. Functions in a sentence
Shortened words may fulfill the various functions
in a sentence:
– Subject: The BBC announced the report…
– Attribute: The LCD screen provided directions in several
languages;
– Object: I would like to have your e-mail;
– Predicative: They were the original ATMs;
– Predicate: He was repeatedly phoning with no answer, etc.
Shortening: Practical
Define cases of shortening in the following
sentences
1. …kids sleeping on backpacks and roving out to their portable
MP3’s players…
2. In a military manoeuvre worthy of the CIA…
3. He managed to manoeuvre the hijacked taxi to the far side of
the Bois de Bouloque
4. The LCD screen provided directions in seven languages (D.
Brown).
5. …a keypad similar to that of a bank ATM terminal (D. Brown).
6. In the area without phone and e-mail
7. The BBC producer loved Teabing’s hot premise.
Blending
Blending is compounding by means of clipped words, e.g.:
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Toyotire = Toyota + tire
Senseyes = sensitive + eyes
Oxbridge = Oxford + Cambridge
Medicare = medical + care
Cashomat = cash + automat
Fruice = fruit + juice
Popcert = popular + concert
Midterm = middle + tem
Yarden = yard + garden
Dollarature = dollar + literature
Cell-phone = cellular + telephone
Wango = waltz + tango
List of idiomatic expressions
http://www.voanews.com/specialenglish/words_and_their_stories.cfm
1. Ace in the hole: put on your poker face
2. Colors: I’m feeling very blue today
3. Cold: she felt the cold hard reality of life
4. Chickenfeed: it doesn’t add up to much
5. Nuts and bolts: the mechanics of any organization
6. Hot: he was a hotheaded hot shot!
7. Blizzard: don’t let this expression snow you
8. Money talks: everything else walks
9. Hit: If a student‘s grades hit bottom, it is time to hit the books
10. Nicknames: America’s 50 states (Fourth of 4 parts)
11. Nicknames: America’s 50 states (Third of 4 parts)
12. Nicknames: America’s 50 states (Second of 4 parts)
List of idiomatic expressions
(cont)
1. Nicknames: America’s 50 states (First of 4 parts)
2. Get your act together: Organization is the name of the game
3. Money, money, money: dinner is on the house
4. More money: money can make people do strange things
5. Money: he hit the jackpot
6. Computer terms: ever Google sometime?
7. Water: she is in hot water
8. Losing it: it’s hard when you lose control
9. Monkey: no monkey business here
10. Kick: this is an idea worth kicking around
11. Rocket scientist you do not have to be: extremely intelligent to
understand this
12. Wildcat is it a fast car or false money?
List of idiomatic expressions
(cont)
1. Great Scott: what a surprise!
2. Swan song: it was my final effort and my finest work
3. Belittle: Thomas Jefferson first used this word
4. Hang: Don’t get excited, just hang loose
5. Couch potato: life is a full-time television watcher
6. Top brass: what American workers call their employers
7. Baseball terms: this is a whole new ballgame
8. Hobson’s choice: when there is really no choice at all
9. Heart to heart: let’s get to the heart of the matter
10. All about names: he was a true Jack of all trades
11. Let’s do business: I made a sweetheart deal last month
12. Mouth expressions: the experience left a bad taste in my mouth
List of idiomatic expressions
(cont)
1. Nose: the answer is as clear as the nose on your face
2. All about eyes: once he caught my eye, it was love everlasting
3. Fireworks: what is all the noise about?
4. More words about clothing: I am not talking through my hat
5. Words about clothing: let’s see if I can name a few off the cuff
6. Bird words: someone who eats a bird eats very little
7. Back, shoulders and chest: a pat on the back for a job well done
8. Dog talk: life in a dog-eat-dog world
9. More numbers: two heads are better than one
10. Numbers: I, for one, use these expressions often
11. Medical terms: a clean bill of health from the doctor
12. Bigwig: such an important person
List of idiomatic expressions
(cont)
1. A chip on your shoulder: what are you going to do about it?
2. On a short leash: he had firm control over his workers
3. Fall guy: he took the blame for someone else
4. Buff: are you a buff about something?
5. Face: time to face the music
6. Heard it on the grapevine: What? Who told you that?
7. Baloney: it’s just not true
8. Dutch: English expressions unrelated to Dutch people
9. Doughboy: military expressions
10. Feel the pinch: the pains of economic trouble
11. In the red: better to be in the black
12. Santa Claus: Do you believe?
List of idiomatic expressions
(cont)
1. Green: More than just a color
2. Easy as falling off a log: not much effort involved!
3. Deep six: it is well hidden
4. It will not wash: Does it work or not?
5. Farm expressions
6. When the cat is away
7. The answer is as clear as your nose
8. All about eyes
9. More expressions that are old and true
10. Pulling a fast one
11. Hold your horses
12. Insect expressions
List of idiomatic expressions
(cont)
1. Like a rolling stone
2. Not much effort involved
3. Heart to heart: some heartfelt expressions
4. Deep-six: fishing for sailors’ expressions
5. Water: diving into a sea of terms
6. Have a heart
7. To buffalo: to win by trick or threat
8. Holding the bag
9. Touching all bases
10. Circus: some agree it’s the greatest show on earth
11. Holding the bag
12. Who put lipstick on that pig?
List of idiomatic expressions
(cont)
1. Some sayings about love, war, etc.
2. Hobson’s choice: when there’s really no choice
3. Every dog has his day
4. A couch potato
5. American election expressions
6. Let’s get down to brass tacks
7. Fall guy
8. Doughboy
9. Eureka
10. Green
11. Pan
12. It will not wash
List of idiomatic expressions
1. Fish expressions
2. Farm
3. Stock market
4. Hands
5. Feel the pinch
6. Nicknames for Chicago
7. Nicknames for Los Angeles
8. Nicknames for New York
9. Two heads are better than one
10. Get your act together
11. Ideas about how to live
12. Apple pie order
(cont)
Set-Expressions
1. Ahead of one’s time
2. At one’s feet
3. Bend over backwards
4. Beneath one
5. Bite off more than one can chew
6. Black and white
7. Blow it
8. Bounce a check
9. Breathing room
10. Bring to one’s feet
11. Bring to one’s knees
12. Call the shots
Set-Expressions
1. Catch one’s eye
2. Change one’s tune
3. Cheap shot
4. Clear the air
5. Come alive
6. Corporate ladder
7. Cost an arm and a leg
8. Cough up
9. Couldn’t care less
10. Cross that bridge when one comes to it
11. Cut corners
12. Cut it out
Set-Expressions
1. Doesn’t grow on trees
2. Dressed to kill
3. Drive someone crazy
4. Drop in
5. Egg on one’s face
6. Fair-weather friend
7. Fast track
8. Feather in one’s cap
9. Feather one’s nest
10. Feel ten feet tall
11. Fine line
12. Flash in the pan
Set-Expressions
1. Floor someone
2. Follow in someone’s footsteps
3. For a song
4. Four-letter words
5. Get a leg up on someone
6. Get a risk out of someone
7. Get something/ someone off one’s mind
8. Get one’s gear turning
9. Get one’s hand on something
10. Get rolling
11. Get something off the ground
12. Get the picture
Set-Expressions
1. Give someone a break
2. Give someone a ring
3. Give someone the runaround
4. Go belly-up
5. Go by the book
6. Go to get lengths
7. Go to the end of the earth
8. Hand over fist
9. Hands down
10. Hang on
11. Have a blast
12. Have a corner on something
Set-Expressions
1. Have a good head on one’s shoulders
2. Have a nose for something
3. Have an edge
4. Have it both ways
5. Head over heels in love
6. In over one’s head
7. In the black
8. In the red
9. Keep a level head
10. Keep something bottled up
11. Keep up with the Joneses
12. Keep up with the times
Set-Expressions
1. Know where one stands
2. The last word
3. Lay it in thick
4. Learn the ropes
5. Let someone down
6. Live it up
7. Live within one’s means
8. Look like a million bucks
9. Make a mark
10. Make a plug
11. Make a splash
12. Make mountains out of molehills
Set-Expressions
1. Make one’s day
2. Make something fly
3. Make waves
4. Mean beans
5. Mean business
6. Middle-of-the-road
7. Miss the boat
8. Nest egg
9. No ifs, ands, and buts
10. No strings attached
11. No sweat
12. Not have a prayer
Set-Expressions
1. Not see the forest for the trees
2. Odds are
3. Off the beaten path
4. Off the top of one’s head
5. On the go
6. On the house
7. Open a can of worms
8. Open doors
9. Out of this world
10. Paint the town red
11. Promise the moon
12. Pros and cons
Set-Expressions
1. Put one’s best foot forward
2. Put one’s name on the line
3. Put someone on the pedestal
4. Raise eyebrows
5. Right around the corner
6. Right under one’s nose
7. Rule out
8. Save face
9. Search high and low
10. See something in a whole new light
11. Show one’s true colors
12. Sitting duck
Set-Expressions
1. Slip one’s mind
2. Slip through one’s fingers
3. Snowed under
4. Stack up
5. Stars in one’s eyes
6. Stay in touch
7. Stay put
8. Stick one’s neck out
9. Stop something in its tracks
10. Stretched too thin (to spread oneself too thin)
11. Strike a chord
12. Take a hike
Set-Expressions
1. Take center stage
2. Take it easy
3. Take it out on someone
4. Take one’s breath away
5. Take someone to the cleaners
6. Take something in stride
7. Take the heat
8. Throw in the towel
9. Till the cows come home
10. To the letter
11. Toe the line
12. Too close for comfort
Set-Expressions
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Top banana
Top-of-the-line
Travel in the wrong circles
Up in the air
Uphill battle
Warm up to
Wipe out
Worth one’s salt