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🇬🇧 Daily English Leassons
🇬🇧 dressed (up) to the nines
If you are dressed to the nines, or dressed up to the nines, you are wearing very smart clothes for a special occasion.
🇬🇧 turn into
to change from one thing into another
🇬🇧 wanker
an arrogant or pretentious person
🇬🇧 What you see is what you get
1) There is nothing hidden. What you are looking at is the real thing. 2) In computing, the way something displays on the screen is the way it will display in print (or other media) -- hence the acronym WYSIWYG.
🇬🇧 for a song
If you buy or sell something for a song, you buy or sell it at a very cheap price.
🇬🇧 become of
If you ask what has become of someone you haven't seen or heard from for a long time, you want to know what's happened to them.
🇬🇧 Brevity is the soul of wit
The real art of speaking (especially when speaking humorously) is to use as few words as possible.
🇬🇧 get along
If two people get along, they like each other and are friendly.
🇬🇧 itch
a strong desire to do something (n.) | to have a strong desire to do something (v.)
🇬🇧 Faint heart never won fair lady
We should have the courage to pursue what we want if we wish to succeed in life.
🇬🇧 the pros and cons
The pros and cons of something are its good points and bad points.
🇬🇧 A bad penny always turns up
Bad or nasty people have a habit of showing up or returning.
🇬🇧 cover up
to try to stop people finding out about something bad
🇬🇧 joint | jay
a marijuana cigarette
🇬🇧 Beware the fury of a patient man
The implication is that the anger of people who are normally slow to anger is, when it eventually comes, terrible.
🇬🇧 beat around the bush | beat about the bush
If you beat around the bush, or beat about the bush, you don't say something directly, usually because you don't want to upset the person you're talking to.
🇬🇧 engage in
to become involved in something related to competition or conflict, such as a debate, a battle, or a dispute.
🇬🇧 phoney | phony
not genuine, not real (adj.) | a person who's not sincere or genuine (n.)
🇬🇧 on the back burner
If a plan or a project is on the back burner, it isn't being worked on at present, but it might be completed in the future.
🇬🇧 order around
If you order people around, you tell them what to do in a bossy way.
🇬🇧 flick
a movie
🇬🇧 Man does not live by bread alone
This proverb suggests that people have a spiritual side as well as a physical side. We need to take care of our spirit as much as our body.
🇬🇧 up-and-coming
If someone's up-and-coming, they show signs of being successful in their profession.
🇬🇧 iron out
If you iron out the last details of a deal, you sort out the final problems or issues.
🇬🇧 gross
disgusting, very unpleasant
🇬🇧 Once bitten, twice shy
If an animal (such as a dog) bites you one time, you will be extra careful the next time. This saying talks about learning from our mistakes.
🇬🇧 You can say that again!
If someone says "You can say that again!", it shows they strongly agree with what was just said.
🇬🇧 whopping | whopping great
extremely large, huge
🇬🇧 Nothing so certain as death
We can be 100% sure that we will die.
🇬🇧 kill time
You kill time when you do something to amuse yourself while waiting for something.
🇬🇧 plain sailing
If something is plain sailing, it's very easy to do and there are no problems to overcome.
🇬🇧 come through
to survive a difficult or dangerous situation or time
🇬🇧 bullshit | bull
nonsense; something that's not true
🇬🇧 Opportunity seldom knocks twice
Take any opportunity or chance when it comes - it may not come again.
🇬🇧 very well
You can say "very well" when you agree to do something.
🇬🇧 run over
If you run over something or someone, you hit them or go over them while driving your car.
🇬🇧 jack | jack shit
nothing; very little
🇬🇧 The tide must be taken when it comes
We should use all opportunities when they come, before it's too late.
🇬🇧 once in a blue moon
If something happens once in a blue moon, it happens very rarely.
🇬🇧 frighten away
If you frighten away something or someone, you make them go away by making them feel afraid.
🇬🇧 hunky-dory
good, fine, going well
🇬🇧 Everything's coming up roses.
you can say "everything's coming up roses" if everything is turning out very well for someone or for something.
🇬🇧 zero in on
If you zero in on something, you focus on it or put your attention on it.
🇬🇧 scum | scumbag
a worthless or very disliked person
🇬🇧 One tongue is enough for a woman
Some people think that women talk too much. If they already talk too much, they don't need another tongue. One tongue is sufficient (but see Origin below).
🇬🇧 put your foot in your mouth
If you put your foot in your mouth you say or do the wrong thing and usually make matters worse.
🇬🇧 fall back on
to use or do something else because what you used or did first has failed
🇬🇧 weedy
thin and physically weak
🇬🇧 Barking dogs seldom bite
Don't be afraid of dogs that bark or people that threaten you (say they will do something bad to you) - in both cases they rarely take action.
🇬🇧 a recipe for disaster
Something is a recipe for disaster if it's going to cause trouble or serious problems.
🇬🇧 set back
to make something happen more slowly, or at a later time, than it would have
🇬🇧 Handsome is as handsome does
Good character and behaviour are more important than good looks.
🇬🇧 time after time
If you do something time after time, you do it again and again, or repeatedly.
🇬🇧 Fortune favours the bold
Successful people are often those who are prepared to take risks.
🇬🇧 think better of something
If you think better of something, you decide not to do it even though you'd made plans to do it.
🇬🇧 geek
a computer and IT expert
🇬🇧 weak at the knees
If you go weak at the knees, you feel an emotion so strongly that it makes you feel unstable on your feet.
🇬🇧 go through
to live through a bad time or a difficult situation
🇬🇧 old man
father, husband, boyfriend
🇬🇧 Let the dead bury the dead
This is generally taken to imply that we should spend our time and energy on living people, not on dead people. (But see Origin below.)
🇬🇧 I owe you one!
You can say "I owe you one!" when someone has done something for you and you'd be happy to return the favour one day.
🇬🇧 fall for
If you fall for someone, you fall in love with them.
🇬🇧 pissed
drunk
🇬🇧 a vested interest
If you have a vested interest in something, you have a strong personal interest in it because you stand to gain from it.
🇬🇧 catch up
If you catch up with someone who is ahead of you, you go faster than them until you reach them.
🇬🇧 The rich knows not who is his friend
When you have money, you don't know if people are friendly with you because they like you, or because they like your money. The structure of this saying is difficult. In normal English it would be something like: "Rich people do not know who their friends are."
🇬🇧 let the cat out of the bag
If you let the cat out of the bag, you let someone know a secret.
🇬🇧 sit back
to do nothing instead of making an effort to get what you want
🇬🇧 crap
something worthless (n.) | worthless (adj.)
🇬🇧 A just war is better than an unjust peace
Fighting between countries for a fair and good cause is better than no fighting in a situation that is unfair.
🇬🇧 up to your neck | up to your eyeballs
If you're up to your neck in something, or up to your eyeballs in something, you've got too much of it and it's become a problem.
🇬🇧 delight in
If you delight in doing something, you get a great deal of pleasure from doing it.
🇬🇧 pack heat
to carry a gun
🇬🇧 hang in there | hang on in there
You can tell someone to hang in there, or hang on in there, if they're in a difficult situation and you want to encourage them, or tell them not to give up.
🇬🇧 veep
the vice president
🇬🇧 knock up
to make something quickly and without too much effort
🇬🇧 Yankee | Yank
an American, a person from the United States of America
🇬🇧 do someone's dirty work
If you do someone's dirty work for them, you do something unpleasant for them because they don't want to do it for themselves.
🇬🇧 let out
to allow somebody or something to leave a place
🇬🇧 mug shot
a photograph of someone taken after their arrest
🇬🇧 A watched pot never boils
If you want to heat water until it boils, and you watch it while you wait, then it seems to take a very long time. In the same way, anything that we wait for with eager attention seems to take a very long time: like waiting for someone to arrive, waiting for the phone to ring, waiting for a letter to come.
🇬🇧 a ballpark figure | a ballpark estimate
If you give a ballpark figure or a ballpark estimate, you give a number which you think is fairly close to the actual one.
🇬🇧 fizzle out
If something fizzles out, it slowly loses its power or strength, and then ends weakly.
🇬🇧 old bat
an unpleasant old woman
🇬🇧 Graves are of all sizes
People die at all ages; no one is too young to die.
🇬🇧 pass out
to lose consciousness all of a sudden
🇬🇧 hoops
the game of basketball
🇬🇧 Money is a good servant, but a bad master
If you have money, it will serve you and work for you well. But if you owe money to other people, that money will control you in an unpleasant way.
🇬🇧 a skeleton in the cupboard | closet
If you have a skeleton in the cupboard, or in the closet, you have a secret in your past which could damage you if it became known.
🇬🇧 break into
If someone breaks into a building or a vehicle, they force their way in, usually to steal something.
🇬🇧 diddly-squat | diddly
anything
🇬🇧 off your own bat
If you do something off your own bat, you do it without being asked to or told to.
🇬🇧 ask out
If you ask somebody out, you ask someone you like to go on a date with you.
🇬🇧 alky | alkie | alchy
an alcoholic