DAILY IDIOMS

IDIOM

An idiom is group of two or more words that gives a non-literal meaning to know. It is often figurative. Some idioms stand for fixed expressions. Unless one consults a good dictionary, one cannot guess the sense of it. These help our speaking and writing in an effective and decorative way.

Here are some idioms which we use in everyday life. Idioms are easy to learn in a situational content rather than knowing their meanings. With such intention we gave some essential idioms in a story context.

My friend never played cricket. It was not his cup of tea. If we insist, he comes along with hesitation. He plays cricket once in a blue moon. He is such a person. He always filled fun in his conversation. Sometimes, he beats around the bush to say an important matter. It causes us to annoy. I always excuse him for his behaviour. One day, he came to me, and I was surprised to see him in the neck of the woods. He meets me rarely. He doesn't want to say anything about his coming. I want to know the purpose of his visit. I asked him, " What made you meet me?" He hesitated to share it. I insisted he spill the beans out. However, I insisted on letting the cat out of the bag, but he said everything in a nutshell that he came here to take a test for his promotion. He also said that he had got one more new job opportunity in his hand, and now he was sitting on the fence. He asked my opinion on the issue. I said to continue with the present job as problems were unknown with the new one. He felt the same and decided to take up the old job and went to take the test with a clear mind. 

This whole episode happened six months ago. A few days later, he turned up to meet me again. This time he was on cloud nine. He got the promotion and could buy a nice car in which he had come then. He was trying to tell me about how he had gotten that wealth. I knew everything about him from time to time and kept an ear to the ground during that time, but feigning innocence, I listened to everything as if I didn't know anything about him. After talking for a while, I took him to my dining hall and served him food. He ate like a horse on that day. 

After some good rest, he went to hit the sack. I don't want to give any trouble to him. I didn't dare to disturb him. He took a good rest of three hours. The next day evening, I saw him off at the railway station. On insisting several times, I agreed to come to his house after a month.

When I returned home, my mother told me not to maintain a relationship with my friend. I told my mother about my friend's good qualities. Also, I told her that drinking was his achilles heel. Otherwise, he could have been a great person in any respect of his life. I politely said to her, " Mother, that's all in your head. Please, leave it to me." 

After a while, my uncle, who is all brawn and has no brain came to meet me and tried to tell me something about his useless personal experience. He brought a bundle of papers to show me and asked me to count them. There were, all told, 25 pieces of paper. I understand that those are the papers for his presentation the next day. He said he had worked against the clock to finish it within ten hours. He asked my opinion on his work. I saw some mistakes in it, but I didn't want to find fault with his work. I asked him the reason for his arrival. He hesitated to ask me something. To encourage, I said, "If you'd like to use anything, be my guest." With my assurance, he got some courage to ask and asked me to lend my imported watch for a day. I immediately gave him that and sent him. Unfortunately, he carelessly forgot it and did not return it. From then, I was keeping him at my arm's length always.

Life sends many lessons to us. Before I forgot the bitter experience with my uncle, I had to face another problem in the form of my exams. I burned my midnight oil and prepared well. I thought I would ace the exam. That day, it was raining cats and dogs, and I couldn't step out on the streets. I missed my exam. But this became a blessing in disguise when I escaped from an earthquake at my examination centre. Exams had been postponed, and I sighed a relief. It is an act of god.

In the subsequent days, I wanted to improve my job skills. I met my old friend who is doing a job with an MNC company. He demanded me ten thousand rupees to get a job with his company. I guessed he was going to be a bad egg in my life. I had many financial problems already. I got my fingers burnt playing on the stock market.

 That time I wanted to tighten my belt, as there was no trust in him. But my friend advised having a job as early as possible. I have no choice but to give the money to get the desirable work. I was between the devil and the deep blue sea. I was nervous about getting the job because it was at stake. I joined a new company which was a small firm with ten employees. I enjoyed being a big fish in a small pond. My boss showed a lot of authority, but his wife called the tune. She was born with a silver spoon in her mouth. My boss got married to her after seeing her wealth. Moreover, she was arrogant. It became a bitter pill to swallow working with her. 

One day I was asked to finish urgent work. My manager made some corrections, to my file, without my notice. My boss scolded me badly for those corrections. Later, I came to know that my manager did that on purpose to blame me. The same I tried to explain to my boss. He didn't listen to me and said, " I wasn't born yesterday. Redo it and bring me back without any explanation.". It became difficult for me to react, and I had to bite my tongue. Luckily, he discussed it behind closed doors. 

After this episode, one day, my boss invited me to his daughter's birthday party. She is the apple of my boss' eye. The party was splendid, and we had a ball. One of my colleagues fainted at the party in the blink of an eye for no reason. We gave him some good rest and took him home. 

Things are so far, so good until I get married.

IDIOMS WITH MEANINGS

a cup of tea = is not the type of thing that you like

once in a blue moon=very rarely

beats around the bush=to avoid talking directly about something

the neck of the woods=a particular area where you are

spill the beans out=reveal secret information unintentionally

let the cat out of the bag= reveal a secret by mistake

in a nutshell=telling something in the fewest possible words

sit on the fence=avoid making a choice

on cloud nine=extremely happy

keep/have an ear to the ground= well informed about events

eat like a horse=eat a great deal of food

hit the sack=go to bed

Achilles heel=a weakness point

all brawn and has no brain=having great physical strength but lacking intelligence

all told=in total

against the clock=to finish something by a specific time in a hurry

be my guest=please do

keep someone at arm's length=to avoid being friendly with someone or something

burn the midnight oil=to stay up late at night to work 

ace the exam=to earn a high grade on something

cats and dogs=rains heavily

a blessing in disguise=something that seems bad at first but turns to good later

an act of god=an extraordinary disturbance by nature

bad egg=someone who does bad things

get one's fingers burnt=suffer unpleasant results due to one's past actions 

tighten one's belt=to spend less money than you did before 

between the devil and the deep blue sea=a difficult situation where there are two undesirable options to choose

at stake=a risky situation

a big fish in a small pond=someone is well-known only within the small group but not outside

called the tune=to be in control of a situation and make important decisions

born with a silver spoon in one's mouth=born into a rich family

a bitter pill to swallow=something that is unpleasant but must be accepted

wasn't born yesterday=I am not stupid

bite one's tongue=to stop yourself from saying something

behind closed doors= in a private place

the apple of one's eye=a person of whom one is very fond

have a ball=to enjoy oneself greatly

in the blink of an eye= very quickly

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