English for Everyone

<b>English for Everyone</b>
Stephen Lau's website to help you get the wisdom to live as if everything is a miracle.

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Learn Some Idiomatic Expressions (4)

Learn some idiomatic expressions. The English language is rich in idiomatic expressions. A student with only limited knowledge of idioms will find himself or herself in a serious disadvantage in reading, discussions and debates.

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(4)

Poke about: search for something
e.g. He was poking about the basement, looking for the lost files.

In one's prime: at one's peak or best time
e.g. My mother could work long hours when she was in her prime, but those were the days.

Out of the hole: out of debt
e.g. Today many people find it difficult to get out of the hole.

Put in one's oar: interfere
e.g. I put in my oar as soon as I knew he was taking the wrong steps.

Lay it on thick: exaggerate
e.g. He was laying it on thick when he said he had made a fortune in the stock market. .

On pins and needles: anxious; in suspense
e.g. She was on pins and needles before the surgery.
From pillar to post: from place to place
e.g. Because of my work, my family had to move from pillar to post.

Look the other way: ignore on purpose
e.g. The Congress preferred to look the other way, instead of solving the debt crisis.

Come a cropper: meet misfortune
e.g. He came a cropper as soon as he started his own business.

Get someone's ear: get someone to listen to you; get someone's attention to what you are saying
e.g. His wife got his ear and talked for almost an hour.


Stephen Lau

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