Unit 3 - Technology - Idioms | Baamboozle - Baamboozle

throw a spanner in the works

to prevent something happening smoothly in the way that it was planned, by causing a problem or difficulty.

go haywire

to stop working correctly

hot off the press

Newly printed; usually sth sensational and exciting (For example, I've got it hot off the press—he's resigning)

to push the right buttons

to cleverly do or say exactly what is needed to achieve a desired result or elicit a specific reaction from someone or a situation

Dead as a dodo

out of fashion or out of date

Run out of steam

to suddenly lose the energy or interest to continue doing what you are doing

Have/Get something down to a science

to have mastered a task or skill to the point of being able to perform it quickly, efficiently, and with great precision

Blind someone with science

to confuse someone by using difficult or technical words to describe something

At the cutting edge

at the most modern stage of development in a particular type of work or activity

Get your wires crossed

to misunderstand somebody; to become confused

Pull the plug

to do something that prevents an activity from continuing, especially by no longer giving money to support it

Be jam-packed with something

full of people or things that are pushed closely together: jam-packed with The streets were jam-packed with tourists.

The ins and outs

the detailed or complicated facts of something

Take a long, hard look at something

to examine something very carefully in order to improve it in the future

Open the door to something

to allow something new to start

Up and running

If something, especially a system or a machine, is up and running, it is operating normally.

Museum piece

something that is very old-fashioned and should no longer be used

To reinvent the wheel

to waste time doing things that others have already done

The brainchild of somebody

a product of one's creative thinking, work, or imagination, such as an idea, plan, invention, or creation.

The nuts and bolts (of something)

If you talk about the nuts and bolts of a subject or an activity, you are referring to the detailed practical aspects of it rather than abstract ideas about it.

Light-years ahead

very advanced in its development

Not rocket science

not difficult, easy to implement, easy to understand

Go back to the drawing board

To revise something (such as a plan) from the beginning, typically after it has failed / start over

A well-oiled machine

someone or something that functions very well or efficiently

A flash in the pan

a sudden success that lasts only a short time and is not likely to be repeated

A cog in the machine

a small or insignificant member of a larger organization or system.