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CAE fixed expressions and idioms

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  • Culture vulture
    a person who is interested in arts
  • to be a fair-weather friend.
    a person who is only around for the good times
  • find out/ see how the land lies
    to get information about a situation before taking action
  • spill the beans
    reveal the secret
  • to come clean
    to tell the truth
  • to be caught unawares
    to be unprepared for what happens or surprised by it
  • travel on a shoe string
    ...
  • to be under someone's thumb
    ...
  • wear your heart on your sleeve
    ...
  • to be stabbed in the back
    to be betrayed by someone you trust
  • foot the bill
    ...
  • add insult to injury
    make bad situation even worse
  • at the drop of the hat
    ...
  • let the cat out of the bag
    reveal the secret
  • to chip in
    ...
  • smell something fishy
    ...
  • To be all show and no go
    have good looks but lack energy or action
  • It costs an arm and a leg
    very expensive
  • He rubs me the wrong way
    annoy/ bother
  • be a people person
    ...
  • to see which way the wind is blowing
    to see how a situation is developing before making any decisions about it
  • can't make head or tail of something
    not being able to understand something
  • Keep yourself to yourself
    Stay alone rather than spending time with other people
  • get on like a house on fire
    enjoy each other's company very much
  • to be in hot water
    ...
  • once in a blue moon
    very rarely
  • a couch potato
    lazy
  • to be through thick and thin together
    to experience both good and bad times together
  • It slipped my mind
    ...
  • put one's heart and soul into something
    put all of one's sincere efforts into something
  • get itchy feet
    ...
  • come to terms with something
    accept a difficult situation
  • my lips are sealed
    I won't reveal your secret
  • Get itchy feet
    feel like travelling
  • Get a kick out of something
    Get a sense of enjoyment, amusement, or excitement from something
  • chase your (own) tail
    spend a lot of time and energy doing many things but achieving very little.
  • a blessing in disguise
    something positive that wasn't recognised until later
  • to chicken out
    to decide not to do something because you are afraid
  • to be like brothers/sisters from another mother.
    to be very similar
  • It takes two to tango
    if there’s a suspicious situation, then there’s more than one culprit.
  • We are like chalk and cheese.
    completely different
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