A hot potato. [Usually a topic or an issue of the day]

A penny for your thoughts. [Ask someone what they are thinking]

Actions speak louder than words [Do what you say you will do.]

Adding insult to injury [Have you always been a bad cook?]

I'll be there in the drop of a hat [Instantly]

In a New York second [Instantly]

Back to the drawing board [The project failed, try again]

Try, try again!

The ball is in your court [It is your decision the next step]

Barking up the wrong tree. [Looking in the wrong place or accusing the wrong person]

I'll be glad to see the back of their head [Cannot wait until the person leaves]

Beat around the bush [Avoiding the issue or topic.]

Best of both worlds [A win-win situation - he works in the city and lives in the country]

You can't have your cake and eat it too [Once the cake is eaten, it is gone.]

Best thing since sliced bread [A great idea or plan]

Don't bite off more than you can chew [To take on a task that is way to big]

Blessing in disguise [Something good that isn't recognized at first.]

Burn the midnight oil [To work late into the night, alluding to the time before electric lighting.]

Burn the candle at both ends [to exhaust oneself by being up late and getting up early to work]

Can't judge a book by its cover [Cannot judge something primarily on appearance.]

Caught between a rock and a hard place [It is too difficult to choose between two choices]

Costs an arm and a leg [When something costs too much]

Cross that bridge when I come to it [Deal with a problem when it becomes necessary, not before.]

Cry over spilt milk [When you complain about a loss from the past.]

Curiosity killed the cat [Being too inquisitive can lead to an unpleasant result]

Cut corners [The project was done poorly to save money.]

Devil's advocate [To present a counter argument]

Don't count your chickens before they have hatched [Don't make plans for something that might not happen]

Don't give up the day job [Sarcasm, when you do know how to do the task properly]

Don't put all your eggs in one basket [Do not put all your resources in one entity]

Drastic times call for drastic measures [When you are extremely desperate you need to take drastic actions.]

Elvis has left the building [when a show or person has finished]

Every cloud has a silver lining [Optimistic the future will be brighter]

A far cry [Very different from.]

Feel a bit under the weather [Feeling slightly ill]

Give the benefit of the doubt [Believe someone's statement, without proof]

Heard it on the grapevine [rumors about something or someone possible true or not]

Hit the nail on the head [Do or say something perfectly]

Hit the sack / sheets / hay [Go to bed]

In the heat of the moment [Say or do it without thinking because you are very angry or excited]

It takes two to tango [Both people involved in a difficult situation must accept the blame]

Jump on the bandwagon [Join a growing movement in support of someone or something]

Keep something at bay [To control something and prevent it from causing you problems]

Kill two birds with one stone [To succeed in achieving two things in a single action]

Last straw, straw that broke the camel's back [An action that causes an unpredictably large and sudden reaction]

Let sleeping dogs lie [Do not disturb a situation as it will result in trouble or complications.]

Let the cat out of the bag [To reveal facts previously hidden]

Make a long story short [Get to the point quickly, leave out details]

There is a method to my madness [a purpose in doing something that appears crazy]

Miss the boat [You missed your chance]

Not a spark of decency [Someone has no manners]

Not playing with a full deck [Someone who lacks intelligence.]

One can short of a six pack [A person who is not very smart]

Off their rocker [Person is behaving in a very strange or silly way]

On the ball [When someone understands the situation well.]

Once in a blue moon [Happens very rarely]

Picture paints a thousand words [A visual presentation is far more descriptive than words.]

Piece of cake [A job, task or other activity that is easy or simple.]

Put wool over other people's eyes [This means to deceive someone into thinking well of them.]

See eye to eye [Two people agree on something.]

Sit on the fence [when someone does not want to choose or decide]

Speak of the devil! [the person you have just been talking about arrives]

Steal someone's thunder [to upstage someone; to destroy the effect of what someone does]

Take with a grain of salt [do not to take what someone says too seriously]

Taste of your own medicine [when someone gets the same bad treatment that he has been giving others]

To hear something straight from the horse's mouth [you hear it from the person who has direct personal knowledge of it.]

Whole nine yards [Everything; All of it; the whole lot]

Wouldn't be caught dead [Would never wear something like that]

Your guess is as good as mine [To have no idea, do not know the answer to a question]

Vocabulary

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