Nick of time

If you do something in the nick of time, you do it just in time.

'We arrived at the railway station just in the nick of time.'

It's the last possible moment to do something before it's too late.

There's a classic Hitchcock film of the same name with a racy 1995 remake featuring Johhny Depp. It's quite a nail-biter; here's the beginning.

The last straw

Here is some straw.



Here's a camel.



If you put a lot of straw on a camel, it would break his back, It would be the last straw that broke the camel's back.

Thankfully, this is just a metaphor for the final thing that pushes you over the limit of tolerance.

Like this - Marillion with thier song, The Last Straw. To me, it sounds just like Genesis- that's the last straw!

Hard cheese

'Sorry mate, it's just hard cheese!

Hard cheese is a synonym for bad luck. It's often said without emotion to describe an unlucky situation that you have to cope with.

'Lost your job? Hard cheese - find another one.'

Like if you are a business with a cash flow problem and you go to the bank - they might say 'hard cheese!' or would they?

Sitting on a goldmine

Sitting on a goldmine - in possession of a valuable resource

About 6 months ago, I decided to streamline my activities to focus on the launch of my website English4HR and book, English for Human Resources. This meant that after two and a half years of blogging, I reluctantly decided to stop posting on my idiom blog. Imagine my surprise when I recently viewed my statistics to see that the site is still regularly receiving over 4,000 views per month! I realised that I was sitting on a goldmine.

It’s a goldmine for me as a potential customer base for English language products that I’m developing and a resource for you, as a teacher or student, of a rich supply of idioms and video extracts.

You’ll be pleased to know that I have therefore decided to fire up the blog once more. I won’t be posting every day but certainly a couple of times each week. After all, it’s not every day that you discover that you’re sitting on a regular little goldmine.

Start digging!

Bone idle

Bones are the frame on which your body is built. They have joints at the elbows knees and shoulders. Some are hinge joints like knees and elbows and some are ball and socket, like shoulders and hips.

They are useful for working - that’s if you’re not lazy.

Idle means not doing anything; machinery can be idle and so can people.

In the war, it was that said idle talk cost lives. (By giving away secrets carelessly)

If you are bone idle, you are very lazy - maybe even wicked and lazy.

Like this!

How long is a piece of string?

How long is a piece of string?

This is a ball of string - that’s quite long.



This is a string vest - Hmm, let's not go there.



This is a G-string - minimal.



So just how long is a piece of string?

This is a rather annoying answer to a question somebody doesn’t know the answer to.

How long will it take?

How long is a piece of string?

Well, I hope that clear now!

This is a string puppet.



And here is a fun song from 1967 when the Royaume Unis got more than nil point and knew how to win Eurovision. Of course, that was before the eastern block countries took it over and we only had to beat Belgium!

Shoot yourself in the foot

You'd have to be a silly billy to shoot yourself in the foot.

It would hurt and you would injure yourself. That's just what Gordon Brown did on a pre-election political tour. He was never the greatest at PR and this interview was perhaps the final nail in his political coffin.

Not only did he call the labour voter a bigot (which she is!) but he returned to his car and left his microphone on for the whole nation to hear. Katastrofa!

Bigot: somebody with strong nationalistic or racist opinions.

Poor Gordon, he really did shoot himself in the foot!

Going for an Indian

(Dedicated to Saikat)

What would I be asking if I suggested going for an Indian? Well, it wouldn't be a cowboy film but an Indian meal.

You might think the full English breakfast or fish and chips is the most popular meal in Britain but in fact, it's curry.

There are many Indian restaurants where people go for an Indian (meal).

Unfortunately, often groups of people go when they are drunk, are rude to the waiters and order too much of the hottest, spiciest food on the menu.

In this popular British comedy made by Indians, the situation is reversed as a group of Indians go out for 'an English.'

Such a meal doesn't really exist but they make a joke of English food having a reputation for being very plain and boring, or in other words, bland.

'What's the blandest thing on the menu?'

Enjoy your meal!

Pay lip service

(Dedicated to Asia)

Here's a strange one!

When you pay lip service to something, you only pretend that you are committed to something but in fact, you are not.

For example, the Directors said they supported the appraisal scheme but in fact, only paid lip service to it. (A common reality!)

But how do we get this phrase? One answer is in church. If you don't know the words to a hymn, you just move your mouth and pretend that you are singing.

One of the best examples of paying lip service you will ever see follows!

Tear jerker

(This is dedicated to all my buddies at Lege Artis BDM)

The film was so romantic; it was a real tear jerker

Idiom: something that makes you cry with emotion; usually a film or book

Jerk: verb/noun - a sudden movement

as a noun to describe a person - an idiot!

Careful you don’t confuse them!

And for a tear jerking film, you'd struggle to find something better than Titanic!

enough room to swing a cat

Enough room to swing a cat - (today’s lesson is for Adam!)

This apartment is so small; there isn’t enough room to swing a cat!

Idiom: Meaning a very small space.

Don’t worry; the British don’t really swing cats!


Choose your own idiom to be featured and get a free dedication

And just to show we really do love cats, here are some lovely kittens - ahh, how sweet!

Itchy feet

If you’ve got itchy feet, it doesn’t mean you’ve got a skin disease or a bite but a strong desire to keep on the move. You can’t stay in one place for two long and you like to travel. This person is looking for change and adventure and is generally restless in nature.

Don’t confuse this condition with Ants in your pants!

Goody two shoes

Goody two shoes is a friend of teacher’s pet. He is never late, always does his homework and never breaks the rules. He’s a real goody two shoes!

Clever clogs

A clever clogs is someone who always has an answer. This could be in a classroom situation but more often, it is a negative description of someone who always has a smart remark to make - so they are quite irritating.

A clog is a shoe made of wood that was popularly worn by workers in the northern English mill towns in the 19th century. It is also a shoe synonymous with Holland, but quite why clogs and clever go together, I can’t say. Maybe I’m not clever enough.

Teacher's pet

Are you your teacher’s pet? Obviously, a pet is an animal, tame and loved. Some who is teacher’s pet is the teacher’s favourite, particularly when other children are not in favour with the teacher. Maybe you always say, "Please Sir, I know the answer to that." Maybe you are just a clever clogs or goody two shoes!

Two left feet

This is a little unkind to people who are left-footed or left handed because it describes someone with poor co-ordination, particularly in dancing.

Celebrity dance shows with two left-footed dancers have become very popular over the past few years.

What do you think?

Made of money

To be made of money means that you have an unlimited amount of money. However, it is usually used sarcastically, when somebody expects you to spend a lot of money and you don’t think it’s realistic.

It’s often used in one of the following forms.

"I’m not made of money!"

"What do you think I am; made of money?"

To open up a can of worms

To open up a can of worms is a rather strange idiom used to describe a situation where you have created a problem through statement or action.

E.g. "I wish I’d kept quiet at the meeting; now I’ve opened up a right can of worms!"

It’s usually a situation that leads to more problems by exposing some difficult issues that people were avoiding. I guess the worms come out of the can and crawl all over the place bothering people.

Well, it’s pretty odd because I’ve never seen a can of worms in a supermarket. Although, I believe worms make a very nice omelette filling. Enjoy your meal!

Better still, worms are now used as part of a bio-recycling process so that's one can-o-worms that won't get you into bother.

The Full Monty

The full monty means the complete thing without anything taken out. Maybe you could use it in a restaurant and go the full monty and order everything.

You could have some work done on your apartment and decide whether to do it partially or go for the full monty.

Regarding the origin there are different opinions. The first idea is that it goes back to the famous tailoring shop Montague Burton and that somebody ordering a complete three piece suit would be ordering the full monty.

However, it later became associated with Field Marshall Montgomery who famously defied army orders by wearing two badges on his beret. Then I've also heard that his duffle coat was called a Montgomery too. Confused?!

Ironically, it is perhaps most famous in modern times becuase of the film of the same name where redundant miners from Sheffield form a strip group and go the full monty and reveal everything. You have been warned!

Another one bites the dust!

For once, I can not confirm the origin but it sounds a lot like it's from westerns.

It simply means to be defeated or die but usually in some sort of battle or fight.

Therefore, you'd be wrong to use it to describe completed actions. It would be more appropriate to be used when beating opponents.

Maybe Freddie can explain.