Idioms and Phrases 113

1. above board: above suspicion.

• An honest and popular businessman keeps his dealings with his customers above board so that he may maintain his reputation.

2. affect ignorance: pretend ignorance.

• An accused cannot escape punishment by affecting ignorance of law.

3. all in all: most powerful.

• A Principal is all in his college. 

4. at all events: under all circumstances.

• A man of courage and determination acts well at all events and gains grand success in his aims and efforts.

5. backbone: main support.

• Agriculture is the backbone of Indian economy because more than eighty percent people practise it as their chief occupation.

6. bandy words: exchange angry words.

• Why are you bandying words with a block head?

7. bear the brunt of: endure the main shock of.

• The ship could not make adequate advancement and could bear the brunt of the storm.

8. to beat the air: to make useless efforts.

• To make an attack on India by Pakistan to conquer her was like the beating of the air.

9. to beggar description: fail to describe adequately.

• Except William Wordsworth many English poets beggared description the beauties of Nature.

10. between two fires: in the face of two opposing dangers.

• At the time of the Indo-Pak battle India was between two fires because Pakistan was situated at two sides of India.

11. bid farewell: take leave.

• At the time of leaving for England he was bidding farewell to all his family members and friends. 

12. bite the lips: suppress the feelings.

• Though he was highly angry at the rude behaviour of his son, yet he bit his lips and checked his anger.

13. in black and white: in writing.

• The assistant teacher gave his leave application to the Principal of college in black and white.

14. bless one’s stars: thank one’s luck.

• I must bless my stars for getting such good friends as extend their cooperation and ready help in my each work.

15. to be in the same boat: to face the same situation.

• Both the Indian farmers and factory labourer are in the same boat so far as their indebtedness due to their poverty is concerned.

16. bold as brass: shamelessly impudent.

• Kaikeyi was truly bold as brass because for the sake of making Bharata as the king of Ayodhya she demanded another boon for Rama’s exile without even caring for King Dashratha’s grief.

17. build castles in the air: make visionary schemes.

• A practical man does not build castles in the air but acts in the most practical and realistic way. 

18. bury the hatchet: make peace.

• H. W. Longfellow writes,
• “Buried was” the bloody hatchet;
• Buried was the dreadful was-club,
• Buried were all warlike weapons.
• And the war-cry was forgotten.
• There was peace among the nations

19. buy a pig in a poke: buy a thing without proper examination.

• Either a foolish man or an extravagant man can buy a pig in a poke.

20. by all means: certainly.

• By all means poverty is a curse which must be rooted out forthwith so that the proper progress of human civilization may take place.

21. call a spade a spade: speak the truth.

• Mahatma Gandhi always called a spade a spade in his life and preached for others to do the same.

22. call to account: take to task.

• The servant was called to account by his master for not furnishing a proper account of the money which he had given to him.

23. coin money: earn much money.

• His business is so prosperous these day that he has been coining money at a fast speed.

24. collect one’s wits: regain one’s self-control.

• Only persons of calm nature and intelligence know how to collect their wits in the hour of need, or trouble.

25. command esteem: win respect from others.

• Gandhiji commanded much esteem from his countrymen. Probity and purity command much respect from all persons. 

26. cool as cucumber: calm and self-poised.

• The head of a family must be cool us cucumber so that he may keep his whole family united and perfectly under his control.

27. cool the heels: wait for long without reason.

• The educated young men cool their heels at different places in search of service these days but meet disappointment because the avenues of work are limited.

28. corking time: a very enjoyable time.

• The period of honeymoon is a corking time both for the bride and bridegroom. 

29. round the corner: nearby.

• He lives round the corner of this street and his house is at a distance of five minutes walk from this place.

30. to drive into a corner: to force into a difficult situation.

• It is his extreme poverty which has driven him into such a corner from which he cannot easily come out.

31. to turn the corner: to pass a difficult period of illness, or hard times.

• He has been turning the corner these days with uncommon courage and fortitude.

32. to cross the Rubican: to take a decisive step forward.

• The commander crossed the Rubican and ordered the troops to make a fresh attack with fierce preparation.

33. to cut ones own throat: to act against one’s own interest.

• There are some careless students who do not pay proper attention their study, nor they think of their future career, so they cut their own throat.

34. to dance attendance on one: to pay great court to him and admire him.

• These days a large number of persons in India dance attendance on ministers. 

35. to dig the grave of one’s reputation: bring one’s reputation to an end.

• It was Aurangzeb who dug the grave of his own reputation by his autocratic and fanatic acts and also brought about the downfall of the Moghul Empire which had been place on sound footing by Akbar.

36. days are numbered: limited period.

• He has attained the age of more than fifty-nine years, so his days of service in this college are numbered.

37. to flog the dead horse: to make vain efforts to revive a dead thing.

• It is like flogging the dead horse that some persons are making efforts to develop that political party which has become totally dead.

38. to dismiss from one’s mind: to stop thinking about a particular thing.

• He has been so much troubled mentally about the theft from the house that he cannot dismiss the idea of the heavy financial loss from his mind.

39. to dodge the issue: to avoid a direct reply.

• It is commonly seen that house borrowers of money who fail to pay the interest regularly often dodge the issue of the return of the loan.

40. down at heels: poverty –striken.

• Really he is so much down at heels that all the persons feel pity at his appearance.

41. to draw the line: to impose a limit from one’s own side.

• There are some wise and economical persons who draw the line so far as their household expenditure is concerned so that they may not fall in any difficulty due to their extravagance.

42. to drop a subject: give up discussion on a particular subject.

• So much difference in point of view and hot exchange of words has made it essential for us now that we must drop the subject.

43. dull as ditch water: highly dull and uninteresting.

• His speech was as dull as ditch water, so the audience began to slip from the place and the whole hall became a lonely place in no time.

44. to eat one’s heart out: to brood over one’s sorrow and disappointments.

• Each person must be eating his heart out regarding one’s financial stringency either at the time of going to bed in the evening, or in the early hours of morning.

45. to eat humble pie: to humiliate oneself.

• If we act against our family good name and fame, we certainly eat humble pie.

46. to eat one’s words: withdraw one’s words under force.

• A man of courage can show his reluctance to eat his words.

47. to end in smoke: prove fruitless.

• All his efforts to secure first division in the High School examination ended in smoke because he fell ill on the eve of his examination.

48. equal to the occasion: cope with the circumstances.

• A man of courage and intelligence certainly proves equal to the occasion even in an emergency.

49. error on the safe side: choose a wrong but safe way.

• There are some selfish cowards who often error on the safe side and do not care for the honour of others.

50. even-tempered: of peaceful nature.

• An even-tempered wife successfully adjusts with her husband and makes the family life really happy and successful.