Idioms and Phrases 116

1. as hard as nail: inconsiderate and unyielding.

• The striking laborers could not continue their strike indefinitely and gave it up into the middle when they found their employer as hard as nail because he did not show any soft corner to them, nor biewed to their demands which he termed as improper and untimely.

2. to set at naught: to disregard.

• The elected Members of Parliament cannot unnecessarily set at naught the reasonable demands of the people.

3. neat as ninepence: very neat and tidy.

• The children who ever remain neat as ninepence are loved and liked by all.

4. next to nothing: almost nothing.

• An average Indian farmer who works hardest throughout his life is found to have next to nothing in the end of his life. It is truly said of him; he is born in debt, lives in debt and dies in debt.

5. no chicken: on child; grown up and wise.

• By your meaningful conversation and same behavior it is evident that you are no chicken.

6. no end: great deal.

• William Wordsworth, a great English poet and a great worshipper of Nature asserted and expressed in him poetry that there is no end to beauty in Nature.

7. to have no flies on: Mentally awake.

• The Prime Minister of a country is the mainspring of the whole administration, so he must have no flies on himself in all the matters of internal and foreign significance.

8. no two ways about: no alternative.

• Babur, the founder of the Moghul Empire in India had no two ways about his existence except conquering Indian, or meeting death.

9. to be under one’s nose: to be very close.

• An alert and smart teacher detects the mischief maker from all the class students who remain under his nose.

10. to lead by the nose: to dominate a person.

• The people of India were led by the nose under the British rule for two hundred years.

11. to poke one’s nose into: to interfere with.

• There are some methodical and sincere workers who do not tolerate such superiors who unnecessarily poke their nose into their matters.

12. not worth his salt: good-for-nothing fellow.

• Rana Pratap Singh who was a true patriot and matchless freedom fighter regarded Man Singh not worth his salt because he had allied with Akbar whom Rana Pratap regarded his chief enemy. 

13. null and void: valueless.

• All his sincere and regular labour became null and void when he could not appear in the examination due to his sudden and serious illness.

14. to improve the occasion: to make use of an opportunity.

• If you try to improve the occasion intelligently, you can certainly better the chances of your promotion soon from your present post to a higher post.

15. oceans of: a large quantity: numberless.

• There were seen the oceans of heads of men and woman in the Asia-72 Exhibition at Mathura Road in New Delhi in 1972.

16. old as the hills: very old.

• The tradition among the Indian masses to take part in the Ganges fair and have a dip into the holy river is as old as the hills.

17. with open mouth: with utter amazement.

• The children, women and men who were looking at the feats of the magician looked at him with open mouth when he wrote and read several languages with his eyes tied tightly with a cloth.

18. occur to one: strike to one.

• Suddenly it occurred to the boy to wave his red shirt to stop the running train when he found the track damaged and then saved the major train accident. 

19. to outdo oneself: to surpass one’s own standard.

• Vijai HAzare who was known as a run-making machine in the field of Indian cricket ever used to try his best to outdo himself.

20. out of the common: extraordinary.

• All the national and foreign visitors who see the Taj Mahal in the full moonlit night clearly say that the beauty of the Taj (monument) is certainly out of the common.

21. owe to oneself: take responsibility upon oneself.

• Generally a father owes to himself for the doings of his sons in India.

22. to be on one’s own: to be all alone.

• A philosopher prefers to be on his own so that he may remain engaged in his deep meditation.

23. to give the palm to: to recognize superior to.

• Though the soldiers of each country are trained to fight heroically in the battle, yet all the world soldiers give their palm to the Indian soldiers who are famous to fight most heroically even in the face of grimmest dangers.

24. past-master: expert.

• Mr. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, the ex-President of Pakistan was such a fine orator as he used to act as a past master in impressing his audience both in his own country and also in internal assemblies.

25. to put on the back: to encourage.

• If you wish that your children should study well and remain busy in useful work and fine behavior, you should always put them on their back in a tactful and psychological way.

26. to go at full pelt: to go as fast as possible.

• Please go at full pelt to the station so that you may arrive within fifteen minutes.

27. to be in a pickle: to be in a difficult situation.

• If you go on borrowing huge sums of money at a high rate of interest, you shall surely fall in a pickle.

28. to pick holes: to find faults.

• Women are more in the habit of picking holes with others. Good and gentle persons do not try to pick holes with others.

29. to buy a pig in a poke: to buy something without proper examination; to make a bad bargain.

• You are spending so much money in buying a second hand car but you should be cautions that you do not buy a pig in a poke. 

30. from pillar to post: from one place to another.

• The chief characteristic of a government service is that the government employee is transferred from pillar to post in his service tenure.

31. at a pinch: in the case of an emergency.

• On the occasion of his daughter’s marriage the father is compelled to borrow money from different sources to meet the huge marriage expenditure at a pinch because the marriage of a girl is generally an expensive affair in India.

32. on pins and needles: under an uneasy and fearful condition.

• The rich businessman was on his pins and needles since he had received a threatening letter regarding his kidnap from the dacoits.

33. plain as a pike staff: very clear.

• The intention of the manager became plain as a pike staff to the factory owner when he came to know of his plot with the factory workers for starting strike there.

34. pleased as punch: highly pleased.

• Today young boys and young girls feel pleased as a punch when the batsman of the team of their country score a century in a Test Match against the cricket team of some other country.

35. to plough the sand: to make fruitless efforts.

• Numberless climbers to the Mount Everest prior to Hillary and his party only ploughed the sand as they could not achieve success in their efforts.

36. to plum oneself on: to fell proud of-

• It is really dishonorable for him if he is pluming himself on the achievements and the wealth of his ancestors only.

37. to pocket an affront: to bear an insult.

• It is in the course of his service that an employee is compelled to pocket an afferent from his employer many times.

38. to be in one’s pocket: to be deeply influenced.

• During the Freedom Movement the common masses in India acted blindly as they were in his (Gandhiji’s) pocket.  

39. in pocket: having money in pocket.

• The candidates who fight some election earn huge amount of money, remain in pocket and spend freely to attain success in their election efforts.

40. out of pocket: short of money.

• The service class persons remain out of pocket in the last week of the month.

41. to poison the ears: to prejudice a person.

• Manthra poisoned the ears of Kaikeyi and she demanded two boons from her husband, King Dashrath i. e. the crown of kingship for Bharata and fourteen years exile to Rama.

42. to possess one’s soul: wait patiently.

• If you possess your soul, you shall be rewarded in the end.

43. deaf as a post: totally.

• Please do not try to talk to him because he is deaf as a post.

44. at a premium: in great demand.

• The terylene and terrycloth dresses are at a premium these days because mostly young boys and girls prefer to wear them in comparison to cotton dresses. 

45. to head the procession: to lead; to be at the forefront.

• Mahatma Gandhi always headed the procession of the Freedom movement in India.

46. to have a pull: to have influence.

• The persons who have a pull at different places get their work done easily in comparison to the common masses who actually have no pull.

47. to pull one’s horns: to withdraw from one’s status-quo.

• Generally people find it highly difficult to pull their horns.

48. to feel the pulse: to ascertain the trend of opinion.

• A shrewd politician manages to feel the pulse of the common voters before filing his nomination paper from a particular field.

49. to no purpose: in vain.

• The strike of the students of the college served them no purpose because the Principal refused to meet their demands as long as they were on strike.

50. to good purpose: with good results.

• The strike of the factory workers ended with good purpose when their employer agreed to fulfil some of their demands with immediate effect.

51. to push one’s fortune: to advance one’s position in life.

• The person who work hard honestly and courageously in their life certainly push their fortune.