Showing 21-29 of 29
Like chalk and cheese
Two things are like chalk and cheese if they are completely different. If you have ever tried to eat chalk as well as cheese, you would know how different they are!My brother and I are like chalk and cheese, it's like we are not even from the same family.
Out of the frying pan
The idiom out of the frying pan, into the fire means to escape from one bad situation and go straight into another one. This one is drawn from the idea of you being in a hot frying pan, and you escape but you find yourself in the fire.She left her abusive husband but her new boyfriend is just as bad, out of the frying pan into the fire.
Pot calling the kettle black
The idiom the pot calling the kettle black means that someone is criticizing someone for something that both of them do, without realising it. It is a way of pointing out hypocrisy.A pot and a kettle on the stove are both blackened equally from use.
You can't complain that I'm late when you are always late yourself. That's like the pot calling the kettle black.
Revenge is a dish best served cold
The idiom revenge is a dish best served cold means that revenge is more satisfying when it is planned carefully and carried out after time has passed, rather than done in anger right away.The expression compares revenge to food that tastes better after it has gone cold. The idea has been written about in many forms for centuries, and a similar line appeared in a French novel in the 1800s.
He waited years to expose the fraud, saying revenge is a dish best served cold.
Spill the beans
The idiom spill the beans means to reveal a secret. Once the information is shared, it cannot be taken back, in the way that it is hard to put beans back into a container after they have been spilled all over the floor.He spilled the beans about the birthday party.
Take with a grain of salt
To take something with a grain of salt means to treat information with some doubt and not believe it completely. People use this idiom when talking about something that might be exaggerated, uncertain, or just not very reliable.The idea comes from ancient Roman writings, where a recipe for a remedy included taking it with a small grain of salt. Over time the phrase came to mean accepting something cautiously rather than completely believing it.
He says he can finish the whole project in one day, but I would take it with a grain of salt.
Too many cooks spoil the broth
Too many cooks spoil the broth or in modern times, shortened to too many cooks means that if too many people are involved in something, it actually hinders the process.This proverb came from a story where soup was being cooked, and everyone in the house remembered separately that it needed to have salt added. Once every one of them had added some salt, the broth was too salty and was inedible.
Every time I try and do something on this project, someone else gives me a different answer and I can't get anything done. Too many cooks spoil the broth!
Upset the apple cart
You upset the apple cart when you ruin someone's plans, or disrupt the normal operation of something.This idiom came from the literal image of a cart of apples being tipped over at the markets, causing chaos and disruption.
We were going to hold the party outdoors, but a storm came and really upset the apple cart.
Variety Is the spice of life
The idiom variety is the spice of life means doing different things makes life more interesting. It came from a poem written in 1785 by English poet William Cowper, who wrote "Variety's the very spice of life, That gives it all its flavour". This phrase means that new experiences make life more fun and interesting, like spices add flavor to food.She travels often because variety is the spice of life.