And all that jazz
This idiom means that everything related or similar is included.
Bells on
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Blow your own horn
If you blow your own horn, you boast about your achievements and abilities. ('Blow your own trumpet' is an alternative form.)
Blow your own trumpet
If someone blows their own trumpet, they boast about their talents and achievements. ('Blow your own horn' is an alternative form.)
Call the tune
The person who calls the tune makes the important decisions about something.
Change your tune
If someone changes their ideas or the way they talk about them, they change their tune.
Clear as a bell
If something is as clear as a bell, it is very clear or easy to understand.
Face the music
If you have to face the music, you have to accept the negative consequences of something you have done wrong.
Fiddle while
If people are fiddling while
Fine tuning
Small adjustments to improve something or to get it working are called fine tuning.
Fit as a fiddle
If you are fit as a fiddle, you are in perfect health.
For a song
If you buy or sell something for a song, it is very cheap.
It takes two to tango
This idiom is used to suggest that when things go wrong, both sides are involved and neither side is completely innocent.
Music to my ears
If something someone says is music to your ears, it is exactly what you had wanted to hear.
Play second fiddle
If you play second fiddle, you take a subordinate role behind someone more important.
Pull out all the stops
If you pull out all the stops, you do everything you possibly can to achieve the result you want.
See you on the big drum
A good night phrase to children.
Strike a chord
If strikes a chord, it is familiar to you, reminds you of something or is connected to you somehow.
Toot you own horn
If someone toot their own horn, they like to boast about their achievements.
Whistle for it
If someone says that you can whistle for something, they are determined to ensure that you don't get it.
Whistle-stop tour
A whistle-stop tour is when someone visits a number of places quickly, not stopping for long.
Whistling
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Whistling in the dark
If someone is whistling in the dark, they believe in a positive result, even though everybody else is sure it will not happen.
You can't unring a bell
This means that once something has been done, you have to live with the consequences as it can't be undone.
cool as a cucumber
MEANING: calm, not nervous or anxious
EXAMPLE:
He is always as cool as a cucumber and never worries about anything.
couch potato
MEANING: a very lazy person
EXAMPLE:
He is a real couch potato and just sits around watching TV and staying indoors all day.
cream of the crop
MEANING: best of a group, the top choice
EXAMPLE:
The company is well-known as a good place to work and is always able to hire the cream of the crop of university graduates.
cry over spilt milk
MEANING: cry or complain about something that has already happened
EXAMPLE:
Don’t cry over spilt milk. The past is past and you can’t do anything to change it.
cup of tea
MEANING: something one enjoys or does well
EXAMPLE:
Going to art galleries is not my cup of tea so I think that I will stay home this evening and not go with you.
hot potato
MEANING: a question or argument that is controversial and difficult to settle
EXAMPLE:
The issue of building the nuclear power plant is a real hot potato for the local town
council.
out to lunch
MEANING: crazy, mad
EXAMPLE:
She is totally out to lunch and you should never believe what she tells you.
piece of cake
MEANING: a task that is easily accomplished
EXAMPLE:
It was a piece of cake. I had everything done before lunch this morning.
American Idioms
Call it a day
"Let's call it a day and go home," Teddy said. Because the person he's addressing doesn't understand the expression, it's up to me to explain that when we call it a day, we stop whatever we are doing, regardless of the time. "After twenty years as a postman, Mr Burr called it a day and retired."
Go Dutch
It takes at least two people to go Dutch for the simple reason that when we go Dutch we share the cost of something, each person paying his or her own expenses. "Hans invited Gretchen to join him for lunch. Knowing he hasn't much money, Gretchen has insisted that they go Dutch."
American Idioms
Call it a day
"Let's call it a day and go home," Teddy said. Because the person he's addressing doesn't understand the expression, it's up to me to explain that when we call it a day, we stop whatever we are doing, regardless of the time. "After twenty years as a postman, Mr Burr called it a day and retired."
Go Dutch
It takes at least two people to go Dutch for the simple reason that when we go Dutch we share the cost of something, each person paying his or her own expenses. "Hans invited Gretchen to join him for lunch. Knowing he hasn't much money, Gretchen has insisted that they go Dutch."