miscellaneous idioms and phrases

          
  Idioms have a special role in English writing. Writers use idioms to make their speeches and writings more attractive and impressive. Idioms are used to make English language more vivid and descriptive. They are like a tasty spice in a hot soup.
       
 Some interesting idioms and phrases along with their meanings and usage are listed below.:----


1. New brooms sweep clean ( newly appointed employee works sincerely ) - Mr. Mudgal has taken over the charge of the manager.He is working day and night. Truly, new brooms sweep clean.

 2. Ill at ease ( restless ) - His wife is annoyed at his activities. So he is ill at ease.

 3. A feather in one's cap ( a new honour ) - He has won another medal. It is a feather in his cap.

 4. The salt of the earth ( the best people of the earth ) - Smt. Indira Gandhi was the salt of the earth.

 5. On the rock ( tormented ) - The criminal was put on the rock. He disclosed all the secrets.

 6. Man of parts ( talented ) - Ravindra Nath Tagore was a man of parts.

 7. Helter-skelter ( in confusion ) - Seeing the police, the crowd ran away helter and skelter.

 8. First water ( highest grade ) - He is a fool of first water.

 9. Seventh heaven ( A place of extreme happiness ) - He is a very rich man. He is always living in seventh heaven.

10.Highway man ( a robber ) - Karriappa was looted by a highway man.

11. A blockhead ( a thick headed person ) - He cannot understand the minute details of this problem. He is a blockhead.

12. High time ( time beyond which no delays should be made ) - It is high time the government should be bold to face the extremists.

13. Black-hearted ( evil man ) - Iago was a black-hearted man.

14. The flower ( the best part of ) - I have lost the flower of my property in a case.

15. Bilingsgate ( a fish-market in London where foul and abusive language is spoken ) - Do not make this place a Billingsgate.

16. Eldorado (an unattainable goal in life ) - He is always aiming at an eldorado. But he can never succeed.

17. Good Samaritan (  person who helps the needy ) - There are still some good samaritans in the world.

18. Lotus-eater (one who lives in the world of dreams ) - Thomas Chatterton was a lotus eater.

19. Camouflage ( disguise of ships and guns etc. ) - He wants to serve the purpose under the camoufage of his pitiabe condition.

20. Pandora's Box ( a valuabe gift which proved to be an evil ) - He gave me a purse. Inside it. there as a ring stolen by him from some place. Thus, the purse proved a Pandora's Box for me.

21.Panacea ( a universal remedy ) - I have a panacea for al the ills of the society.

22. Utopia ( imaginary schemes ) - Many people consider Gandhiji's idea of Ram Rajya as a  Utopia.

23. Arcadia (  a place of natural beauty and simple life ) - Keats has reffered to Arcadia in several of his poems .

24. Don Quixote ( cynial ) - My supervisor is a man of whimsical nature. He has Don Quixote schemes in his mind.

25. Colossal ( huge,Colossal of Rhodes ) - Pt. Nehru was a colossal among the great men of India.

26. Lilliputians ( pettiness in any shape ) - It is the age of Lilliputians, giants have passed away.

27.Hobson's choice ( no choice at all ) - One has only Hobson's choice in this college; either offer General English or leave it.

28. Epicurean ( one who is given to pleasures ) - He is leading a epicurean life.

29. A Mentor ( an experienced and trusted advisor ) - Mr. Pratap Sharma is working as a mentor to this locality.

30. Roland for Oliver ( tit for tat ) - India has proved against Australia, to be a Roland for Oliver in cricket.

31. Jaundiced eye ( prejudiced ) - Parents with a jaundiced eye cannot understand their children.

 32. Monkey's ( kind, not cash ) - He is ready to pay his friend in monkey's money .

 33. Long and short ( main point ) - The long and short of the Prime Minister's speech is that integration is the need of the hour.

34. Cat's paw ( person used as a tool by another ) - I refused to be a cat's paw of my husband.

35. A moot point ( one about which there is uncertainty ) - The question of Kashmir is still a moot point.

 36. Open fire ( start shooting ) - The police opened fire and killed two hard core terrorists.

 37. Oily tongue ( a flatterer ) - He has an oily tongue and so I cannot depend upon him.

 38. Hanky-Panky ( underhand dealing ) - No hanky-panky, be straight in your dealing.

 39. Waterloo ( final defeat ) - Brutus met his Waterloo in Philippi.

 40. To burn the midnight oil ( to study late in the night ) - Milton burned the midnight oil and became blind at the age of forty-five.

 41. To cut the Gordian knot ( to solve difficulty ) - Wisdom helps a man to cut the Gordian knot.

42. Fool's paradise ( thought that is unlikely to last ) - Mohit is not practical and so he often lives in fool's paradise.

43. The Herculean task ( work requiring great efforts ) - He could finish the Herclean task of compiling the dictionary.

44. A white elephant ( something precious ) - The lavish expenditures of our ministers have become white elephant for our country.

 45. Pillar to post ( from one place of shelter to another ) - The poor student was driven from pillar to post for justice.

 46. Null and void ( of no legal value ) - The M. P.'s election has been declared to be null and void.

 47. A quixotic project ( foolish scheme ) - A quixotic project like this is found to fail in the long run.

 48. High and dry  ( rejected ) - Kabir was left high and dry by his friends when he lost all his money.

 49. A swan song ( last act, final appearance ) - This building turned out to be the swan song of the Victorian architecture.

50. A doubting Thomas ( A skeptic person who needs a tangible evidence to believe ) - My boss is a doubting Thomas, there is no point trying to convince him.