| A | B |
|---|
| Dot your i’s and cross your t’s | -to take great care over details |
| Dressed to the nines | -wearing fashionable clothing; dressed to attract attention |
| Eat your words | -to have to take back what you said; to admit humbly that you were wrong |
| Feet of clay | -a hidden fault of character; a weak point |
| Fifth wheel | -an unneeded, extra person |
| Fight tooth and nail | -to fight fiercely, furiously, and ferociously |
| Fish or cut bait | -do one thing or another, but stop delaying; make a choice; act now or give someone else a turn |
| Get your goat | -to annoy very badly; to make a person angry |
| Have your heart in your mouth | -to be extremely frightened about something |
| Head honcho | -the person in charge, the chief, boss, leader |
| Hanging by a thread | -to be in a dangerous or unsafe position; to depend on something very small to save you |
| In the lap of luxury | -surrounded by luxuries; having the most lavish things that money can buy |
| Jump down your throat | to talk or scream at someone in a sudden, angry way |
| Keep your shirt on | -to remain cool; to not become angry; to be patient |
| Lay your cards on the table | -to reveal all the facts openly and honestly; to reveal one’s purpose |
| Make heads or tails out of something | -to understand how something works; to figure something out |
| Nitty-Gritty | -the specific heart of the matter; the practical details; the fundamental core of something |
| On a shoestring | -on a strict budget; with or using very little money |
| Pen is mightier than the sword | -writing is more powerful than fighting |
| Real McCoy | -the genuine article, something of good quality, compared to others; not a fake or copy |
| Scrape the bottom of the barrel | -to use whatever is left after the best have been taken; to be forced to use the remnants of something; to choose among the worst of something |
| Take the bull by the horns | -to act bravely in a troublesome situation; to face up to a difficult challenge by taking decisive action |
| Upper crust | -high society; social or financial elite; important people |
| Wash your hands of something | -to withdraw from something; to end one’s association or responsibility for something; to disavow, disclaim, or disown |
| All ears | -eager to listen; sharply attentive; curious |
| Batten down the hatches | -to get ready for trouble; prepare for any emergency |
| Beat around the bush | -to avoid answering a question; to approach something carefully or in a roundabout way |
| Call your bluff | -to demand that someone prove a claim. To challenge someone to carry out a threat |
| Dose of one’s own medicine | -the same or a similar bad thing done back to the person who did it first |
| Eat out of your hand | -to be very cooperative or submissive; to believe and obey someone without question |
| Feather in your cap | -a great achievement or special honor; an accomplishment to be proud of |
| Get under your skin | to bother or upset someone |
| Have a screw loose | -to behave or look in a strange or foolish manner; to be odd and not ordinary |
| In the limelight | -at the center of attention |
| Keep up with the Joneses | -to try to keep up with what your neighbors have socially and financially; to work hard to have possessions as good as your neighbors |
| Lead by the nose | -to dominate or control someone |
| Make waves | -to cause trouble; to upset matters; to create a disturbance |
| No dice | -refused; no! absolutely not! |
| Old hat | -out-of-date; not new; too familiar; uninteresting |
| Pie in the sky | -something not possible; an unrealistic hope |
| Rat race | -a fierce, unending, stressful competition in business or society |
| Say (Cry) uncle | -to give up; to surrender; to concede defeat |
| Take a shine to | -to become fond of; to form a quick liking of someone or something |
| Upset the applecart | -to spoil or interfere with a plan; to obstruct progress; to mess everything up by surprise or accident |
| Walking on eggs (eggshells) | -to be very cautious; to proceed warily |
| All thumbs | -awkward and clumsy, especially with the hands |
| Asleep at the switch (wheel) | -not attending to one’s job or failing to react quickly; not being alert |
| Beggars can’t be choosers | -needy people have to take whatever they can get and cannot be concerned about the quality if they cannot afford to buy it for themselves |
| Below the belt | -cruel, unfair, hurtful; against the rules of sportsmanship |
| Can’t see the forest for the trees | -to overlook the overall situation because of a focus on small details; to be so involved in details that you miss the whole picture |
