english idioms and expressions 1
TRANSCRIPT
A Collection of English Idioms and
Expressions1
Let sleeping dogs lie.
Dogs can be angry
and aggressive, especially if
they are disturbed.
So if you ‘let sleeping
dogs lie’ it means that it is best not do
something that will upset
someone.
Susan knew that other staff were
stealing office supplies, but she decided
to let sleeping
dogs lie and not report it to her manager.
Full of hot air
Balloons are full of hot air - that’s why they float!
Humans are ‘full of hot air’ when they talk nonsense - that is when they say things that
are clearly exaggerations or make predictions that are clearly going to be wrong.
Voters felt that one candidate in particular was full of hot air, making promises that they did
not believe he would be able to keep.
Blur the lines
To blur the lines
is to create
confusion between one thing
and another.
Some children’s
cartoons blur the lines between
entertainment and
advertising.
Go out on a ledge
A ledge is the side of a building or structure. Being high up it can be
a risky place to be.
To go out on a ledge is to take a risk.
Steve decided to go out on a ledge and promote Sarah even though she didn’t yet have the experience that is
normally required to do the job.
Open new
doors
To open new doors is to create
new opportunities
and possibilities.
Having an office in
Shanghai will open
new doors for our
company in the Chinese
market.
Asleep at the wheel
To be ‘asleep at the wheel’ is to be not paying attention or not being in control of a situation.
With the unemployment rate increasing sharply, the opposition accused the government of being asleep at the wheel.
Blow your own horn
To blow your own horn is to
tell everyone how good you are.
Kayne West really
likes to blow his
own horn.
See the big picture
To see the big picture is to understand how one idea fits within a bigger idea.
Bob might be upset about cuts to his
department’s budget, but he has to
learn to see the big picture.
Make giant
strides
Strides is an
adjective which
describes the size of a step
when walking.
To make giant
strides is to make
great progress towards a
goal.
We have made giant
strides towards making
our startup
profitable.
Make a
splash
To make a splash is to create attention
and excitement
about something.
Emily made a
real splash with her
designs at Paris
fashion week.
Ready to test yourself?
Confusion between one thing and another
Asleep at the wheelBlow your own hornBlur the linesFull of hot airGo out on a ledge
Let sleeping dogs lieMake a splashMake great stridesOpen new doorsSee the big picture
Confusion between one thing and another
Asleep at the wheelBlow your own hornBlur the linesFull of hot airGo out on a ledge
Let sleeping dogs lieMake a splashMake great stridesOpen new doorsSee the big picture
Take a risk
Asleep at the wheelBlow your own hornBlur the linesFull of hot airGo out on a ledge
Let sleeping dogs lieMake a splashMake great stridesOpen new doorsSee the big picture
Take a risk
Asleep at the wheelBlow your own hornBlur the linesFull of hot airGo out on a ledge
Let sleeping dogs lieMake a splashMake great stridesOpen new doorsSee the big picture
Make progress
Asleep at the wheelBlow your own hornBlur the linesFull of hot airGo out on a ledge
Let sleeping dogs lieMake a splashMake great stridesOpen new doorsSee the big picture
Make progress
Asleep at the wheelBlow your own hornBlur the linesFull of hot airGo out on a ledge
Let sleeping dogs lieMake a splashMake great stridesOpen new doorsSee the big picture
Get attention
Asleep at the wheelBlow your own hornBlur the linesFull of hot airGo out on a ledge
Let sleeping dogs lieMake a splashMake great stridesOpen new doorsSee the big picture
Get attention
Asleep at the wheelBlow your own hornBlur the linesFull of hot airGo out on a ledge
Let sleeping dogs lieMake a splashMake great stridesOpen new doorsSee the big picture
Don’t take a risk
Asleep at the wheelBlow your own hornBlur the linesFull of hot airGo out on a ledge
Let sleeping dogs lieMake a splashMake great stridesOpen new doorsSee the big picture
Don’t take a risk
Asleep at the wheelBlow your own hornBlur the linesFull of hot airGo out on a ledge
Let sleeping dogs lieMake a splashMake great stridesOpen new doorsSee the big picture
Draw attention to yourself
Asleep at the wheelBlow your own hornBlur the linesFull of hot airGo out on a ledge
Let sleeping dogs lieMake a splashMake great stridesOpen new doorsSee the big picture
Draw attention to yourself
Asleep at the wheelBlow your own hornBlur the linesFull of hot airGo out on a ledge
Let sleeping dogs lieMake a splashMake great stridesOpen new doorsSee the big picture
Lose focus, don’t pay attention
Asleep at the wheelBlow your own hornBlur the linesFull of hot airGo out on a ledge
Let sleeping dogs lieMake a splashMake great stridesOpen new doorsSee the big picture
Lose focus, don’t pay attention
Asleep at the wheelBlow your own hornBlur the linesFull of hot airGo out on a ledge
Let sleeping dogs lieMake a splashMake great stridesOpen new doorsSee the big picture
Create new opportunities
Asleep at the wheelBlow your own hornBlur the linesFull of hot airGo out on a ledge
Let sleeping dogs lieMake a splashMake great stridesOpen new doorsSee the big picture
Create new opportunities
Asleep at the wheelBlow your own hornBlur the linesFull of hot airGo out on a ledge
Let sleeping dogs lieMake a splashMake great stridesOpen new doorsSee the big picture
To say unbelievable things
Asleep at the wheelBlow your own hornBlur the linesFull of hot airGo out on a ledge
Let sleeping dogs lieMake a splashMake great stridesOpen new doorsSee the big picture
To say unbelievable things
Asleep at the wheelBlow your own hornBlur the linesFull of hot airGo out on a ledge
Let sleeping dogs lieMake a splashMake great stridesOpen new doorsSee the big picture
To know how one thing fits into the whole thing
Asleep at the wheelBlow your own hornBlur the linesFull of hot airGo out on a ledge
Let sleeping dogs lieMake a splashMake great stridesOpen new doorsSee the big picture
To know how one thing fits into the whole thing
Asleep at the wheelBlow your own hornBlur the linesFull of hot airGo out on a ledge
Let sleeping dogs lieMake a splashMake great stridesOpen new doorsSee the big picture
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