PLAYING WITH IDIOMS

PLAYING WITH IDIOMS
• An idiom is a phrase where the words
together have a meaning that is different
from the dictionary definitions of the
individual words, which can make idioms
hard for ESL students and learners to
understand.
(2)
• Idioms are expressions that don't mean
what they appear to mean. For example,
when you say 'it's raining cats and dogs',
you don't mean that cats and dogs are
falling out of sky, but rather that it's
raining heavily. Idioms provide interesting
insights into languages and thought
processes of their speakers.
• To pay through the nose
• Ex: Wow you paid five hundred dollars
just to have a piano moved from one end
of town to the other. They really made you
pay through the nose!
• Pagare un occhio della testa
• To drive someone up the wall
• My roommate never puts anything away.
He leaves his clothes all over the house
and he never closes cupboard boards. He
is driving me up the wall
• Fare uscire fuori dai gangheri
• To go up in the air
• My boss went up in the air when I asked
him for a pay rise
• Infuriarsi
• To be on cloud nine
• Have you heard the good news about
Harry? He has finally asked Mary to marry
him. Mary must be on cloud nine.
• Essere al settimo cielo
• You have made your bed, you must lie on it
• I told you that you shouldn’t change jobs, so
don’t come complaining to me now about your
new on: you have made your bed, you must lie
on it.
• Hai voluto la bicicletta? Ora pedala!
• To be as blind as a bat
• You are not going to let Karen drive you to
the station, are you? She is as blind as a
bat!
• Essere cieco come una talpa.
• To cool one’s heels
• I went to ask Mr Pinzimon for a part in his new
Broadway show but he left me cooling my heels
outside his office for five hours. Finally he came
out abd said there were no more parts left.
• Aspettare a lungo qualcuno
• To screw up one’s courage
• I was a bit scared at first, but I screwed
up my courage and jumped into the cold
water
• Farsi coraggio
• To sleep like a log
• Last night someone broke into my room and
stole my stereo and my computer. I did not hear
a thing: I was sleeping like a log
• Dormire come un ghiro
• N.B. log-ceppo
• To be head over heels in love
• Sam is head over heels in love with
Rachel. Every day he sends her chocolates
and roses
• Essere innamorato cotto
• To be as different as chalk and cheese
• Why are you always saying that I am like
Mike? That’s ridiculous – we are different
as chalk and cheese.
• Essere come il giorno e la notte
• To foot the bill
• Who is going to foot the bill for this job if
the company goes bankrupt?
• Pagare il conto
• N.B To foot: pagare, danzare, andare a
piedi.
• To go bananas
• When Mr Lynch heard that his daughter
was planning to marry Robert he went
bananas. Mr Lynch really hates that boy.
• Andare su tutte le furie
• Lock, stock and barrel
• I told our landlord we would pay the rent in two
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week’s time, but he told us we had to be out of
his apartment, lock, stock and barrel, by Monday
morning or he would call the police.
Armi e bagagli/fare baracca e burattini
N.B. Lock – otturatore; stock – calcio (del
fucile); barrel – canna (del fucile o di arma da
fuoco)
• A peeping Tom
• My brother is always trying to spy on the
lady next door when she is taking a bath.
I have told him he is a disgusting peeping
Tom, but he doesn’t seem to care.
• Essere un guardone
Peeping Tom: the legend
• The story of Peeping Tom springs from Lady Godiva's
infamous ride through the streets of Coventry in
England. Unclothed with only her long hair to cover her,
she made the ride as a protest to the oppressive
taxation of the townspeople by her husband, Leofric III,
lord of Coventry. Before her ride, Lady Godiva asked the
townspeople to stay inside with their shutters and doors
closed so they wouldn't see her in the nude. According
to legend, one man, a tailor named Tom, bore a hole in
his shutters to catch a glimpse of Godiva as she passed.
The tailor, who became known as Peeping Tom, was
struck blind (or some say dead) the moment he saw her.
Lady Godiva was a real noblewoman who lived in the
11th century, though it appears that her ride may be
more fiction than fact.
• Time out of mind
• You must remember this: a kiss is but a
kiss, a smile is but a smile; and so it has
been, time out pf mind.
• Sin dalla notte dei tempi
• A Fly in the ointment
• Our trip to Florence was really wonderful.
The only fly in the ointment was that my
daughter refused to eat Italian food.
• Una piccola pecca
• N.B ointment - unguento
• To flog a dead horse
• He’s been going on and on about the
advantages of the single currency, but he’s
flogging a dead horse. I don’t think the British
will ever adopt the euro.
• Spreco di energia
• N.B to flog - picchiare
• To drown one’s troubles/sorrows
• Harry is at the pub, drowning his sorrows. You
can’t blame him though: he’s lost his job at the
factory and he has a wife and two kids to
support.
• Bere per dimenticare
• To drown: affogare/sommergere
• To know which side one’s bread is buttered.
• Barbara will never leave her husband, even
though he has another woman; he makes a lot
of money, and she knows which side her bread
is buttered
• Sa bene il fatto suo.
• Bone of contention
• Despite what the newspapers say, the real
bone contention between the unions and
government is the 30-hour week.
• Pomo della discordia
• To sow one’s wild oats
• Before I came home to work for my father, I spent some
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time in NY, sowing my wild oats. Every night a different
woman, it was the best time of my life!
Godersi la vita
N.B to sow/sowed/ sowed or sown: seminare/ spargere
oats – avena
This expression alludes to sowing inferior wild oats
instead of good cultivated grain, the verb sowing--that
is, "planting seed"--in particular suggesting sexual
promiscuity. [Mid-1500s]
• A piece of cake!
• Was the French test difficult? No. It was a
piece of cake!
• Un gioco da ragazzi
• To be still wet behind the ears
• You can’t expect him to run the company
at 21! He’s still wet behind the ears
• Avere ancora la bocca sporca di latte
• Two’s company, three’s a crowd!
• It’s very nice of you to invite me out with
you and your girlfriend, but I think I’ll stay
home. After all, two’s cmpany, three’s a
crowd.
• Il terzo incomodo
• Tom, Dick or Harry
• I won’t go out with just any Tom, Dick or Harry. I want to meet
someone special, someone sensitive, someone with a lot money!
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Tizio, Caio e Sempronio
Pierre, Paul ou Jacques - in lingua francese
Fulano, Zutano, Mengano y Perengano — in lingua spagnola
Hinz und Kunz — in lingua tedesca.
N.B: sensitive: sensibile/tenero/suscettibile (He was a sensitive
collegue who always listened sympathetically)
• Sensible: assennato/ragionevole/saggio (It would be sensible to
take an umbrella in case it rains)
• To hold one’s peace
• He was going on and on about how wonderful
Italy was during the Twienties and I was getting
angrier and angrier, but I held my peace. I didn’t
want to get into an argument.
• Non aprir bocca/tenere al bocca chiusa
• To hold/held/held: tenere/trattenere
• To put one’s foot in one’s mouth
• I really put my foot in my mouth last night at
the party, when I told Harry that his mother
looked very good for her age. The troble is, it
was not his mother, it was his girlfriend!
• Fare una gaffe.