Idioms and Phrases - List 3

  Idioms and Phrases:

        LIST - [ 3 ]

1. A blockhead ( a thick headed person )

 ** He cannot understand the minute details of this problem. He is a blockhead.

2. 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.

3. A feather in one's cap ( a new honour )

 **  He has won another medal. It is a feather in his cap.

4. A Mentor ( an experienced and trusted advisor )

 **  Mr. Pratap Sharma is working as a mentor to this locality.

5. A moot point ( one about which there is uncertainty )

 ** The question of Kashmir is still a moot point.

6. A quixotic project ( foolish scheme )

 **  A quixotic project like this is found to fail in the long run.

7. A swan song ( last act, final appearance )

 **  This building turned out to be the swan song of the Victorian architecture.

8. A white elephant ( something precious )

**  The lavish expenditures of our ministers have become white elephant for our country.

9. Arcadia (  a place of natural beauty and simple life )

 ** Keats has reffered to Arcadia in several of his poems .

10. Bilingsgate ( a fish-market in London where foul and abusive language is spoken )

 ** Do not make this place a Billingsgate.

11. Black-hearted ( evil man )

 ** Iago was a black-hearted man.

12. Camouflage ( disguise of ships and guns etc. )

 ** He wants to serve the purpose under the camoufage of his pitiabe condition.

13. Cat's paw ( person used as a tool by another )

 ** I refused to be a cat's paw of my husband.

14. Colossal ( huge,Colossal of Rhodes )

 ** Pt. Nehru was a colossal among the great men of India.

15. Don Quixote ( cynial )

 ** My supervisor is a man of whimsical nature. He has Don Quixote schemes in his mind.

16. Eldorado (an unattainable goal in life )

 **  He is always aiming at an eldorado. But he can never succeed.

17. Epicurean ( one who is given to pleasures )

 **  He is leading a epicurean life.

18. First water ( highest grade )

 **  He is a fool of first water.

19. Fool's paradise ( thought that is unlikely to last )

 **  Mohit is not practical and so he often lives in fool's paradise.

20. Good Samaritan (  person who helps the needy )

 ** There are still some good samaritans in the world.

21. Hanky-Panky ( underhand dealing )

 **  No hanky-panky, be straight in your dealing.

22. Helter-skelter ( in confusion )

 **  Seeing the police, the crowd ran away helter and skelter.

23. High and dry  ( rejected )

 **  Kabir was left high and dry by his friends when he lost all his money.

24. High time ( time beyond which no delays should be made )

  **  It is high time the government should be bold to face the extremists.

25. Highway man ( a robber )

 ** Karriappa was looted by a highway man.

26. Hobson's choice ( no choice at all )

 **  One has only Hobson's choice in this college; either offer General English or leave it.

27. Ill at ease ( restless )

 ** His wife is annoyed at his activities. So he is ill at ease.

28. Jaundiced eye ( prejudiced )

 **  Parents with a jaundiced eye cannot understand their children.

29. Lilliputians ( pettiness in any shape )

 ** It is the age of Lilliputians, giants have passed away.

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

31. Lotus-eater (one who lives in the world of dreams )

 ** Thomas Chatterton was a lotus eater.

32. Man of parts ( talented )

 ** Ravindra Nath Tagore was a man of parts.

33. Monkey's money ( kind, not cash )

 ** He is ready to pay his friend in monkey's money .

34. Null and void ( of no legal value )

 ** The M. P.'s election has been declared to be null and void.

35. Oily tongue ( a flatterer )

 ** He has an oily tongue and so I cannot depend upon him.

36. On the rock ( tormented )

 **  The criminal was put on the rock. He disclosed all the secrets.

37. Open fire ( start shooting )

 **  The police opened fire and killed two hard core terrorists.

38. Panacea ( a universal remedy )

 **  I have a panacea for al the ills of the society.

39. 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.

40. Pillar to post ( from one place of shelter to another )

 **  The poor student was driven from pillar to post for justice.

41. Roland for Oliver ( tit for tat )

 **  India has proved against Australia, to be a Roland for Oliver in cricket.

42. Seventh heaven ( A place of extreme happiness )

 ** He is a very rich man. He is always living in seventh heaven.

43. The flower ( the best part of )

 **  I have lost the flower of my property in a case.

44. The Herculean task ( work requiring great efforts )

  ** He could finish the Herclean task of compiling the dictionary.

45. The salt of the earth ( the best people of the earth )

 ** Smt. Indira Gandhi was the salt of the earth.

46. 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.

47. To cut the Gordian knot ( to solve difficulty )

 **  Wisdom helps a man to cut the Gordian knot.

48. Utopia ( imaginary schemes )

 **  Many people consider Gandhiji's idea of Ram Rajya as a  Utopia.

49. Waterloo ( final defeat )

 **  Brutus met his Waterloo in Philippi.

 

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