Idioms

2. blood, sweat and tears
 requiring a lot of effort and hard work
Mr Jack Ma’s success was not due to luck; it
was blood, sweat and tears all the way.

3.  have one's heart set on
 to be determined to obtain something you want
very much
From an early age, Tiger Woods had his heart set
on becoming a professional golfer.

4. bounce off the walls
 to be very excited about something, or full
of nervous energy
Dhillon cannot wait to start his new job. He
is bouncing off the walls.

5. edge of one's seat
 to describe someone who is very interested
in something and finds it both extremely
exciting and nerve-wrecking
Look at Shane! He is on the edge of his seat
watching the match between Argentina and
Germany!

6.  bare one's heart/soul
 to reveal your innermost thoughts and
feelings to someone
John could not keep things to himself any
longer. He decided to bare his soul to his best
friend.

7. pull no punches
 to speak openly and honestly, holding
nothing back
The doctor pulled no punches. He explained
in detail the risks of the operation.

8.  fair and square
when something is done in an honest and
open manner, the rules are respected and
there is no cheating or lying
Gavin won the competition fair and square –
there was no doubt about the result.

9.  play by the rules
 to behave in a fair and honest way with
people
You can trust him, don't worry. He always
plays by the rules.

10.  bring the house down
 to give a very successful performance
If Jeremy sings like that on Saturday, he will
bring the house down.

11. come up in the world
when someone is richer than before and has
a higher social status
My old school friend has bought an apartment
in Sentosa Cove. She has certainly come up in
the world.

12.  crest of the wave
 to be very successful in what you are doing
Our company is going from success to
success. We are on the crest of a wave right
now.

13.  (reach) first base
to make progress or begin to have success
with someone or something
If you go to the interview dressed like that,
you will not get to first base!

14.  rise to the occasion
to manage to do something successfully in
difficult circumstances
When her boss broke his leg, Julie had to
represent the company at the congress, and
she rose to the occasion extremely well.

15. weather the storm
 to succeed in surviving a difficult period or
situation
 Given the current recession, the company is
weathering the storm better than most.

16.  bide one’s time
 to wait for a good opportunity to do
something
He is not hesitating. He is just biding his
time, waiting for the price to drop.

17. make up for lost time
 to increase one’s efforts or work harder to
complete something or meet a deadline
 Progress has stopped because of bad
weather, but we are determined to make up
for lost time.

18. keep a level head
 to remain calm and sensible no matter how
difficult or distressful the situation may be
 All through the hijacking, the pilot kept a
level head.

19. keep one's feet on the ground
 to continue to act in a sensible and practical
way, even if one becomes successful
 His invention was an instant success, but he
kept his feet on the ground and invested his
money very wisely.

20.  go out of one’s way
 to take particular care or make a special
effort when doing something
 Aunt Betty went out of her way to make us
feel comfortable when we visited her.

21.  go to great pains (or lengths)
 to do everything that is possible, when
trying to achieve something, in order to
succeed
The two parties went to great lengths to
reach an agreement.