This document defines and provides examples for common English idioms and phrases. It explains idioms such as "pull a rabbit out of a hat" which means doing something surprising or impossible. It also covers phrases like "comfort food" which refers to nostalgic foods that provide comfort. Other idioms explained include "let the chips fall where they may" meaning accept unknown consequences, and "a stone's throw" referring to a very short distance.

2. PULL A RABBIT OUT OF A HAT
do something surprising, something that
seems impossible.
Example:
Barker: We haven't won yet, and three races is a lot to win.
Spithill: I want to pull a rabbit out of a hat in the history of sport.

3. COMFORT FOOD
food that provides a sense of well-being or
consolation, often food associated with
home cooking from childhood.
Example:
When I am, sad, I always want to eat my
comfort food – Pepperoni Pizza.

4. LET THE CHIPS FALL WHERE THEY MAY
• Accept unknown consequences.
• Let something happen regardless of the
consequences and no matter what happens
Example:
I'm going to tell Ellen the truth about her husband, let
the chips fall where they may.
Kathy decided to risk her money on the investment,
and let the chips fall where they may.

5. A STONE'S THROW
a very short distance
Example:
We were staying in a small apartment
just a stone's throw from the beach.
The city center is only a stone's
throw away.

6. DIG IN YOUR HEELS
• refuse to compromise, stick firmly to your position.
• to refuse to alter one's course of action or opinions; to be
obstinate or determined.
Example:
The student dug her heels in and refused to obey the
instructions. I'm digging in my heels. I'm not going back.

7. GET OUT OF HAND
•
become uncontrollable. This is said of a situation, not a
person.
• if a situation gets out of hand, it cannot be controlled any more
Example:
Things got a little out of hand at the party and three windows
were broken.
In my first year at college my drinking got a bit out of hand.

8. POUND THE PAVEMENT
• Diligently and tirelessly working towards a desired
objective such as getting a job or building up a
business.
• The idiom is often used to mean looking for a job.
Example:
I spent two months pounding the pavement after the
factory I worked for dosed.

9. GET SOMETHING OUT OF YOUR SYSTEM
•
may have a literal meaning, to eliminate something (like food or medicine)
from your body.
•
But also quite common is the idiomatic meaning: to do something that you
have been wanting to do so that you don't have to think about it any more.
•
to be rid of the desire to do something; to do something that you have been
wanting to do so that you aren't bothered by wanting to do it anymore.
Example:
He'll be more active once he gets the medicine out of his system.
I can't get it out of my system! I want to go back to school and earn a degree.

10. EXPERIENCE SOMETHING FIRST-HAND
To experience something yourself.
Example:
I didn’t realize how hard it was to be a parent until I
experienced it first-hand.

11. GO DOWN IN FLAMES
• fail spectacularly
• [for a plane] to crash
Example:
The whole project went down in flames.
Todd went down in flames in his efforts to win the heart of
Marsha.
The enemy fighter planes went down in flames, ending the
battle.

12. CRY WOLF
• to cry or complain about something when nothing is really
wrong.
• raise a false alarm. This idiom comes from one of Aesop's
fables, where a boy keeps warning of a wolf when there is no
wolf, and eventually nobody believes him.
Example:
Pay no attention. She's just crying wolf again.
Don't cry wolf too often. No one will come.

13. TICKLED PINK
• very much pleased or entertained
• This is a rather old idiom, but it's still in general use.
Example:
I was tickled pink to have you visit us.
We were tickled pink when your flowers arrived.

14. HAPPY AS A CLAM
• contented; very happy
• Why would clams be happy? It has been suggested that open
clams give the appearance of smiling. The derivation is more
likely to come from the fuller version of the phrase, now rarely
heard - 'as happy as a clam at high water'. Hide tide is when
clams are free from the attentions of predators; surely the
happiest of times in the bivalve mollusk world.
Example:
I've been as happy as a clam since I moved to the
country. I don't need much. Just somewhere to live, some work to
do, and a TV to watch, and I'm happy as a clam at high tide.

15. SHOOT FROM THE HIP
• speak impulsively, speak without thinking first.
Example:
John has a tendency to shoot from the hip, but he
generally speaks the truth. Don't pay any attention
to John. He means no harm. It's just his nature to
shoot from the hip.

16. CRUNCH TIME
• a period of time when hard work is especially necessary.
• Often used to describe the period just before a project is due.
Example:
I'd love to go out with you and your friends tonight, but it's crunch
time at work—our big project is due next week, and we're all
meeting to finish it up.

17. NO BRAINER
• An easy decision, an obvious course of action.
• Something so simple or easy as to require no thought.
Example:
She is a no brainer. She went to that company without
thinking about it. Now she suffers the consequences

18. CRUNCH TIME
• a period of time when hard work is especially necessary.
• Often used to describe the period just before a project is due.
• a critical moment or period (as near the end of a game) when
decisive action is needed
Example:
The team had trained well, but at crunch time they just couldn't
perform.

19. COME OUT SWINGING
• to strongly defend yourself or something you believe in
• to be very confrontational at the beginning of a debate or
discussion.
Example:
Both candidates came out swinging in the televised debate
Sunday night.

20. RUNNING ON FUMES
• continuing to work or stay awake when you are completely
exhausted.
• continuing to do something when you have almost no energy
left
Example:
After two straight games against top teams, the Tigers were
running on fumes and lost on Saturday night.