A

about to

Peggy is about to leave.

in advance

We booked the tickets in advance.

alive and kicking

I love Berlin. It's alive and kicking.

all of a sudden

I went out in the sun. Then, all of a sudden, it started to rain.

all over the place

There are environmental problems all over
the place.

B

to go from bad to worse

My marks have gone from bad to worse last term.

to bag sb.

Tom bagged this special offer at an online-shop.

beat-up

Mark is too beat-up to play tennis this evening.

to do the best

He always does his best.

blabber

Don't listen to him, he's a blabber.

to blag sb.

Once in a while young Tim blags his father's cigarettes.

bloody

What a bloody day!

to be blue

She's been feeling blue all day.

bouncer

A bouncer's task is to keep out those who might cause trouble.

be broke

I can't go to the cinema with you, I'm broke.

to brush up on sb.

I have to brush up on my Spanish.

buck

You can buy a DVD player for less than 100 bucks (dollars).

buzz

Parachuting gives me a real buzz.

Buzz off!

Buzz off! I have told you not to come to my place anymore.

C

a close call

I had a close call. A stone almost hit me!

to catch sb.

Sorry, I didn't quite catch your telephone number.

to catch cold

I walked out in the rain, so I caught cold.

not to have a clue

I don't have a clue about repairing the faucet.

Come off it!

Come off it! This isn't the truth.

as far as I'm concerned

As far as I'm concerned, I'd like to watch the film.

cop

A big crowd of cops gathered in front of the Bank of England.

corner shop

Mother really liked corner shops when she was a child.

cram school

Many pupils have to go to a cram school in the afternoon.

on credit

I'd not buy the new TV on credit.

cut

Mr Brown made big cuts of $500 million.

D

damned

I hate going through that damned rush hour.

to dig in one's heels

If you take or express an opinion and refuse to change it, you dig in your
heels.

to disrespect sb.

Poor people shouldn't be disrespected.

to do one's best

He does his best to fix the car.

to do someone good

Let's go on a holiday. The sun will do us good.

to do without

If there's no milk for the tea, it'll do without.

down under

Down under will be my next destination.

E

to be up to one's ears

Sorry, I can't go out with you. I'm up to my ears in work.

every now and then

Every now and then I play the piano.

every other

He comes to me every other week.

to see eye to eye

World Bank and IMF see eye to eye on Asia

F

fair enough

Fair enough! Let's go out for dinner tonight.

fiddle

Especially fiddles are necessary to play folk music.

to keep the fingers crossed

I have to see the doctor for a checkup. - I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.

flutter

The old lady loves a flutter on the slot machine.

folk

We all are fond of the Irish folk.

for free

I was lucky. I got this CD for free.

freak out

Ron freaked out when he heard that Peter had broken his car.

fridge

Butter must be kept in the fridge.

G

to get a lot of stick

In his new job Jack gets a lot of stick.

to get cold feet

He wanted to speak to the boss, but he didn't. He got cold feet.

to get fed up with sb.

They get fed up with their neighbour's parties.

to get rid of sb.

We have to get rid of that old car.

to get sb.

Jason, did you finally get your exercise?

to take sth. for granted

I took it for granted the meeting was on Tuesday.

greasy spoon

I'd rather starve instead of eating at a greasy spoon.

groovy

This cocktail tastes groovy.

guy

Jennifer fell in love with the guy from the supermarket.

H

had better

You'd better go now.

on the other hand

Sue likes pop music, on the other hand she doesn't like discos.

to give a hand

Can you give me a hand with the cupboard?

hard graft

Building our house has been a hard graft.

by heart

My brother has to learn the poem by heart.

hip

Molly always knows what's hip.

to be hooked on sth.

Bill is hooked on car racing.

J

to jump down sb.'s throat

The boss jumped down my throat because I was late for work.

K

knackered

What has happened? You look so knackered.

to keep an eye on sth./sb.

Will you keep an eye on my baby?

L

little by little

Andrew had an accident while playing ice-hockey. Little by little he begins to walk.

to look forward to sb.

I look forward to my holidays in Rome.

M

to make ends meet

She's been out of work for years. How can she make ends meet with four children?

to make friends easily

Chris makes friends easily.

to make oneself at home

Come in, please. Make yourself at home.

to make the most

Let's make the most of the last day of our holidays.

to make up one's mind up

Did you make your mind up to buy a new computer?

mash

I love Grandma's homemade mash.

What's the matter?

You look sad. What's the matter with you?

to be mean

Grandfather is mean with money.

to meet sb. halfway

I don't like his ideas, but I can imagine that we should meet halfway.

to mess around

The clown messed around to make the children laugh.

to mess up

Sandy has really messed up this time.