00526--METAPHORS AND THEIR MEANINGS

METAPHOR	MEANING
1.   Bend over backwards	to try as hard as you possibly can to do something, usually to please or help someone
2.   The ball is in your court	If you say to someone, “the ball is in your court,” you are telling them that it is their turn to do something or to decide what to do next before progress can be made.
3.   Start the ball rolling	to start an activity, particularly if it is something with which other people will join in.
4.   Scrape the bottom of the barrel	If someone scrapes the bottom of the barrel, they are forced to use or choose an idea, person or thing that is not very good, because they cannot think of or find a better alternative.
5.   Full of beans	To be full of beans means to be full of energy, and be very active.
6.   Spill the beans	to give someone information, particularly information that is meant to be secret.
7.   Got out of the wrong side of the bed	Means someone is in a bad mood – usually for no obvious reason
8.   Rings a bell	If you say that something rings a bell, you mean that it sounds familiar, but you can’t remember it exactly.
9.   Rocks the boat	. If someone rocks the boat, they are disrupting a stable, settled situation, usually by interfering, or by trying to do things differently.
10.                A bone to pick with someone	When you have a bone to pick with someone, it means that you are annoyed about something they have said or done, and you want to talk to them about it.
11.                Judge a book by its cover	If someone says, “you can’t judge a book by its cover,” they mean that you can’t tell what someone is like just by looking at them. You need to get to know them better before you decide what you think of them.
12.                Cross that bridge when you come to it	Saying that you will cross that bridge when you come to it means that you don’t intend to waste time worrying about what might happen, but will deal with a problem if and when it does happen.
13.                Take the bull by the horns	If you take the bull by the horns, you deal with a tricky situation in a direct, determined way.
14.                Butterflies in the tummy	If someone is said to have butterflies in their tummy, it means that they are feeling nervous and jittery about something that they have to do.
15.                Opening a can of worms	doing something would lead to all sorts of complicated problems, and that it would be better to leave things as they are.
16.                Burn the candle at both ends	If you burn the candle at both ends, you are staying up late and getting up early.
17.                 Lay (or put) the cards on the table	To lay (or put) your cards on the table means not to hide the way you feel or what you plan to do, but to let other people know.
18.                Let the cat out of the bag	means to give away a secret – usually without meaning to, or against someone else’s wishes.
19.                Raining cats and dogs	If it is raining cats and dogs, it is raining heavily.
20.                That’s the way the cookie crumbles	If someone says, “that’s the way the cookie crumbles,” they mean that you have to accept the way things have happened, even if they haven’t worked out as you wanted.
21.                Too many cooks spoil the broth	means that an activity or plan goes wrong because too many people are involved in it.
22.                Not my cup of tea	It’s a way of saying that something is not to my taste. If something is not your cup of tea, you don’t like it very much.
23.                Call it a day	To call it a day means to stop doing something, usually because you are tired or bored, or because you realize that continuing is unlikely to achieve the result you would like.
24.                Put all your eggs in one basket	If you put all your eggs in one basket, you are putting all your effort, money or resources into one thing. The danger is that if that thing is unsuccessful, you risk losing everything.
25.                Make ends meet	If you can’t make ends meet or you find it difficult to make ends meet, it means you don’t have enough money to buy food, clothes and other things you need.
26.                Find your feet	To find your feet means to come to feel confident in an unfamiliar situation – such as starting a new job or a new school, or learning a new skill
27.                Land (or fall) on one’s feet	To land (or fall) on your feet means to be in a good situation through luck rather than effort or planning.
28.                Sit on the fence	means to not give a definite opinion about something, or not say which side you support in a conflict.
29.                Keep your fingers crossed, or cross Your fingers	means that you are wishing for success or good luck. Saying “fingers crossed” can mean “good luck” or “with luck”.
30.                Play with fire	To means to do something that could get you into trouble.
31.                Move the goalposts	means to change the aims, the limits or the rules of a situation or activity, with the effect that other people are confused and don’t know what is expected of them.
32.                Lend (or give) a hand	to help someone
33.                Bury the hatchet	to make up and become friends again after an argument.
34.                Head in the clouds	If someone has his or her head in the clouds, it means that they spend their time imagining things that they would like to happen, rather than paying attention to things that actually are happening.
35.                Speaking off the top of one’s head	If you are speaking off the top of your head, you are saying something without thinking about it much or considering it carefully, so that what you say may not be correct.
36.                Bury one’s head in the sand	To bury your head in the sand means to try to pretend something unpleasant isn’t happening, because you don’t want to have to deal with it.
37.                Straight from the horse’s mouth	To get information straight from the horse’s mouth means to learn about it directly from the person who knows most about the subject.
38.                Break the ice	to do something that helps people to relax and feel at ease, especially when they have just met.
39.                Take a leaf out of someone’s book	If you take a leaf out of someone’s book, you copy the way they behave, because they set a good example.
40.                Turn over a new leaf	start behaving in a better way than before.
41.                Pull someone’s leg	To pull someone’s leg means to tell them something that isn’t true, as a joke
42.                Draw a line under something	to put a bad situation into the past, and stop worrying about it or talking about it any more. (To draw the line at something has a different meaning. It means to refuse to do something.)
43.                Over the moon	If you are over the moon, you are very happy about something. It’s a similar saying to “on top of the world”
44.                Face the music	means to take responsibility for doing something wrong, and to prepare yourself for criticism or punishment.
45.                A lot on their plate	If someone has a lot on their plate, they have a lot of work to do, or a lot of problems to deal with. To have enough on your plate means the same thing.
46.                Come out of your shell	To come out of your shell means to become less shy than before, and to start being more sociable.
47.                Skeleton in one’s cupboard,	If someone has a skeleton in their cupboard, they have a secret which would embarrass them or would cause a scandal if it were known about.
48.                Something up one’s sleeve	If someone has something up their sleeve, they have a plan or a secret idea that they think will help to achieve something.
49.                Pull one’s socks up	to try harder or to improve your behaviour.
50.                The last straw or the final straw	If you say that something is the last straw or the final straw, you mean that one final thing in a series of difficulties has made you feel that the situation is intolerable.
51.                Hold your tongue	to keep silent.
52.                Bite your tongue	to keep quiet
53.                On the tip of one’s Tongue	When someone says that something is on the tip of their tongue, they mean that they can’t quite remember something, such as a name or the answer to a question, even though they are sure that they do know it.
54.                Barking up the wrong tree	If someone is barking up the wrong tree, they have the wrong idea about something, or they misunderstand the situation.
55.                Drive someone up the wall	to annoy them greatly
56.                “A lot of water has gone (or flowed or passed) Under the bridge	“A lot of water has gone (or flowed or passed) under the bridge since...” means that lots has happened since a particular event or situation.
57.                Wolf in sheep’s clothing	If you say that someone is a wolf in sheep’s clothing, you mean that he or she is pretending to be nice or harmless, but is really nastier or more dangerous than he or she appears.