Posted by Hey guys!
Everybody knows the importance of learning some phrasal verbs, idioms and colloquial expressions, especially when you live in a foreign country. We always learn a lot of them by communicating with native speakers or watching movies and series. In this post, you learn some phrasal verbs, idioms and expressions to communicate in a more natural way when speaking English in a foreign country.
* sick to death of sth/sb – to have had enough of (something), to not be able to endure (something) any more.
I’m sick to death of doing my boss’s errands. If something doesn’t change soon, I’m going to quit!
* squeeze sth out of sb – to get sth by putting pressure on sb.
Small businesses are being squeezed out of the neighborhood by developers.
* daylight robbery – used to say that sth is much too expensive.
An appliance store advertises refrigerators for $900, but you see ads for the same brand and model elsewhere for half that price. That store, you conclude, is committing daylight robbery, a “crime” that it is being committed in broad daylight.
* be beyond sb – be impossible for sb to understand or imagine.
Why Joan ever married such an idiot in the first place is beyond me.
* take sth out on sb – be unpleasant to sb or punish them for sth that is not their fault.
Workers who go home and take out their frustration on their families I’m sorry you didn’t get the job, but don’t take it out on me.
* a rip-off – more expensive than it should be.
I didn’t do research, so my hotel was a rip-off.
* I wouldn’t put it past sb (to do sth) – used to say you wouldn’t be surprised if sb did sth bad or unusual because it would be typical of them.
I wouldn’t put it past him to sell her jewellery.
* fall for sth – be tricked into believing sth that is not true.
He told me that he owned a mansion in Spain and I fell for it.
* vote with your feet – show that you do not support or agree with sth/sb by not going somewhere or by walking away.
The East Germans voted with their feet in an irresistible move toward freedom.
* no disrespect (to sb) – when you are going to criticize sb and do not want to seem rude or offend them.
No disrespect to John, but the club has been happier since he left.
* to be fair – used when you are defending yourself or sb/sth against criticism.
He’s not playing very well but, to be fair, he did have a pretty serious injury.
* pull/tear sb into pieces – criticize sb or their ideas very severely.
They tore my idea into pieces.
* take sth personally – let yourself get upset about sth that sb has said or done.
I took it personally when he yelled at the class.
* fair enough – used to say that something seems reasonable, but you do not agree with it completely.
I’ll wash the dishes today, and you can wash them tomorrow. Fair enough.
* jump down sb’s throat – react very angrily to sb in an unfair way.
He jumped down my throat when I suggested a different plan.
* let alone – used to say that sth is even less suitable or possible than another unsuitable or unlikely thing.
I don’t have enough money for a new car, let alone a luxury sedan.
I hope you learned some new phrasal verbs and idioms today, see you next time!
Source: Idioms and Phrasal Verbs – Advanced / Ruth Gairns and Stuart Redman – Oxford
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