1st vocabulary entry

1. Be down in the dumps

Meaning:

Be very sad and depressed.
If you are down in the dumps, you feel very sad and miserable. You don't have much interest in life.

Example:

Mary has been down in the dumps since her mother's death.

He looks a bit down in the dumps these days. Let's cheer him up.

She failed her exam and is down in the dumps.

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2. Don't let the grass grow under your feet.
(Not let the grass grow under someone's feet)

Meaning:

Act now without any delay.
If you say "Don't let the grass grow under your feet" to someone, you tell him/her not to waste time and to do something immediately.

If someone doesn't let the grass grow under his/her feet, he/she does something right now without waiting.

Example:

Now that you know what to do, act right away. Don't let the grass grow under your feet.

A: Do you think the manager's already started to do something to solve the problem?
B: I believe so. He's the kind of guy who doesn't let the grass grow under his feet.

 

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3.Cast pearls before swine

Meaning:

Offer or show something valuable, good, or beautiful to someone who does not understand its value
If you are casting pearls before swine, you are wasting your time showing or offering something very helpful or valuable to someone who does not understand or appreciate it.

Example:

Don't bother explaining Shakespeare to Bob. It would be like casting pearls before swine.

Tom wouldn't listen to Sarah's wise advice. She was just casting pearls before swine.



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4.Bite off more than one can chew

Meaning:

To try to do something that is too difficult

If you bite off more than you can chew, you try to do more than you are able to.


Example:
She has bitten off more than she can chew again. She has agreed to finish 3 very difficult projects by the end of this year.

Do your best. Do whatever you can, but don't bite off more than you can chew.


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5.Race against the clock / time 

Meaning:

Work or do something very fast to finish it before a deadline

If you have a situation in which you have to finish doing something very quickly by a deadline, you call that situation a race against the clock / time.

Example:
They started a race against the clock to finish the interior of the new store that was scheduled to open in a month.

The engineers worked 15 hours a day to complete the new computer system by the deadline. It was really a race against time.

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6.Put all your (my, their, etc.) eggs into one basket

Meaning:

Depend totally on one single person or course of action.

If you put all your eggs into one basket, you put all your energy and time to one thing or purpose. If it fails, you will have no other possibilities left.

Example:
I know you really want to go to BYU, but don't put all your eggs into one basket. Apply to a few other colleges too.

I'll invest my money in several companies, not this one only. I don't want to put all my eggs into one basket.

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7.Be shaking like a leaf

Meaning:

Be shaking your body a lot because you are cold, nervous, or frightened

If you are shaking like a leaf, you are shaking a lot especially when you are very cold, nervous or frightened.


Example:The child was shaking like a leaf while he was meeting with the principal.

I went to a place in the city, and I didn't know it was one of the most dangerous areas there. After I heard 5 people were shot and killed on the same day in the same place, I was shaking like a leaf.


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8.Great minds think alike. 

Meaning:

This is a humorous expression that is used when you found out someone else was thinking about the same thing as you were.

If you say, "Great minds think alike," you say, jokingly, that you and someone else must be very intelligent or great because both of you thought of the same thing or agree on something.


Example:
A: I'm going to the concert tonight.
B: Oh, really? Me too. I heard the performers are excellent.
A: Great minds think alike.
(A and B meet in a restaurant unexpectedly.)
A: How did you know I am here?
B: This restaurant is a very nice place to spend an evening. Great minds think alike. 


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9.Go nuts

Meaning:

1. Become very excited because a very good thing happened.

2. Become very angry

If you go nuts, you behave in an excited, crazy, or angry way.


Example:The spectators went nuts when she got 10.0 on her performance.

My dad would go nuts if he saw this mess.

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10.Variety is the spice of life.

Meaning:

You use this proverb to say that if you do a lot of different things and meet different people, etc., your life becomes more interesting.

Having and experiencing a lot of different things is what makes your life interesting.

Example:

Variety is the spice of life, and there's a lot of it at the English Language Center. You can meet people from many different countries, and there are a lot of activities you can participate in.

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