Hello everyone!
Today’s free lesson is about Sweet Idioms.
An idiom is a group of words that, in common usage, has a different meaning than the literal meaning of the individual words. Food idioms are idioms that include words about food or eating.
Food Idioms: Examples and Explanations
Apple of his eye – A favorite
As busy as popcorn on a skillet – Very active
As easy as apple pie – Something simple
As flat as a pancake – Very flat
As hungry as a bear – Very hungry
As nutty as a fruitcake – Crazy
As slow as molasses in January – Very slow
As sour as vinegar – Disagreeable
As sweet as honey – Very sweet
As thick as pea soup – Very thick
As warm as toast – Very warm
Bad apple – Bad person
Bad egg – Bad person
Bear fruit – Get results
Big cheese – Important person
Big enchilada – Important thing or person
Bite off more than you can chew – Try to do more than you can handle
Bite the hand that feeds you – Act badly to someone who helps you
Bitter pill to swallow – Hard to take
Bottom of the food chain – Having the least power or influence
Bread and butter – Basic needs
Bring home the bacon – Earn a living
Butter up – Flatter someone to get something
Buy a lemon – Buy something worthless
Chew the fat – Talk
Coffee break – A break from work to eat or drink
Compare apples and oranges – Compare things that are very different
Cook his goose – Damage or affect negatively
Cook up a storm – Cook a large quantity
Cool as a cucumber – Doesn’t get easily upset
Couch potato – Someone who watches a lot of TV
Cream of the crop – The best
Cream puff – Someone easy to overwhelm or beat out
Cut the mustard – Do what is necessary
Cry over spilt milk – Worry about something in the past
Drop like a hot potato – To immediately stop
Eat crow – Admit a mistake
Eat dirt – Be humble
Eat high on the hog – Eat fine food
Eat humble pie – To apologize
Eat like a bird – Eat a small amount
Eat like a horse – Eat a lot
Eat one’s heart out – To be jealous
Eat out – Dine in a restaurant
Eat out of her hands – Do what she wants
Eat us out of house and home – Eat a lot
Eat your words – Take back words
Egg on – Urge someone
Either feast or famine – Either too much or not enough
Everything from soup to nuts – A wide variety of items
Fat is in the fire – Big problem
Fine kettle of fish – A mess
Finger in the pie – Participating
Food for thought – Something to think about
Forbidden fruit – Something banned
For peanuts – Inexpensive
Full of beans – Feel energetic
Go bananas – Excited or crazy
Goose is cooked – Finished or in trouble
Gravy train – Well-paying job
Greatest thing since sliced bread – Something that is excellent
Half a loaf is better than none – Something is better than nothing
Half-baked – Not thought through
Hand to someone on a silver platter – Cater to someone
Hard nut to crack – Difficult person
Have a lot on one’s plate – Very busy
Have a sweet tooth – Like sweet foods
Have bigger fish to fry – Have more important things to do
Have egg on your face – Be embarrassed
Have one’s cake and eat it too – Having something both ways
In a nutshell – In summary
In a pickle – In trouble
Life is a bowl of cherries – Life is good
Like taking candy from a baby – Easy to do
Like two peas in a pod – Very similar
Low hanging fruit – Easy to get or do
Meat and potatoes – Basics, simple food
Melt in one’s mouth – Delicious
Not for all the tea in China – Not for any price
Not my cup of tea – Not to my liking
Not know beans about – Unfamiliar or ignorant
Not worth a hill of beans – Not valuable
Nutty as a fruitcake – Crazy
Packed in like sardines – Crowded
Piece of cake – Easy
Pie in the sky – A dream
Rotten to the core – Very bad
Salt of the Earth – Ordinary people
Sell like hotcakes – Sell a lot
Slice of the pie – A share of something
Small potatoes – Unimportant
Spill the beans – Tell a secret
Stick to your ribs – Last a long time
Sugarcoat – Gloss over bad information
Take with a grain of salt – Don’t take something seriously
That’s the way the cookie crumbles – Things happen
There is no such thing as a free lunch – Can’t get something for nothing
Top banana – Leader
Variety is the spice of life – Differences give life interest
Walk on eggshells – Be cautious
Whole enchilada – Entire thing
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