Commonly used english part 5 pps

41

behind schedule

- unable to do something by the time on the schedule, after the time on a schedule
The trains were behind schedule because of the accident early in the morning.

behind (someone`s) back

- without someone`s knowledge, secretly
The man is very angry because his friend borrowed his car behind his back.

behind the scenes

- privately, out of public view
The diplomats worked behind the scenes to try and solve the crisis.

behind the times

- to be old-fashioned
My aunt is behind the times.

belabor the point

- to spend too much time on a point of discussion
I tried not to belabor the point but I needed to explain things in detail for everyone to
understand.

below average

- to be lower or worse than average
The amount of rain was below average during the winter.

belt (something) out

- to sing/play a song with lots of energy
The man stood up and belted out several old songs.


42

bend (someone's) ear

- to talk to someone (maybe annoyingly)
I did not want to go into my supervisor's office and have him bend my ear for a long
time.

bend over backwards (to do something)

- to try very hard to do something
"I will bend over backwards to help you get a job in this company."

bent on doing (something)

- to be determined to do something
The young boys were bent on buying the old car to fix it up.

beside oneself (with something)

- to be very upset or excited about something

The boy was beside himself with joy after winning the contest.

beside the point

- to be not relevant to the subject that you are considering or discussing
"What you are saying is beside the point. We are not talking about salary now."

best/better part of (something)

- to be almost all of something
We spent the best part of a day trying to fix the vacuum cleaner.








43

bet on the wrong horse

- to misjudge a coming event, to misread the future
I think that he bet on the wrong horse by investing all of his money into the new
stock.

bet one's bottom dollar

- to be very certain about something

I would bet my bottom dollar that my friend will be late for the movie.

better off

- to be in a better situation than before
He would be better off if he sold his old car and bought a new one.

between a rock and a hard place

- to be in a very difficult position
We were between a rock and a hard place in our effort to solve the problem.

between the devil and the deep blue sea

- to be in a very difficult position
The mayor was between the devil and the deep blue sea when he tried to keep the two
groups happy.

betwixt and between

- to be undecided, to be between two decisions
We were betwixt and between in our effort to try and decide which school to send our
child to.






44

beyond a shadow of a doubt

- to be completely without doubt
Everyone believed beyond a shadow of a doubt that the man had stolen the money.

beyond measure

- to be more than can be measured
The man's love for his city was beyond measure.

beyond one's depth

- to be beyond one's ability, to be in deep water
The apartment manager was beyond her depth in her effort to manage the apartment.

beyond one's means

- to be more than one can afford
The expensive boat was very much beyond our means.

beyond the pale

- to be outside the bounds of acceptable behavior
What they are doing is totally unacceptable and beyond the pale.

beyond words

- to be more than one can say
Our love for our new baby is beyond words.

bid adieu to (someone or something)

- to say good-bye to someone or something
Everybody gathered to bid adieu to the popular supervisor.


45

bide one`s time

- to patiently wait for an opportunity to occur.
The man is biding his time as he waits to become president of the company.

big frog/fish in a small pond

- an important person in a less important place
The woman was a big fish in a small pond when she moved to the small town.

big of (someone)

- to be generous of someone
It was very big of the man to share his house with the other people.

big shot

- an important and powerful person
The man is a big shot in the oil and gas industry.

bird in hand is worth two in the bush

- something that you already have is better than something that you might get
A bird in hand is worth two in the bush so we decided to sell the car to our neighbor
rather than wait to get a higher price.

birds and the bees

- human sex and reproduction
The father tried to tell his son about the birds and the bees.

birds-eye view

- a view from high above, a brief look at something
We had a birds-eye view of the playing field from our seats high up in the stadium.


46

birthday suit

- a completely naked body
The little boy was running down the street in his birthday suit.

bite off more than one can chew

- to try to do more than one is able to do
I bit off more than I can chew by agreeing to do another assignment.

bite one's nails

- to be nervous or anxious about something
The children were biting their nails as they waited for the results of the test.

bite one's tongue

- to try not to say something that you really want to say
I had to bite my tongue and not tell our boss what had happened.

bite (someone's) head off

- to speak angrily to someone
I am afraid to speak to my teacher when she is in a bad mood because she may bite
my head off.

bite the bullet

- to endure a difficult situation, to face a difficult situation bravely
I have decided to bite the bullet and begin to study for my Master`s degree.

bite the dust

- to be killed, to break down, to be defeated
I think that my car will bite the dust soon.


47

bite the hand that feeds you

- to harm or turn against someone who does good things for you

He is biting the hand that feeds him when he criticizes and fights against his boss.

bitter pill to swallow

- an unpleasant fact that one must accept
Losing the election was a bitter pill to swallow for the candidate.

black out

- to faint or pass out
Suddenly the young woman blacked out while she was standing in front of the
computer.

black sheep of the family

- the worst member of a family
The boy was the black sheep of the family and nobody liked him.

blast off

- to shoot into the sky (used for a rocket)
The rocket blasted off at noon.

blaze a trail (in something)

- to create or develop a new area of study
The soccer player blazed a trail for the other players to follow with his unique way of
playing soccer.

48

bleep (something) out

- to replace a word in a radio or television broadcast with a musical tone (often used
to bleep out a bad word)
The remarks of the coach were bleeped out during the television interview.

blessing in disguise

- something that turns out to be good but which seemed to be bad at first
The elderly woman was in very much pain and it was a blessing in disguise when she
quietly passed away.

blind leading the blind

- someone who does not understand something but tries to explain it to others
It is like the blind leading the blind to watch the man try to explain how to operate the
new computer.

blood, sweat and tears

- signs of great personal effort
We put much blood, sweat and tears into building the small cabin.

blow Idioms
blow a fuse

- to burn out a fuse, to become angry
We quickly replaced the old fuse when our house blew a fuse last night.
My friend blew a fuse when I told him that I had lost his book

blow one`s own horn

- to praise oneself
My friend is always blowing his own horn and is very annoying at times.


49

blow one's top/stack

- to become very angry
The customer blew his stack when they refused to exchange his purchase at the store.

blow over

- to die down, to calm down
The problem with the lost invoices has blown over and everybody is happy again.

blow (someone) away

- to overcome someone emotionally
The performance was so wonderful that it blew me away.

blow (someone's) cover

- to reveal someone's true identity or purpose
The police blew the officer's cover by mistake.

blow (someone's) mind

- to overwhelm or excite someone
The beauty of the African wildlife parks blew my mind during our holiday.

blow (someone or something) off

- to avoid someone, to not attend something
We blew off the chance to go to the general meeting.

blow (something)

- to fail at something, to ruin something
I think that I blew the final math exam last week.


50

blow (something) out of all proportion

- to make a bigger issue about something than it really is
The problem was very small but the manager blew it out of all proportion.

blow the lid off (something)

- to reveal something (often a wrongdoing)
The government investigation blew the lid off the illegal activities.

blow the whistle (on someone)

- to report someone's wrongdoing to the police or other authorities
The employee blew the whistle on the illegal practices of the company.

blow to smithereens

- to explode into tiny pieces
The gas tanker was blown to smithereens during the accident.

blow up (at someone)

- to get angry, to lose one's temper
The passenger who was waiting in the line blew up at the ticket agent.

blow up in (someone's) face

- to be ruined while one is working on it (a plan/project etc.), to explode suddenly
The secret plan blew up in our face when we discovered that everybody already knew
about it.