Commonly used english part 62 pptx

611

on top of the world

- feeling very good
I was on top of the world after I received news of the scholarship that I had won.

on trial

- to be tried in court
The man is on trial for stealing money from his company.

on vacation

- to be away, to take a vacation
I plan to be on vacation for the first two weeks of March.

on view

- to be visible, to be on public display
The new sculptures were on view and everybody in the town could see them.


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once Idioms

once again

- anew, again
I tried once again to phone my boss at his home .



612

once and for all

- permanently, finally
I told my friend once and for all that I would not give him any money.
once in a blue moon

- very rarely
I only go to that restaurant once in a blue moon.

once in a lifetime

- something that will never occur again in one's lifetime
I felt that only once in a lifetime would I get a chance to see my favorite singer
perform.

once in a while

- occasionally
We like Japanese food so we go to that restaurant once in a while.

once or twice

- a few times
We went to the new restaurant once or twice but we quickly became tired of it.

a once-over

- a quick look or examination of someone or something
We gave the rental car a once-over before we signed the contract.

once upon a time

- far in the past
Once upon a time a beautiful princess lived in a castle in a small town.



613

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one Idioms


one and all

- everyone

One and all were invited to the community center to listen to the famous author speak.

the one and only

- a famous and talented person, the unique and only "somebody"
Yesterday the newspaper published an interview with the one and only inventor of the
new DVD player.

one and the same

- the very same person or thing
It is one and the same if we finish the job today or continue until tomorrow.

a one-armed bandit

- a slot machine for gambling
He spent the weekend with a one-armed bandit and now has no money.

one by one

- one at a time, each in turn
One by one the contestants walked onto the stage.



614

one foot in the grave

- near death

Her grandmother has one foot in the grave and is not expected to live much longer.

one for the (record) books

- something very unusual or remarkable
His latest complaint about noise at work is one for the books and is very stupid.

one in a thousand/hundred/million

- unique, one of a very few
I only had a one in a million chance of finding the ring that I had dropped into the
lake.

one jump ahead of (someone or something)

- one step in advance of someone or something
The little boy was one jump ahead of the other students in his class after he went to
summer school.

one little bit

- any at all, at all (usually used in the negative)
I do not agree with my supervisor one little bit about my work performance.

a one-night stand

- an activity lasting one night
The band played many one-night stands in the small towns close to the city.

615

one of these days

- someday in the future
One of these days I am going to talk to my supervisor about moving to another
department.

one to a customer

- each person can have or receive only one of something
The store had a limit of one to a customer of the cameras that were on sale.

a one-track mind

- thinking about only one thing
He has a one-track mind. All he thinks about is money.

the one-two

- quick or decisive action that takes someone by surprise
The salesman gave the customer the one-two and the customer quickly agreed to buy
the product.

one up on (someone)

- to have an advantage, to be one step ahead
His brother was one up on the other students because he studied very hard.

one-upmanship

- the ability to keep ahead of others, the ability to keep an advantage
His one-upmanship and his desire to always be better than everyone else makes many
people tired of him.






616

one way or another

- somehow
One way or another I am going to attend the annual general meeting tomorrow.


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only have eyes for (someone)

- to be loyal to only one person

My sister only has eyes for her boyfriend.

to be onto (someone or something)

- to have discovered the truth about someone or something
My supervisor in onto the new saleswoman who is taking money from her sales
register.


open Idioms


open a conversation

- to start a conversation
I went over to the woman in the waiting area and tried to open a conversation.

open and aboveboard

- to be honest, to be visible to the public
The company is open and aboveboard and they run their business very honestly.


617

an open-and-shut case

- something (often a legal matter) that is simple and clear
It was an open-and-shut case when the judge decided the case where the man had
stolen the computer.

an open book

- someone or something that is easy to understand
My friend is an open book and everything about him is easy to understand.

open fire on (someone)

- to start shooting, to start asking questions or criticizing someone
The police opened fire on the man with the gun.

open for business

- a shop/restaurant/business that is open and ready to do business
The small shop is open for business after a long holiday.

open one`s heart to (someone)

- to talk about one`s feelings honestly, to confide in someone
I opened my heart to my friend when I saw her at the restaurant last night.

open Pandora's box

- to uncover more problems/issues than you expected or wanted
The investigation of the company was like opening Pandora's box. Many other
problems were discovered.

618

open season on (someone or something)

- a time when everyone is criticizing someone, unrestricted hunting of an animal
It appeared to be open season on our boss and everyone felt free to criticize her.
It is hunting season and open season on deer now.

an open secret

- a secret that so many people know about that it is no longer a secret
It is an open secret that I will be leaving the company next month.

open (someone's) eyes to (something)

- to make someone become aware of something
The scandal opened our eyes to the problems that could occur in a large company.

open (something) up

- to unwrap something
The little boy laughed as he opened his birthday presents up.

open (something) up

- to reveal the possibilities of something
The departure of the school principal opened his job up to other members of the staff.

open (something) up

- to make something less congested
We opened up the yard by cutting down some trees.

open (something) up

- to start the use of something such as land or a building
The government is planning to open more land up to farming.


619

open the door to (something)

- to permit or allow something to become a possibility
The new sports program opened the door to many possibilities in getting the students
involved in physical activity.

open to (something)

- to be agreeable to learn or hear about new ideas or suggestions
Our principal is open to new ideas about how to better meet the needs of students and
teachers.

open up a can of worms

- to create unnecessary complications
The dispute with our competitor opened up a can of worms about how to market our

product.

open up on (someone or something)

- to attack someone or something, to fire a gun or other weapon at someone or
something
The man with the gun opened up on the people in the car.

open up to (someone)

- to talk frankly or truthfully to someone
I always open up to my best friend when I meet him.

open with (something)

- to start out with something
The convention opened with a speech from the president of our company.





620

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an opening gambit

- an opening statement or something to help give one an advantage in bargaining or
something similar
The union made several concessions as their opening gambit in their negotiations with
the company.

the opposite sex

- the opposite sex to someone (either male or female)
The math classes were divided so that nobody had to study with a member of the
opposite sex.

or else

- or suffer the consequences
The teacher told the students to be quiet or else.

or words to that effect

- with other words that have about the same meaning
My boss told me not to apply for the job or words to that effect.

the order of the day

- something necessary, the usual practice
The order of the day is to begin to clean up the mess that the storm caused last night.

order (someone) around/about

- to give commands to someone
Our new supervisor is always trying to order people around.