Interesting idioms
Table of Contents
| Expression | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Bait and switch | the ploy of offering a person something desirable to gain favor (such as political support) then thwarting expectations with something less desirable |
| Carrot on a stick | refers to a motivational technique, often used in the context of management or leadership. It describes a method of encouraging desired behavior by offering a reward (the “carrot”) for compliance while simultaneously threatening punishment (the “stick”) for non-compliance. |
| Chomping at the bit | waiting in an impatient way to do. e.g. After the season 1 finale aired, fans were champing at the bit for more something |
| Come to a head | reach a point where some strong action has to be taken. e.g. The situation finally came to a head when she failed to show up at school. |
| C’est la vie (pronounced se-la-vee) | that’s life : that’s how things happen |
| Death by a thousand cuts / The straw that broke the camel’s back | lots of small bad things are happening, none of which are fatal in themselves, but which add up to a slow and painful demise. |
| Eat someone’s or something’s lunch | to outdo or defeat someone or something very badly |
| I knocked it on its head | primarily used in British English, meaning to stop something or cause it to fail. It can also mean to decisively refute or prove something wrong. e.g. I quit smoking. I knocked it on its head. |
| Lacking agency | lacking the capacity to act and exert influence or control over one’s own life and environment. It implies a sense of powerlessness, where an individual feels like a passive observer or victim of circumstances rather than an active agent shaping their own experiences |
| On the ropes | On the verge of defeat or collapse, helpless. e.g. They acknowledged that their campaign was on the ropes, and they could not possibly win the election. See https://www.dictionary.com/browse/on--the--ropes |
| Picking up the mantle | taking on the responsibilities and duties of a previous person, often in a leadership role or position. It implies inheriting a legacy and continuing a task, mission, or role that someone else has previously held. |
| Put a stake in the ground, set up camp, pitch their tent | Signal their intention to stay for the long term, establishing rules or principles for the long-term, a point from which you won’t budge. e.g. We need to put an important stake in the ground for the future of the firm. |
| She is a victim of her own success | to have problems because of success. See https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/be-a-victim-of-own-success |
| Shoot from the hip | react suddenly or without careful consideration of one’s words or actions. e.g. “he is shooting from the hip in an act of desperation” |
| Soup to nuts | from beginning to end; completely. People say “soup to nuts” because it describes a full-course meal that literally started with soup as the first course and ended with nuts as a final treat, becoming a popular American idiom for “from beginning to end” or covering everything in a process. |