English, baby!

body idioms

Date: Aug 13 2008

Lesson

slang(hand)
hand over
pass on something
Before I leave, I have to hand over all my work

get out of hand
become impossible to manage
You'll have to deal with this problem before it gets out of hand

have your hands full
be very busy
I can't do anything about it now - my hands are full.

in hand
under control
The company report is in hand - you'll have it next week

live hand to mouth
only earn enough money for food
After he lost his job, he had to live hand to mouth for a couple of months

have someone in the palm of your hand
have influence over someone
He's got her in the palm of his hand

be caught red-handed
The children were caught red-handed picking the flowers

slang(finger)

butter fingers
be clumsy and drop things
You've dropped my vase! Butter fingers!

keep your fingers crossed
wish something for someone
Keep your fingers crossed for me tomorrow - it's my job interview

look through ones fingers
I looked through him finger when I saw him

under your thumb
control someone
She's got him under her thumb - he won't do anything without asking her first

slang(feet&legs)
put your foot in it
say or do something you shouldn't
I think I've put my foot in it - I told her about the party

have itchy feet
not able to settle down in one place
She's going off travelling again - she's got really itchy feet

keep someone on their toes
keep someone alert
Our teacher keeps us on our toes - we have to pay attention in class

stand on your own two feet
be independent
I don't need your help - I can stand on my own two feet

have two left feet
be awkward or clumsy
He's a terrible dancer - he's got two left feet

walk on eggshells
be careful about what you say or do
She's in a terrible mood - you'll have to walk on eggshells around her

foot the bill
pay the bill
He had to foot the bill for the party

slang(back)
go behind someone's back
do something secretly
She went behind my back and told my boss I wanted a new job

back off
stop trying to force someone to do something
Will you just back off and let me decide what I should do!"

back down
accept defeat
He finally backed down and let me buy a pet rabbit."

back someone up
support someone
Thank you for backing me up in the meeting

put your back into something
work very hard at something
She put her back into it and got good results

stab someone in the back
betray someone
Be careful of him - he'll stab you in the back if it gets him what he wants