English Slang Idioms (108)

She lived a pleasant, privileged, carefree life up until now. However, she recently lost her job and that, in turn, made her mortgage payment overdue. The bank was threatening to take her house. She remembered that her mother told her once "In every life, some ......... must fall" — she hadn't fully believed it until now.
people
houses
rain
stock

His predecessor ruled the organization with an .......... He frequently used hierarchical, stringent authority to get the job done and that seemed appropriate at the time. However, times had changed and he felt that it was time to take more of an interest in employees' lives, working conditions and interests and to empower employees to get the job done.
green thumb
iron fist
open mind
kid gloves

When his mom called and asked him if he had any clients for his business, he told her that, although, he did have several ........., he hadn't landed a big client yet.
irons in the fire
command and control policies
buried treasure
cap and trade policies

He knew that the courts traditionally favored awarding full custody of small children to the mother but he had to try. He knew that he probably wouldn't win but he told himself "It isn't over till the ......... lady sings" and he believed it.
opera
fat
idol
first

"I read an article about Mr. Martigrathac the other day that praised his contributions to charity and made him sound like America's most popular and altruistic citizen. You should have read this thing. The article made it sound like we should all takes notes on citizenship from him. Has everyone forgot that he was arrested for child molestation and child pornography? I mean, is Saul also among the ........., or what?" Maddie said to Shelly.
idols
revered
prophets
role models

"My mom is in the hospital. My brother got arrested for dealing drugs. My professor said that I need to rework my doctoral thesis. I had to have a root canal. All this happened this week! I guess that the saying is true: When it rains, it ......... '," Lilly said to her best friend Adam.
hails
snows
pours
hurricanes

In many places in North America, children are taught to be wary of strangers. As well, other members of society, such as neighbors, view others' children as a nuisance. In contrast, other societies and cultures have more of a communal view on child rearing. Many believe that "It takes a whole ......... to raise a child."
country
street
village
economy

He hated that she blamed their break-up solely on him. A lot of the things he did was in reaction to the nasty things she did. She, like all other humans, had flaws but she refused to acknowledge any of them. It takes two to .......... Didn't she know that?
tango
conspire
collude
conceive

"Did you hear from the corporate office that we are going to be improving our technology and become more streamlined?" Jessie asked Todd. Todd replied, "Yes, I did. It is an ......... that blows no good. I think it means that we will be downsizing and outsourcing a lot of jobs — maybe even our own to other countries."
angry fan
ill wind
insidious hair drier
pompous mouth

"I know that we probably can't win the product liability suit against that huge company but we are going to try despite the difference in power. I am telling myself that it is not the size of the dog that's in the fight, but the size of the ......... that's in the dog' as often as possible," Gina said to Maurice.
muscle
brain
fight
teeth