English idioms, proverbs, and expressions are an important part of everyday English.

They come up all the time in both written and spoken English. Because idioms don't
always make sense literally, you'll need to familiarize yourself with the meaning and
usage of each idiom. That may seem like a lot of work, but learning idioms is fun,
especially when you compare English idioms to the idioms in your own language.

• along the same lines - something that is similar to what

another person is talking about .

Everyone had such a great time at your party last month that we
decided to do something along the same lines for our party.

• be out of line - behave badly or in a way that is not

acceptable in a particular situation.

She was out of line to yell at poor Antonio when he made a mistake.

• down the line - at a future time .

Maybe five years down the line I'll start my own business.

• drop someone a line - to write and send a short letter to

someone.

Please drop me a line when you get back.

• get a line on something - to get information about someone

or something so you can understand it better.

I'm trying to get a line on the hotels in Rome before we go there for
our vacation.

• give someone a line - to tell someone something that isn't

true so they will do what you want.

The salesman gave us a line about how perfect his product was.
 • lay it on the line - to tell someone the truth in a very direct
way.

Our teacher laid it on the line and said we wouldn't pass the course if
we didn't study harder.

• read between the lines - to be able to understand the full

meaning of something, even though you have not been given
all the details .

He said he was happy with his job, but reading between the lines, I
could tell that something was wrong.

• take a hard line - to be determined to make people behave in

the way what you want and unwilling to change your opinions
[often used in business and politics].

Since Floretta became principal, she has taken a hard line with
the teachers. Now they really have to work.

• the bottom line - used to tell someone what you think the
most important part of a situation is [This idiom comes from
business accounts in which the bottom line is the final line that
shows how much profit company has made or how much money
was lost.]

The bottom line is that we have to finish the report by Friday

afternoon.
Vocabulary
The Bottom Line 1

36
The Bottom Line 2

37
Vocabulary - Practice

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