Clothing Idioms (1)

1. Look at these common idioms which have a clothing theme. Read the idioms (on the left) and
match to the meanings (on the right.) Remember that the use of one's is usually replaced with a
different pronoun – Ant's in my/your/his/her/their pants.

Under one's hat Spend less money than before

Tighten one's belt To be the leader, to be in charge
Keep one's shirt on To be obsessed about something, talk about it a lot
Put yourself in one's shoes To keep a secret, not mention it
Wears the trousers To have too much self-confidence
A bee in one's bonnet Not to overreact, to be calm
Caught with one's pants To see something from another persons point of
down view, to have empathy
Too big for one's boots To be discovered doing something

2. Look at these short paragraphs and fill the gap with the correct idiom. Remember to change the
pronoun if necessary (too big for your/his/her/my/their boots).

1. Maria had suspected her husband of having an affair for some time. It was only when her
business trip got cancelled that she finally . The
adulterous pair had no idea Maria was there and she walked right in on them.

2. The four of us had been sightseeing at the Grand Canyon when John couldn't find his iPhone. It's
not unlike him to think he's lost something but for it to turn up just moments later, so the rest of us
weren't concerned. He was flapping around looking for it while we just laughed and said '
'.

3. Before the accident, we'd never been rich but we'd done alright. With Dad off work, it wasn't long
before we had to and cut back on our expenses.

4. You can tell who in that relationship – Amy is

always bossing Jason around.

5. Everyone was shocked when Carly lost the tennis tournament, but I wasn't so surprised. She'd
won every game up until then and I could see that she was getting
Actually, I'm glad she lost the game – it'll take her down a peg or two.

6. About the Tanaka deal, you need to keep this one ,

okay? It's not particularly a secret, I just don't want everyone to know about it yet, do you see what I
mean? Can we just keep it to ourselves for a while?

7. My mother and I never saw eye to eye when I was younger. When I reached adulthood, I found it
easier to and really understand where she was coming
from.

8. That Mrs. Peters is incessant! She has a real about

mowing the lawn. She drives me nuts!
 Clothing Idioms (1) – Teacher's Guide
1. Look at these common idioms which have a clothing theme. Read the idioms (on the left) and
match to the meanings (on the right.) Remember that the use of one's is usually replaced with a
different pronoun – Ant's in my/your/his/her/their pants.

Under one's hat Spend less money than before

Tighten one's belt To be the leader, to be in charge
Keep one's shirt on To be obsessed about something, talk about it a lot
Put yourself in one's shoes To keep a secret, not mention it
Wears the trousers To have too much self-confidence
A bee in one's bonnet Not to overreact, to be calm
Caught with one's pants To see something from another persons point of
down view, to have empathy
Too big for one's boots To be discovered doing something

2. Look at these short paragraphs and fill the gap with the correct idiom. Remember to change the
pronoun if necessary (too big for your/his/her/my/their boots).

1. Maria had suspected her husband of having an affair for some time. It was only when her
business trip got cancelled that she finally caught him with his pants down . The
adulterous pair had no idea Maria was there and she walked right in on them.

2. The four of us had been sightseeing at the Grand Canyon when John couldn't find his iPhone. It's
not unlike him to think he's lost something but for it to turn up just moments later, so the rest of us
weren't concerned. He was flapping around looking for it while we just laughed and said ' keep
your shirt on '.

3. Before the accident, we'd never been rich but we'd done alright. With Dad off work, it wasn't long
before we had to tighten our belts and cut back on our expenses.

4. You can tell who wears the trousers in that relationship – Amy is always bossing Jason
around.

5. Everyone was shocked when Carly lost the tennis tournament, but I wasn't so surprised. She'd
won every game up until then and I could see that she was getting too big for her boots
Actually, I'm glad she lost the game – it'll take her down a peg or two.

6. About the Tanaka deal, you need to keep this one under your hat , okay? It's not
particularly a secret, I just don't want everyone to know about it yet, do you see what I mean? Can
we just keep it to ourselves for a while?

7. My mother and I never saw eye to eye when I was younger. When I reached adulthood, I found it
easier to put myself in her shoes and really understand where she was coming from.

8. That Mrs. Peters is incessant! She has a real bee in her bonnet about mowing the lawn. She
drives me nuts!