IDIOMS FOR IELTS – MAI PHAN

Put myself in other people' shoes: be (or put oneself) in another person's situation
Feel down in the dumps – discouraged – depressed
work around the clock - busy all day and all night long
Follow in someone's footsteps: do the same thing that someone did
burn a hole in sb's pocket – spend it quickly and extravagantly
Spring to my mind = cross to my mind: To be thought of by one
throw s.b for a loop = completely surprise s.o
Throw money out of the window
Burn the midnight oil – stay up late
put all eggs in one basket: invest, devote, or commit all of one's energy or resources
into a single opportunity….
turn back the hands of time – quay ngược time
Put the cart before the horse: cầm đèn chạy trước ô tô
Cut my coat according to my cloth:
To shop or act in accordance with one's financial limitations
Don't judge a book by its cover:
Don't base your opinion of something (or someone) on the way it (or one) looks

Grass is always greener on the other side:

Other people's circumstances or belongings always seem more desirable than one's ow
n.
I feel over the moon = very happy = I am on cloud nine
Cost me an arm and a leg = extremely expensive
Once in a blue moon – happens very rarely – hiếm khi
Fall foul of the law /faʊl/ =break the law = infringe on the law
Work against the clock
Work around the clock
To try to do something in a very limited amount of time
Let my hair down: you relax and enjoy yourself
tie the knot = marry

1
settle down:  begin or settle into a life of stability, order, and peace
Work my ass off = work really hard

Let off steam

at my fingertips: close at hand; easily or immediately available – trong tầm tay

work around the clock

Throwing money down the drain on…. waste money by spending it on

something useless
play by ear: plan or schedule something in an improvised or flexible way
pay through the nose: pay too much money for something
Once in a while = sometimes
Make ends meet
put the food on the table: To earn enough money to provide the basic necessities
in a nutshell In summary; concisely: nói tóm lại
up to my ears in… Extremely busy
cream my head off = scream very loudly
A drop in the ocean
Work flat out – work very hard
Give (lend) somebody a hand – help somebody
Hit the books – to study, usually intensively
in high spirits – extremely happy
under the weather – sick
a blessing in disguise: trong cái rủi có cái may
an early bird (someone who gets up early)
Against the clock – chạy đua với thời gian
Put yourself in somebody’s shoes
Cost an arm and a leg – really expensive
Put all your eggs in one basket – put all your money or effort into one thing.

2
fed up with (chán nản)
Burn the candle at both ends:
To overwork or exhaust oneself by doing too many things
Actions speak louder than words – it is better to actually do something than just talk
about it.
Feel the butterflies in my stomach
If you have butterflies in your stomach, you feel very nervous about something that
you have to do
Whenever I have to speak in public, I get butterflies in my stomach
Fight like cat and dog
A fat cat (impolite way or referring to s.o very rich and powerful)
Wear many hats: do many different types of tasks or roles
Ex: My job description is very broad, so I have to wear many hats
Work flat out – work really hard
TOPIC 5: EMOTIONS
Get on one’s nerves
As cool as a cucumber
Experienced a roller coaster of emotions
Make up my mind
Catch fish with both hands
Put all my eggs in one basket
I was pumped up
Pay through my nose
It dawned on me that…
Pour money down the drain
Put food on the table
I felt desperately sad/ bitterly disappointed
Scream my head off
Keep my emotion in check = control my anger = bottle up my emotion
Keep my emotions in check
Pour my heart out to someone

3
Cry my eyes out
Lend an ear/ lend a sympathetic ear to somebody
Half-hearted/ half-heartedly (show no enthusiasm or interest)
wholeheartedly
halfheartedly
Pick up some groceries
was really pissed off
I was baffled to
have a go at someone ( physically attack someone,
criticize, berate, or verbally harass someone at length and/or with great intensity)
go off the deep end (very angry about something)
binge drinking: drinking too much on one occasion
binge eating
studies around the clock

turn back the hands of time

come hell or high water: whatever difficulties may occur.

Dù thế nào đi chăng nữa

It’s beyond my pocket
A blessing in disguise /dɪsˈɡaɪz/: trong cái rủi lại có cái may
put the food on the table = make ends meet
A slave to fashion
Feel the butterflies in my stomach
If you have butterflies in your stomach, you feel very nervous about something that
you have to do
Prioritize your to-do list
A fat cat (impolite way or referring to s.o very rich and powerful)
Wear many hats: do many different types of tasks or roles
Ex: My job description is very broad, so I have to wear many hats
Hard-earned money

4
studies around the clock

have a sweet tooth

Pour my heart out to someone

at their fingertips
a double-edged sword: contain both good and bad
Box office hit = blockbuster
A couch potato
tease their friends with some off-color jokes
follow in somebody’s footsteps

Living under the same roof

Sleep like a rock – sleep like a log

Rest on one's laurels
Ngủ quên trên chiến thắng quá lâu /ˈlɔːr.əl/
Rest on our laurels for too long
live in one’s pockets: be with each other all the time and depend on each other

pig myself out: ăn nhiều

has an eye for fashion

A blessing in disguise /dɪsˈɡaɪz/: trong cái rủi lại có cái may

was up to my neck with

experience butterflies in my stomach

water things down: để mọi chuyện êm xuôi

I just want to water things down

A hot potato: vấn đề nan giải

5
Burn the midnight oil: thuc khuya hoc bai

the more the merrier càng đông càng vui

once in a while = occasionally = sometimes

once in a blue moon – rarely

jump out of my skin: giật mình, sợ phát khiếp

The loud noise made me jump out of my skin.

split my sides cười bể bụng

read between the lines - try to understand someone's real feelings or intentions from
what they say or write
a social butterfly: an extroverted person who loves to socialize
Sell like hot cakes: bán chạy như bánh mới ra lò
A bad apple: 1 con sâu làm rầu nồi canh

In every organization, you can find a bad apple who can damage their prestige

4.hide one’s light under a bushel

dấu tài

stamp one’s mark on sth để lại dấu ấn cá nhân

5.hear something through the grapevine

nghe đồn

a social butterfly – người giỏi giao tiếp

fly the nest

barking up the wrong tree – look in the wrong place, accuse the wrong person
mortgage – cầm cố, thế nợ /ˈmɔːr.ɡɪdʒ/

6
hear something through the grapevine

At a snail’s pace – rất chậm

a bitter pill to swallow: sự thật phũ phàng

something that is very unpleasant but must be accepted:

2. nip it in the bud: (idiom) phòng hơn chữa

(stop something before it has an opportunity to become established)

3. let sleeping dogs lie: (idiom) cứ để quá khứ ngủ yên

(said to warn someone that they should not talk about a bad situation that most people
have forgotten about)

money doesn’t grow on trees: money is something that must be earned and that it is
not easy to acquire it. It often means that you should be careful how much you spend,
because money is not an infinite resource.
get a grip on = keep or recover one's self-control.
Nip it in the bud: (idiom) phòng hơn chữa 
(stop something before it has an opportunity to become established)
3. let sleeping dogs lie: (idiom) cứ để quá khứ ngủ yên 
(said to warn someone that they should not talk about a bad situation that most people
have forgotten about) 
4. I’ll be back in a tick: anh sẽ quay lại ngay
make skin crawl: If someone or something makes your skin crawl, you think they are
very unpleasant or frightening