109 phrases found for the topic Expressions
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Phrase: Cul-de-sac
Meaning: A blind alley, that is, a dead-end street. A street that has only one way in and out.
Examples:
Cul-de-sacs / Culs-de-sac in this area can be very dangerous at night.
Don't take this street because it is a cul-de-sac. Take the next one, and then turn right.
We live on / in a cul-de-sac, and we love it because it is a quiet place.
Do you think money will resolve this cul-de-sac situation? We find it very difficult to make progress. (Used figuratively.)
Date: 29-07-2021
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Phrase: At rest
Meaning: If something is at rest, it does not move or change. If someone is at rest, he or she is dead.
Examples:
The Earth is never at rest, that is, it is changing continuously.
He lies at rest in that cemetery now, and will no longer hurt anyone.
Date: 21-05-2021
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Phrase: Per head / A head
Meaning: Per person.
Examples:
We have to pay a thousand pounds per head.
We had lunch at twenty pounds a head.
Date: 15-04-2021
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Phrase: (For hours, days, years...) on end
Meaning: Without stopping.
Examples:
Storms like these can last for days on end.
I do not wish to visit Mary because she talks for hours on end.
Date: 20-01-2021
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Phrase: Stay put
Meaning: Stay here. Do not move.
Example:
Stay put. I'll be back in a minute.
Date: 29-11-2020
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Phrase: Per se
Meaning: A Latin expression that means "in / of / by itself", "intrinsically". It generally follows the word that it modifies.
Examples:
This is not dangerous per se, but it could be if not done properly.
Does money per se makes people happy?
The music per se was awful, but the atmosphere was very cool. We had a great time at the concert.
Date: 04-08-2020
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Phrase: In the flesh
Meaning: Personally, in person
Examples:
We need you because you've seen these animals in the flesh. Nobody else does.
She wanted to see her favourite rock singer in the flesh.
Date: 03-06-2018
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Phrase: And vice versa
Meaning: The reverse also holds true.
Example:
She translates from Esperanto into Catalan, and vice versa (ie, from Catalan into Esperanto)
Date: 18-04-2018
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Phrase: The hell out of something or someone
Meaning: It means "very much", "as much as one can", that is, it acts as an intensifier.
Example:
As we could not defeat their unfair laws, we started to annoy the hell out of them. (ie, we started to annoy them as much as we could.)
Date: 25-03-2018
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Phrase: The end of the line (or the road)
Meaning: If something reaches the end of the line, it means that it cannot go further.
Example:
And that's all we can do. This is the end of the line. Bureaucracy is like this.
When I realised that our marriage had reached the end of the road, I started to cry.
Date: 28-02-2018
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Phrase: You name it
Meaning: It means "and so on", "et cetera", "and similar things".
Example:
We are vegetarians. We do not eat rabbit, turkey, chicken. You name it.
Date: 25-02-2018
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Phrase: Persona non grata
Meaning: Someone you (etc) dislike. The plural form is left unchanged or "personae non gratae". The opossite is "persona grata".
Examples:
Some Castilian leaders are considered personae non gratae (or persona non grata) by Catalan separatists.
That guy is persona grata here. We are friends.
He should be declared persona non grata because he is very evil.
Date: 23-02-2018
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Phrase: Out of the picture
Meaning: Examples:
When dinosaurs were taken out of the picture (ie, extinct), mammals emerged.
-Mrs Red is out of the picture this year (ie, she will not participate) because she's ill in hospital, so this year you will win the tournament.
-Don't count your chickens before they are hatched.
When John was out of the picture (ie, had gone home), Tom asked her to dance cheek to cheek.
When her husband was out of the picture (ie, she divorced him or he had died), she married again.
Date: 15-02-2018
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Phrase: A tall story / A tall tale
Meaning: Something very hard to believe.
Example:
She told me a tall story about a UFO landing on her garden.
Date: 10-12-2017
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Phrase: By the way
Meaning: It is used to add something unconnected to what you were saying; incidentally.
Compare:
By the way, didn't you know that Mrs Fox has gone hunting? She wants rabbit for supper. / Incidentally, didn't you know that Mrs Fox...
Then we reached that town, which is, incidentally, the one he mentioned in his poems.
Date: 29-11-2017
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Phrase: Stick to your guns
Meaning: Be firm in your ideas, beliefs, and so on: Everybody tried to persuade him to continue teaching, but he stuck to his guns, and retired.
Date: 22-09-2017
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Phrase: In the neighbourhood/vicinity of something
Meaning: About, around, more or less, approximately. The price of that house will be in the neighbourhood of two million dollars.
Date: 19-09-2017
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Phrase: The pros and cons of something
Meaning: The advantages and disadvantages of something
Date: 18-09-2017
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Phrase: On pins and needles / On tenterhooks
Meaning: Very anxious about something: Tomorrow I will be given the results of my examinations, and I am on tenterhooks now
Date: 17-09-2017
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Phrase: By the sweat of your brow
Meaning: That is, you have to work hard to obtain something: I bought this house by the sweat of my brow.
Date: 16-09-2017
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Phrase: Give me (a) five / Gimme five
Meaning: When you slap somebody else's hand to denote satisfaction:
Dad, I got a distinction in my maths exam
Give me five, son!
Date: 23-07-2015
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Phrase: Vox populi / Vox pop
Meaning: A Latin expression that means «the voice of the people». It refers to what most people think or feel about a matter:
That Catalonia should become a free nation is vox populi amongst its citizens (that is, it is a feeling shared by a vast majority of Catalans.)
«Vox pop» (short for «vox populi») is often used to refer to the opinion of the (wo)man in/on (US) the street interviewed individually, that is, it is like an opinion poll, but only one question is asked, and you listen to or read the interviewees' replies:
An interesting vox pop was carried out by a popular TV channel last night, and it will be broadcast tonight.
Date: 12-07-2015
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Phrase: Good grief!
Meaning: It expresses surprise, annoyance or irritation:
Good grief! What are we going to do with so much food?
Good grief! What a motorbike! I thought you were as poor as a church mouse!
Good grief! There is a man with a gun walking down the street!
Good grief! Your dog has broken that vase! My father will get very furious when he finds out. It belonged to his grandmother.
Date: 11-07-2015
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Phrase: Bring something / Draw (something) / Come to a close (or end)
Meaning: If something comes/draws to a close/end or if we bring/draw something to a close/end, it finishes.
Date: 30-06-2015
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Phrase: On the whole
Meaning: Generally, in general: On the whole, I prefer brunettes to blondes
Date: 21-05-2015
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