●Balancing act (compromise in dilemma /deal successfully with two ormore people, groups, or situations that are in opposition to each other ) [The UN must perform a delicate balancing act between the different sides in the conflict. ]●Hot air (loud and confused empty talks) [No one likes a personwho thinks very highly of his own opinions but is really full of hot air.]●Go belly-up (collapse/to be dead-end) [My brother’s companywent belly-up last month when its revenues were far below its monthly debts, so now he’s looking for a job.]●Keep the head above water [Earning barely enough to supportthe family, father was quite happy only if he could keep his head above water.]●XYZ (Check your zipper)●Rome was not built in a day.●Penny wise and pound foolish.(小事聪明、大事聪明)●Variety is the spice of life.●Honesty is the best policy.●Bellybutton●Plain sailing(easy unobstructed progress)●Flowery language/plain flowery●Snak e charmer(a performer who uses movements and music tocontrol snakes)●Snake pit (insane asylum疯人院)●Snake up/queue up●Tuck Sb. in (tuck the sheets in firmly for sb.)●Tuck in (eat up/ usually refers to a considerable quantity of food)●Spend less and save more●Exhaust (the exhaust from a car engine)●Carbon emission●Selfie /foodie/●Goose bumps/goose skin/goose flesh●Chicken-livered●Chicken liver●Sandwich (insert or squeeze tightly between two people or objects)●Keep sb. In line●Wipe-out(collapse/an event or a result that completely destroyssomething) (a fall from a bicycle or while skiing or being capsized ona surfboard)●Touch and go●Nod in sleep●Turn the head of●Take French leave 不告而别●Foot/pay the bill●Go Dutch/ a Dutch treat/ split 50/50 [ I’d love to go, but I insist wego Dutch.]●Raise Cain(fly into a rage/get angry ) [ If i don’t get out of herenow, my boss is going to raise Cain.][ On weekends we wanted to have late rise in the morning, our neighbour started to raise Cain.]●On/in the cards(adv. Probably ) [An early general election iscertainly on the cards.]●Cut and run(leave away in a hurry) [If he had cut and run early,Democrats would have complained about his backbone.][you pick your side and you stick it! You don’t cut and run when things get ugly.]●In broad daylight(in public/before a big crowd of people) [Theyeven committed such crimes in broad daylight. ]●Don’t count your chickens before they’re hatched.●Prevention is better than a cure.●One good turn deserves anther.●Make hay while the sun shines.●Get over jet-lag●Cards on the table /put/place one’s cards on the table 摊牌●I’m flattered./You flatter me.●Written in water(fleeting)●Full of beans (talk nonsense)●Not know beans (to be ignorant or uninformed)●Not worth a hill of beans(to be worthless)●Spill the beans(tell a secret)●Dangle a carrot(encourage/incentive)●Carrot and stick()●Pea-brained(simple-minded/stupid)●Pass an olive branch●As thick as pea soup●Like two peas in a pod(be very close with or similar to someone)●In a pickle●Hot potato(difficult issue)●Salad days(youthful period of one’s life)●Confide in someone吐露、倾诉●Run deep(if a feeling runs or goes deep, it is very strong and difficultto change)[the economic ties between China and the US run deep.][it all sounds logical enough, but Europe’s democratic divisions run deep.][but her feeling for him run deep.]●Turn on a dime(skillful/flexible/talented)●Penny for your thought[-a penny for your thoughts.--Oh,i was justthinking about how to tell i’m leaving.]你呆呆的在想什么了●An eagle eye[a good surgeon must have an eagle’s eye, a lion’s heart,and a lady’s hand.]●Be all ears[the children were all ears when the girl told them stories.] ●Come down to earth [he has come down to earth and stoppeddreaming of being rich.][the two lovers are living in a kind of dreamworld; but they’ll come down to earth.]●Nothing ventured,nothing gained.●It never rains but it pours.●Once bitten, twice shy.● A bad workman blames his tools.●Play someone at their feet=an eye for eye, a tooth for a tooth●I’ll live up to my parent’s expectation.●His name slipped from my memory.●See eye to eye (be in agreement) [i see eye to eye with you.] [itis a mere coincidence that they see eye to eye on this point.]●On the same page( be in agreement) [Can EU member all stay onthe same page and support EU policy of continued expansion?][I just want to make sure we’re all on the same page here.]●Buy the farm (die)[my uncle was fifty-seven when he bought thefarm in the world war two.]●Chew the fat (gossip) [It was nice to go out with friends and chewthe fat for a while.][Uncle George likes to come over to chew the fat every Sunday.][the old women meet to chew the fat with their neighbors every morning.]●Dead on one’s feet ( feel tired, exhausted)[i’m really dead on myfeet tonight:we had the big year-end sale on and i was so busy i didn’t even have time for lunch.]●Too many cooks spoil the broth.●It’s no use crying over split milk.●Pride goes before a fall.●Absence makes the heart grow fonder.●Give and take/balance act [A willing to give and take is importantfor success in marriage.][A happy marriage depends largely on give and take.]●Have a go at someone (have a go means try something but have ago at something means to aggressively attack someone physically or verbally) [i don’t know why you are having a go at me. I didn’t do anything wrong.][you should walk away before he has a go at you.You know how aggressive he can be.]●Try your hand at something （give something a try /a shoot）●At six and sevens[i’m all at six and sevens about to do.][i’don’t wantto go his home because his house is always at six and sevens.]●Four-star abilities with five-star ambitions●Actions speak louder words.●Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth●When the Rome, do as the Romes.●Blood is thicker than water.●Queue jumping/ queue-jumper 插队● A to Z [She knows the A to Z of cooking.][Steven knows Chinesehistory from A to Z.]●the ins and outs （all details）●The jewel in one’s crown●Go for the jugular/vein●Get a jump on someone/have an edge on something●Lead someone by nose●Break the ice●Skate on the ice●Keep up with the Joneses● A home away from home●Make oneself at home●Make a killing [Investors are set to (seize the opportunity to) make akilling from the sell-off. ]●The kiss of death 祸根、致命伤(something be certain to trigger afailure or a disaster) [A award can be the kiss of death for a writer.][Your poor English was the kiss of death for the failure in getting that job.][Trying to please an audience is the kiss of death for an artist.][Polite but lukewarm reviews are the kiss of death for a commercial.]●Dressed to kill[She came to the party dressed to kill and she was thespot-light/ center of attention.]●Know something inside out (to be very familiar with something/toknow something extremely well )[they know the sport inside out, and we treat them with the respect they deserve.][we know each other inside out.]●Have the last laugh [Who can have the last laugh after the season, oneis more likely winners.][When the electric revolution final comes,China’s e-bike makers could have the last laugh.]●Out of the blue●In the same boat●Call a spade a spade●Leave no stone unturned●Out on a limb [By speaking up against her boss, she’s put herselfout on a limb.][with our supplies cut off, we were out on a limb.][the candidate went out on a limb on the budget issue.][maybe i’m out ona limb, but i think we still have to invest it.]●Go the extra mile[in the case, you have to go the extra mile to proveyour credibility.][to do your duty is not enough. You must go the extra mile.]●Greek to me [perking opera is all Greek to me.]●Shot/kill the messenger(the act of lashing out at the blameless bearerof bad news. )●Stick your neck out冒险[i think my boss is dead wrong about hiringhis son-in-law, but i’m not going to stick my neck out and tell him.] ●Have one’s hands full.●Things are really humming.●Turn over a new leaf.●Put and two together.●How i met your mother●Long hand●Plum blossom●Hit the wall（someone reach a situation where you cannot make anymore progress.）●Hang-over●Watch paint dry/boring●In a nutshell (in a word/in short)[In a nutshell, it was not my cup oftea.][he had put the whole situation in a nutshell.]●Get on my nerves.[you are getting on my nerves.]●Play hard ball[somethings you have to play hard ball in a businessnegotiation.][the next Irish government may look at Iceland and decide to play hardball with Europe.]●Put something on ice(to delay something until a later date.)[we reallywanted to complete the project but we ran out of money so we put iton ice for a while.]●Green hand(freshmen/newbie)●K ill two birds with one stone●With a heavy heart●In seventh heaven●On the spur of the moment● A tall order. A tough work●At odds with sb.●May the odds be ever in your favor●Wet caution● A nest egg●Hit pay dirt[they hit pay dirt on the fourth day.][after years ofexperimentation they finally hit pay dirt.][the author believes if he writes a good book he will finally hit pay dirt.]●Call it quits/stop/●Take a rain check[thanks for the invitation, but i’ll have to take a rainckeck on it.][Can i take a rain check on that?]●Take the rap[When these things go wrong, the government tends totake the rap.][i’m not going to take the rap for you.]●Behind the scenes[Everything had been done behind the scenes,hush-hush, without any leaks to the media.][the deal was closed behind the scenes.][They influence, but do not control the USgovernment--neither openly nor behind the scenes.]●Better have it than hear of it.●Love and cough cannot be hid.●Haste makes waste.●Watch before you leap.●oranges and apples●call it a day●/Roll up our sleeves●From the scratch (from the beginning/ from rags to riches )[Hong Kong’s manufacturing industry did not start from scratch in the post-war period.][One can hardly believe that this paper mill was started from scratch only a few years ago.][The Autonomous Region has built up its infrastructure from scratch.][there were so many spelling mistakes, i had to write the letter out again from scratch.]●Keep tabs on something ( make sure where he is and what he is doingin order to control)[]●Not for all the tea in China（definitely don’t want to do it/ all the teain China: fortune）●Up-and-coming(working hard to promote an enterprise likely to besuccessful in the future) [many up-and coming young players have trails for the national football team.]●Speak volumes(reveal or imply a lot) [His donations to charityspeak volumes for his generosity.]●Subtlety is be batter than force.●Everyone thinks he knows much.●High winds blow on high hills.●As you sow so will you reap.●Make or mar●Hustle and bustle● A good face is a letter of recommendation.●There is falsehood in packing.●Like father, like son.● A fault is sooner found than mended.●Have a bone to pick with someone●Make or break●Once in a blue moon● A chip off the old block●Keep it under one’s hat●Straight as an arrow● A wild goose chase●Fear gives wings●Good fences make good neighbors. Better a finger off than always aching.●Fire drives out fire.。