From fishes – 06.02.2012

Hi to all,

I joined your community a couple of weeks ago. I must admit I have not snooped through the whole website, by the way, it is terrific, and I would like to suggest creating a new thread concerning interesting idioms, collocations, phrasal verbs and all that we have come across while enjoying or fighting with English. Let's share those ones we really like.

I have got a „winterly“ one

Being snowed under with work

I came back home from the Dolomites yesterday and wrote a message to my friend about all those steep slopes covered with a carpet of white snow, clear deep blue sky, eagles hovering in freezing dizzy heights, chamois jumping on icy and slippery sheer rock walls or just about skiing itself.

I have been given a short answer „Hi, come by and have a chat on Tuesday unless you are snowed under with work.“

Well, that's my contribution.

From Fife – 08.02.2012
I'll take a rain check

From fishes – 08.02.2012
Skvele !!!! – nechat neco na jindy

A: Care for a drink?
B: Well, all righ, I'll go with you if it will make you happy.
B: Hmm, do you know what ..?
B: Let's take a rain check on that, thanks.

From Carlos1 – 08.02.2012

A: Did you notice how Josh kept glancing at me during the class? I think he's into me.
B:I don't want to rain on your parade, but I know for sure that Josh is gay.

I’ve been sitting in the same position for too long. I’ve got pins and needles in my leg.

Is your wish list as long as your arm?
(=a very long list)

that's the pits – to be extremely bad
A: He salted away a handsome sum of money.
B: You are kidding. That's the pits.

to be steep – about a price;to be extremely expansive

We are talking about printing Olympics tickets, John, and if we have them printed in the US, it's gonna be a little bit steep, don't you think?

to tie the knot – informal, to get married (praštit do toho)

Are you two ever going to tie the knot or is your engagement likely to last forever?

have a handle on somebody/somet­hing***(infor­mal)* to understand or know about somebody/something, especially so that you can deal with it or them later
You don't really **have a good handle on technical stuff.

Gut reaction / feeling; gut response – a personal, intuitive feeling or response.

My gut reaction is that it should be much easier for employers to sack a prune from their companies (an extract from LBC radio).

knock something on the head – to stop doing something

A: Do you still play chess?
B: No, I knocked that on the head a while ago.

(British informal)

The other side of the tracks. – a poor neighborhood in a town/city (AmE)

Being brought up in the other side of the tracks, I'll kick your ass without hesitating right here in front of everybody.

to take the mickey out of sb/sth – to make sb look silly or feel silly by copying the way they talk, behave, etc. or by pretending sth is true when it is not

Do you employ people? Do they take the mickey out ofyou? Just give them the sack.

Make ends meet – to have enough money to pay for your basic expenses

get the hang of something – to learn how to do something

give sb a heads-up(informal) to inform somebody about something in advance of something

Hi. I just wanted to give you a heads-up before you meet him. He's not a very nice person, just so you know.

To be an apple of one's eye

something or someone very precious or dear:

His new baby girl was the apple of his eye.

be dead in the water

if something is dead in the water, it has failed, and it seems impossible that it will be successful in the future

„So how does a government revive an economy that is dead in the water? As soon as Mum finds out that you'll be away overnight, your plan's going to be dead in the water.“