Idiom List 3

Activity 2

Listening:

Directions: Click on the link below to here the passage. As you listen, fill in the idioms that you here. Check your answers when you are finished.

PART ONE:

The other night, my friend took his girlfriend out. He wanted to and was going to break up with her. Unfortunately, she was , and she was convinced that he was going to propose marriage to her. Anyway, he took her to a restaurant that was quiet and not crowded, and he got a table in the corner where no one could witness the conversation since he wanted to have the . When he opened his mouth to tell her he wanted to break it off, she looked at him and said, “You know, you’ve really . You wouldn’t have to at all to get me to spend the rest of my life with you.” Knowing that no matter what he said it would sound bad and he was going to he decided to just come out with it. “I know this will probably make you ,” he said, “but it’s over between us.”

PART TWO:

His girlfriend freaked out and started screaming at him in the restaurant. Now, the waiter, who had been while eavesdropping on the conversation, was really . He jumped to her side and said, “If you plan to leave all by yourself, then I must .” Turning to my friend, he said, “I don’t mean to , but I find this woman terribly irresistible.” My friend looked at him and said, “You’re , right.” When the waiter looked confused, my friend said, “She’s all yours,” and out walked his ex-girlfriend with the waiter of the restaurant.

Now, check your answers.

1. wash his hands of her

2. wrapped around his little finger

3. upper hand

4. swept me off my feet

5. twist my arm

6. put his foot in his mouth

7. up in arms

8. working his fingers to the bone

9. on his toes

10. put my foot down

11. step on your toes

12. pulling my leg

Meaning from Context:

Read each sentence and guess the idiom’s meaning based on the context. Check your answers by clicking on the arrows in the drop boxes after each guess.

1. Since this is such a bad job, I think you should just wash your hands of it and quit.

Click to view definition withdraw from or refuse to be responsible for something

2. She was so in love with him. She would do anything for him. He definitely had her wrapped around his little finger.

Click here to view answer have complete control over

3. In the game of chess, you always want to have the upper hand if you want to win.

Click to view definition controlling power, advantage

4. By the second date, he had swept her off her feet by buying her flowers and complimenting her a lot.

Click to view definition make someone have feelings of love or happiness too strong to control

5. I didn’t want to go, but she twisted my arm by saying if I went, she’d buy me dinner. So I went. Click to view definition force someone, threaten someone to make them do something

6. After she told me her husband left her, I put my foot in my mouth by telling her I always thought he was a jerk anyway. Click to view definition to say something that is the wrong thing to say in a situation

7. The minute I mention how much I hate his car, he is up in arms and ready to fight about how great his car is.

8. On the days I clean my house, I really work my fingers to the bone scrubbing, sweeping, and dusting. Click to view definition to work very hard

9. When the little girl crossed the street during a green light, her father was really on his toes and grabbed her before a car hit her.

Click to view definition alert, ready to act

10. When the city board of education wanted to close the elementary school near my house where my child was already going to school, I had to put my foot down and protest.

Click to view definition object strongly, take firm action

11. It’s her project and if you try to conduct the interviews for it, you will really step on her toes.

Click here to view definition do something that embarrasses or offends someone else

12. I thought she was pulling my leg when she told me she was quitting school to become the head clown in the circus, but she was actually serious!

Click here to view answer fool someone with a humorous account of something, trick someone

Matching:

wash one’s hands of something

wrapped around one’s little finger

upper hand

to sweep one off one’s feet

twist one’s arm

put one’s foot in one’s mouth

up in arms

working one’s fingers to the bone

on one’s toes

put one’s foot down

step on one’s toes

pulling one’s leg

Now that you have guessed the meanings to the words, match the idioms from the list above with the pictures and the situations below.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5. I didn’t want to help clean the house, but my mother forced me to by telling me she would take away my allowance if I didn’t.

6. She gets him to do whatever she wants by promising him she will marry him one day.

7. The team was trying really hard to win, but the other team was playing on their own field and had all the control.

8. When he showed up at my house in shorts in the middle of winter and said he was ready to go to the beach, I knew he was joking.

9. I didn’t want to have anything to do with the merger once I found out that the other company had been accused of tax evasion.

10. I shouldn’t have told her that she didn’t look very good since she was all dressed up and trying to make a good impression on her date.

11. She took over the account after I had worked on it for 15 months! I was so angry!

12. I know you want to go to the concert with your friends, but there will be a lot of drugs there so I have to say no.

Now view your answers:

1. sweep off one’s feet

2. on their toes

3. up in arms

4. working his fingers to the bone

5. twist her arm

6. he’s wrapped around her little finger

7. they had the upper hand

8. he was pulling her leg

9. she’s washing her hands of the other company

10. I put my foot in my mouth

11. She stepped on my toes

12. He’s putting his foot down

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Please e-mail me with questions or concerns: mailto:hsmeloch@oaklandcc.edu