Idioms 9
1. BIG PICTURE: If you talk about the big picture, you refer to the overall situation, or a project as a whole rather than the details.
- While each aspect is important, try not to forget the big picture.
- The sales manager gave us the big picture this morning, now I am more confused than ever.
- We should always be mindful of the big picture even when working on small tasks.
- You must understand the big picture to be successful at work.
- The junior staff sometimes work hard on unimportant things, they fail to see the big picture.
2. BITE THE BULLET: If you bite the bullet, you accept something unpleasant because you cannot avoid it.
- If you don’t have the health insurance, you have to bite the bullet and pay the hospital fee.
- You are just going to have to bite the bullet and make the best of it.
- Ramesh bit the bullet and accepted his demotion at work.
- I hate going to the dentist but I suppose I’ll just have to bite the bullet.
- I’m really nervous about asking my boss for a raise. But I guess i’ll just have to bite the bullet and do it anyhow.
3. BITE THE HAND THAT FEEDS YOU: If you bite the hand that feeds you, you are unfriendly or do harm to someone who is kind to you.
- Leaving the company after they have spent three months training you is like biting the hand that feeds you.
- Always try to get along with your boss and never try to bite the hand that feeds you.
- Don’t bite the hand that feeds you. Your parents might not be perfect but without them you wouldn’t have reached so far in life.
- A dog knows never to bite the hand that feeds it.
- If you bite the hand that feeds you then you are an ungrateful person.
4. BITE YOUR TONGUE: If you bite your tongue, you try not to say what you think or feel.
- It was difficult for me not to react, I had to bite my tongue.
- I wanted to tell her how she looked after the hair-cut but I had to bite my tongue.
- Whenever my boss says something that I don’t like, I have to bite my tongue.
- Just as the coach started to yell, he slipped and fell. We all had to bite our tongues to keep from laughing.
- I wanted to tell him how stupid he sounded but I bit my tongue and just kept sitting.
5. BITTEN BY THE BUG: If you develop a sudden interest or enthusiasm for something, you are bitten by the bug.
- My dad decided to take up golf and was immediately bitten by the bug.
- Sunil was badly bitten by the showbiz bug at the age of 14.
- The teenagers are bitten by the MTV bug. They watch the TV all the time.
- My friends are bitten by the latest fashion bug. They spend all their money on buying new clothes.
- She is bitten by the English bug. She spends all of her time learning English.
6. BITTER PILL TO SWALLOW: Something very unpleasant or difficult to accept is a bitter pill to swallow.
- Losing his job after organizing the merger was a bitter pill to swallow.
- Losing the championship to a younger player was a bitter pill to swallow.
- Having his fate in the other people’s hands was a bitter pill to swallow for this proud man.
- When Rohan’s mother told him he can’t take the car, it was a bitter pill to swallow as he had a date that night.
- When company fired me from the job, it was a bitter pill to swallow as I used to work hard.
7. BLACK OUT: If you black out. You lose consciousness.
- When Tony saw the needle, he blacked out.
- After I fell I must have blacked out as I don’t remember anything that happened after that.
- He blacked out right after the accident. Everyone thought that he is dead.
- Don’t black out after you see the surprise I have for you.
- When my friends heard me speak such fluent English, they almost blacked out.
8. BLACK SHEEP: Black sheep is someone who behaves very differently or badly and is considered disreputable by the other members of the family.
- Joe was the black sheep of the family as he always got into trouble.
- She was a black sheep, she ran away at the age of 16 to become an actress. Her father never forgave her.
- My brother was the black sheep. He had to migrate to a different country to avoid punishment here.
- His parents had such high hopes from him but he turned out to be a drunkard. A black sheep of the family.
9. BLACK AND WHITE: To say that something is in black and white means that there is a written proof of it.
- It’s an obligation. Its in black and white in your contract.
- I don’t make verbal contracts, give it to me in black and white.
- Your offer sounds nice do you have it in black and white?
- He said that he would pay me twice my salary. I asked him to put it up in black and white.
- Don’t agree to anything unless it’s in black and white.
10. BLESSING IN DISGUISE: This expression refers to something that is unpleasant at first but later turns out to have advantages.
- Missing the plane was a blessing in disguise. That’s how he met his wife. She was the hostess on the next flight.
- It’s impossible to see a blessing in disguise when it happens – you just have to wait.
- Losing the job was a blessing in disguise as I started a very successful restaurant afterwards.
- What seems like a mistake could be a blessing in disguise if you learn from it and grow.
- Being late for the flight was a blessing in disguise. If I was in the plane then I too would have died in the crash.