IDIOMS

Idioms are sayings or expressions that are often used in friendly conversations. The meanings behind these sayings have developed over many years. In fact, the meanings cannot be found simply in the words contained within them.

Their origins make an interesting study. For example, to buy a pig in a poke is an idiom that comes from the time when pigs were sold in pokes (a kind of bag) in the markets. Sometimes, dishonest traders sold a pig in a poke to an unsuspecting person, who, on arriving home, discovered he or she had bought a cat or a dog. If the buyer was wise enough to inspect the bag before buying, then it was said that he or she had let the cat out of the bag, or, in other words, exposed the trick.

1.Draw a line between the idioms on the left and their meanings on the right.

To feather one’s nest to fight unfairly

To show the white feather to be a coward

To hit below the belt to spoil the fun of others

To be a wet blanket to take things for yourself

To bury the hatchet to pay too much for something

To turn over a new leaf to be suspicious

To smell a rat to settle an argument

To sit on the fence to disclose a secret

To pay through the nose to be polite

To make both ends meet to begin a better way of living

To let the cat out of the bag to boast about yourself

To blow one’s own trumpet not to take sides

To mind your p’s and q’s to get into trouble

To get into hot water. To live within a budget