Idioms and Phrases For Exams -8

Grey matter | Feather your nest | Bring the house down | In a tight corner/spot  | On the rack | To be on his last legs | Play second fiddle | Lie up | Once in a blue moon Cut off without a shilling/penny                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              



                                                                                                                                                    
Grey/Gray matter 
Meaning:-
  • intelligence
  • power of thought
Mind Tricks:-


Grey is the colour of Brain. Here Grey matter refers to Brain.
Usages:-
  1. Use your grey matter.
  2. Poets use lots of grey matter.
                                                                                               
Feather your (own) nest 
Meaning:-
  • to provide for the future
  • to make a lot of something for yourself
  • to make yourself richer, especially by spending money on yourself that should be spent on something else
Mind Tricks:-
Here feather resembles comfort. 
Usages:-
  1. Officers are feathering his nest doing corruption.

                                                                                                                                                    
Bring the house down
Meaning:-
  • received great applause
  • to entertain people very successfully
  • to excite the audience 
Usages:-
  1. Joker brought  the house down with his comedy.
  2. You can't bring the house down so you should not join the comedy.
                                                                                                                   
In a tight corner / spot
Meaning:-
  • in a difficult situation
Mind Tricks:-
A tight corner refers to congested area where you find yourself uncomfortable or in a difficult situation.
Usages:-
  1. Team India is in a tight corner.
  2. How would you feel in a congested area.


                                                                                                                                                    
On the rack 
Meaning:-
  • having great anxiety
  • feeling extreme pressure, anxiety or pain
Mind Tricks:-
What is the rack ?
Ans. Rack is an instrument of torture, used in the past for punishing and hurting people.
Usages:-
  1. People are on the rack in meeting for the questions of tickets.
                                                                                                     
To be on his last legs 
Meaning:-
  • to be on the verge(border) failure
  • to be going to die soon
  • to be very tired
Mind Tricks:-
Our legs resemble power. Legs are  powerful parts of our body.
Usages:-
  1. My father is on his last legs.
  2. Most of the company in India are on his last legs.
 
                                                                                                                                                    
Play second fiddle
Meaning:-
  • busy over trifles
  • to be treated as less important than somebody or something
  • to have a less important position that somebody or something else
  • to be in a subordinate position to someone
Mind Tricks:-
Fiddle means to play music on the violin.                       In order to produce the harmony desired by the composer of an orchestral piece,  someone must be willing to play the violin of lower tone or second violin while another play the first violin. - History and origin.
Usages:-
  1. Labours work as playing second fiddle to the officers.
  2. I don't want to work any more, I am tired of playing second fiddle.
 
                                                                                                                                                    
 Lie up 
Meaning:-
  • to abstain from work
  • to stay in bed 
Mind Tricks:-
Lie means to be or put yourself in a flat or horizontal position.
Usages:-
  1. I am very tired today, I want to lie up.
  2. If Lie up when we want to rest.
 
                                                                                                                                                    
Once in a blue moon
Meaning:-
  • not frequent, seldom
  • very rarely
Mind Tricks:-
Blue moon is a natural phenomenon that occurs very rarely. A blue moon is an extra full moon that appears in a subdivision of a year. Moon appears in blue due to some atmospheric  condition. 
Usages:-
  1. Once in a blue moon , she appears
  2. One in a blue moon, I take a bath.
  3. Only one in a blue moon do we see the holy man.

                                                                                                                                                    
Cut off without a shilling/penny
Meaning:-
  • disinherited
  • to prevent somebody, especially your son or daughter, from receiving your money or property after your dearth
Mind Tricks:-
 Cut off means to separate yourself form others.
Shilling is a British old coin and Penny is a small British coin and unit of money.
Usages:-
  1. His parents cut him off, without a shilling/penny.
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