Dead Against “I am dead against some of the boss’s policies. What makes it worse is that I have no choice but to go along with them,” grumbled Ashish. What he meant was that he was strongly opposed to the boss’s...
Drown one’s sorrows When people drown their sorrows, they drink lots of alcohol in an attempt to forget their pain. When Joseph’s girl-friend told him she no longer wished to see him, he spent all his evenings trying to drown his...
Dot one’s I’s and cross one’s t’s This idiom means to be very careful and thorough and to pay close attention to details. When we forget to dot our i’s or cross our t’s it is indicative of careless work. “There’s...
Down on one’s Luck “I am down on my luck these days. Everything I do is a failure,” said Nitin in despair, to his sympathetic friends. He meant that he was temporarily unfortunate, or unlucky. “Won’t you spare a few coins...
Day in and Day out “I am fed up of doing the same thing day in and day out. I need a change,” said Vinita in disgust. This idiom means all the time. Day in and day out Mrs Reddy nagged...
Do someone a good turn Mrs Mehra decided to give a party, but on the final day, quite unexpectedly, her oven wouldn’t work. Her neighbour, however, came to the rescue, and did the baking for her. By doing this she did...
Dressed to kill Payal went to her first teenage party wearing an elegant dress. Her admiring friends told her that she was dressed to kill. Dressed to kill means to be dressed so as to attract attention, especially from the opposite...
Do things by halves The teacher looked at Manu’s untidy, slipshod work and sighed. “I don’t know why you do things by halves, when you are capable of much better,” she told him. To do things by halves is to do...