Idioms and their meanings

English (Précis and Composition) · Vocabulary · Idioms and phrases. The idea in plain words, the rules to remember, the mistake to avoid and a worked example, written and checked by Mega Lecture.

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The idea

An idiom is a fixed group of words whose meaning cannot be worked out from the separate words. To kick the bucket has nothing to do with buckets; it means to die. The paper either asks for the meaning of an idiom or leaves out one word for you to supply.

Two things follow. First, the meaning is figurative, so the option that explains the words literally is almost always wrong. Second, the wording is fixed. We say a bolt from the blue, never a bolt from the sky, although the sky is blue. You cannot swap in a word of similar meaning.

Learn each idiom as a whole phrase, with one sentence that shows it in use.

Rules to remember

Reject the literal option: an idiom never means what its words say one by one.
The wording is fixed: learn the exact words, including the small ones (at the eleventh hour, in the nick of time).
once in a blue moon = very rarely; a white elephant = a costly thing of little use.
to let the cat out of the bag = to reveal a secret; to spill the beans = the same.
to hit the nail on the head = to say exactly the right thing; to call a spade a spade = to speak plainly.
a bone of contention = a cause of quarrel; to bury the hatchet = to make peace.
to rest on one's laurels = to rely on past success and stop trying.

Common mistake

Candidates choose the option that describes the picture in the idiom, or complete an idiom with a word that seems logical but is not the fixed one. Trust the phrase as you learnt it.

Worked example

The treasurer let the cat out of the bag about the surprise farewell party. What did the treasurer do? A caused confusion, B released an animal, C revealed a secret, D spoilt the food.

B explains the words literally, so it cannot be the idiom's meaning.
The sentence mentions a surprise party, which is something kept hidden.
To let the cat out of the bag is to make a secret known, often by accident.
A and D do not connect with a secret at all.

Answer: C, revealed a secret.

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