July, 9, 2020 Idioms from other varieties of English	
Idioms from the US (1)	
collocation	example	
right off the bat-сходу, без промедления
throw someone a curveball-неожиданный поворот событий
be batting a thousand- преуспевать в чем-либо
drop the ball- проворонить, допустить грубую ошибку	Many US idioms originate from baseball. 
For example, if you do something right off the bat, you do it immediately; if you throw someone a curveball, you surprise them with something difficult or unpleasant to deal with. If someone is batting a thousand, they are doing something extremely well, better than they had hoped. If someone drops the ball, they do something stupid or careless.	
catch some z's- поспать, вздремнуть
is fresh out of - только что закончиться (о запасах)
isn't worth a dime- ломаного гроша не стоит	He's trying to catch some z's.
The store is fresh out of tomatoes. 
His advice isn't worth a dime. 	
Variations between British and American English (2)	
There are sometimes slightly different forms of idioms in US and British English. Here are some examples:	
British English idiom	US English idiom	meaning	
the icing on the cake-верхушка айсберга	the frosting on the cake	something that makes a good thing even better	
fight like cat and dog- жить как кошка с собакой	fight like cats and dogs	argue violently all the time	
donkey work- рутинная работа	grunt work	hard, boring work	
take the biscuit-не лезть ни в какие ворота; 	take the cake	used informally to describe something the speaker finds very annoying	
weep buckets- плакать в три ручья, обливаться слезами	cry buckets	cry a lot (informal)	
hard cash- наличные	cold cash	money in the form of cash or notes, not a cheque or credit card	
like the cat that got the cream- довольный собой	like the cat that ate the canary	very pleased with oneself	
Exercise 1 Complete each US idiom.

1 I'm exhausted after such a difficult day at work. I'm going to try to ................. . ...... some z's before I have to go out again this evening.
2 I'm afraid we're ........ out of milk. Try next door - maybe they have some.
3 Will was doing well at college until he had some problems with his girlfriend and ......................................................... the ball.
4 Joe is very efficient - he always deals with jobs right off the ......................................................... .
5 Her ring may look expensive, but it isn't .......................... . ............. a dime.
6 Rachel's batting a ..................... at the moment - she's making a great success of her new job.
7 The speaker found it hard to answer the questions. He clearly wasn't expecting the audience to
......................................................... him so many curveballs.	
Exercise 2. Is each speaker more likely to be from the US or from Britain?

1 You have to pay the deposit for hiring the boat in cold cash.
2 Rhiannon and her sister have always fought like cat and dog.
3 It was such a sad film - I wept buckets.
4 There's a lot of grunt work to be done before we can open the new restaurant.
5 Having such perfect weather on holiday was the frosting on the cake.
6 Having to stay late at work on a holiday weekend really took the biscuit.
7 What's happened? You look like the cat that got the cream.	
Все материалы из  книги "English Idioms in Use" by M. McCarthy, F. O'Dell.