Idiomatic American English A Step-by-Step Workbook for Learning Everyday American Expressions Barbara K. Gaines KODANSHA INTERNATIONAL ‘Tokyo*New York «LondonIn loving memory of Grace and Dave and To all the negatives that made a posit Special acknowledgments to my daughter, Bettina, for helping me get it all together, in more ways than one, . and to my mother and father, who deserve a medal, in more ways than one and to my editor, Douglas LaFrenier, who, because he was on the ball, made my work a picee of cake. Distributed in the United States by Kodansha America, Inc, and in the United Kingdom and continental Europe by Kodansha Europe Lid. Published by Kodansha International Ltd, 17-14 Otowa l-chome, Bunkyo-ku, ‘Tokyo 112-8652, and Kodansha Americ, Inc. Copyright © 1986 by Barbara K. Grines All rights reserved, Printed in Japan. ISBN-13: 978-0-87011-756-5 ISBN-10; 0-87011-756-4 ISBN 4-7700-1256-X Gin Japan) First edition, 1986 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08.07 06 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22.2120, wow. kodansha-iatl.comCONTENTS IL. mM. IV. INTRODUCTION SPENDING AND SAVING MONEY 1. Having a Ball 2, Footing the Bill 3. Making Ends Meet 4. Raking It In 5. Caught Short 6. An Arm anda Leg 7. A Nest Egg 8. Falling Behind 9, When the Chips Are Down 10. Keeping One's Head Above Water 11. One for the Books AMBITION, WORK AND SUCCESS 12, An Eager Beaver 18. Bringing Home the Bacon 14. On a Shoestring 15. A Pep Talk 16, In Seventh Heaven 17. A Brainstorm 18. The Cream of the Crop 19. Pulling Strings 20, In the Swing of Things 21. A Hustler 22. High Off the Hog 23. Getting Down to Brass Tacks 24. Straight from the Horse's Mouth 25, Coming Through with Flying Colors 26. The Black Sheep WHEN THINGS GO WRONG 27. Ina Jam 28. On the Go 29. Raising Cain 30. Behind the &Ball 81. Jack-of-All-Trades 32, Out on a Limb 83. Twiddling One's Thumbs 34, Play It by Ear 85. Off the Top of One's Head 36, The Rat Race 37. Keyed Up 38. Pounding the Pavement 39. A Hard Nut to Crack 40. Back to the Drawing Board 41. Passing the Buck 42. A Song and Dance FAMILIES, FRIENDS AND LOVERS 43. The Apple of One's Eye 44. Keeping in Touch 45. Hitting It Of 46. A Chip Off the Old Block 47. Seeing Eye to Eye 48. On the Rocks 49. An Old Flame 50, A Wet Blanket 51. A Knockout 52. A Sourpuss AROUND THE HOUSE 58. A Lemon 54, High and Low Pad 35. The Boob Tube 56, Sprucing Up 37. A a