Idioms And Their Meanings

A really good dictionary with lots of examples, or a trusted friend: that’s what you need if you’re going to learn the meanings of idioms. The trusted friend is necessary when you need a consult as to local meanings of a particular idiom.

Idioms are sometimes easier to understand than pure slang, but they still have their pitfalls. A lot of them depend solely on context. Take, for instance, the phrasal verb bring up.

If you say this to a woman who is standing in the middle of her large family, you’re asking about the number of children she raised.

How many children did you bring up?

If you said the same thing to Kronos, the mythological Greek Titan who swallowed five of his children and was forced to vomit them out many years later, you’d probably be asking more about his health and well-being.

Let’s have a look at some of the options for cut off.

Maria cut off her old jeans just above the knee.

Maria got out the scissors and made the jeans into shorts.

The water has been cut off because they didn’t pay their bill.

There’s no more water: it’s been stopped.

I cut the electricity off so we can replace this old wiring safely.

The electricity has also been stopped.

Alex was trying to explain the whole incident to his mother, but she cut him off before he got too creative with his lie.

Alex has also been stopped: his mother interrupted him.