Idioms: eating and drinking
Background (背景): Idioms use language metaphorically rather than literally. If you have 'a sweet tooth' it means you like eating chocolate and other sweet things, not that you have a tooth that's made of sugar. Idioms are also fixed groups of words so you can't change the wording of an idiom. For example, you can say you 'make a meal of something' to mean take more time or energy doing something than is necessary but you can't say 'cook a meal of something' or 'make a cake of something'.
Eating idioms (与吃有关的习语):
to eat humble pie to admit that you were wrong She made a huge mistake a work and now she's going to have to eat humble pie and admit to the boss that she was wrong.
could eat a horse am/is/are very hungry I haven't had anything since breakfast time. I could eat a horse right now!
make a meal of it take more time or energy doing something than is necessary I only asked him to tidy up the sitting room but he made a right meal of it. It took him two hours just to clear up the room.
a second bite at the cherry another try after you have failed the first time He didn't get the job when he applied for it last year but another vacancy came up a few weeks ago and he got a second bite at the cherry. He's so please he got the job!
not my taste I don't like it She's happy with her new curtains but that bright colour isn't my taste at all.
Drinking idioms (与喝有关的习语):
not my cup of tea similar to 'not my taste'. See above She likes thrillers but films that frighten me just aren't my cup of tea.
there's no use crying over spilt milk it is useless to regret something which has already happened I know you're upset you failed your exam but there's no use crying over spilt milk. Just get over it and start studying so you'll be ready to take it again soon.
throw cold water on something to be negative about someone's ideas or plans I spent hours preparing that report and then the boss threw cold water on it. What a waste of my time!
a storm in a teacup a lot of unnecessary anger and anxiety about something that's not important He got really angry with us about being late for work. But it was a storm in a teacup. We were only 5 minutes late.
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