The Teacher

In the new series for autumn 2009 The Teacher presents idioms connected with different sports

• • 

    Horse racing

    It’s neck and neck; On the home straight or stretch; Down to the wire
  • 

    Ice skating

    Get your skates on; Skating on thin ice; Skating over something
• • 

    Balls

    Keep your eye on the ball; It’s a whole new ball game; On the ball
  • 

    Athletics

    A false start; To jump the gun; The front runner
• • 

    Boxing

    To take it on the chin; To be below the belt; To throw in the towel
  • 

    Football

    The kick off; Moving the goalposts; A political football

• • 

    Blue

    A bolt from the blue; Once in a blue moon; Until you are blue in the face
  • 

    Silver

    To be born with a silver spoon in your mouth; To be silver-tongued; Every cloud has a silver lining
• • 

    Green

    To have green fingers; The grass is always greener on the other side; To be green with envy
  • 

    Gold

    As good as gold; A heart of gold; Worth its weight in gold
• • 

    Red

    Paint the town red; Catch someone red-handed; Like a red rag to a bull
  • 

    White

    It's black and white; As white as a sheet; A white-knuckle ride

• • 

    Head

    It's like banging your head against a brick wall; He's got his head in the clouds; An old head on young shoulders
  • 

    Arm

    They're up in arms, I'd give my right arm to do it, He's twisting my arm
• • 

    Foot

    I've got itchy feet; I got cold feet; I shot myself in the foot
  • 

    Eye

    To have eyes in the back of your head; His eyes are bigger than his stomach
• • 

    Leg

    I'm pulling your leg; It cost an arm and a leg;You haven't got a leg to stand on
  • 

    Hair

    I let my hair down; Keep your hair on; I'm tearing my hair out

• • 

    Pie

    It's as easy as pie; To be pie-eyed; To have a finger in many pies
  • 

    Tea

    It's not my cup of tea; I wouldn't do it for all the tea in China; It's as good as a chocolate teapot
• • 

    Egg

    He's a bad egg; Don't put all your eggs in one basket; He's got egg on his face
  • 

    Beans

    To be full of beans, I haven't got a bean, to spill the beans
• • 

    Vegetables

    It's a hot potato; A carrot and a stick; Like two peas in a pod
  • 

    Fruit

    To go bananas; It's a case of sour grapes; A second bite of the cherry.

• • Monkey

    To monkey around; Monkey business; To make a monkey out of someone.

  • Bee

    Busy as a bee; The bee's knees; To have a bee in your bonnet.

  • Dog

    To be in the dog house; The hair of the dog; To make a dog's dinner of something.

• • Insect

    Knee-high to a grasshopper; Butterflies in your stomach; Ants in your pants.

  • Cat

    There isn't enough room to swing a cat; To let the cat out of the bag; To put the cat among the pigeons.

  • Pig

    Pigs might fly; This place is a pigsty; To make a pig's ear of something

• • Bird

    Birdbrain; To have a bird's eye view; A little bird told me

  • Horse

    To eat like a horse; Straight from the horse's mouth; To flog a dead horse

  • Fish

    There's something fishy about this; A big fish in a small pond; A fish out of water.