Английские идиомы

УДК 802.0
ББК 81.2Англ

А86

Артёмова А.Ф. 

А86   Английские идиомы : практикум / А.Ф. Артёмова, 

Е.О. Леонович. – Москва : ФЛИНТА, 2022. – 216 с.– ISBN 
978-5-9765-5158-9. – Текст : электронный.

Данное пособие представляет собой сборник упражнений, 

цель 
которых 
–
помочь 
практически 
овладеть 
таким 

необходимым и важным экспрессивным средством английского 
языка, каким является его идиоматика. Пособие включает в себя 
20 разделов-блоков, каждый из которых содержит 14-15 
упражнений. В приложении даны образцы оригинальных 
английских текстов, насыщенных идиомами, для анализа и 
перевода

Для 
преподавателей 
и 
студентов 
лингвистических 

факультетов вузов, а также для всех, кто интересуется 
английским языком и изучает его в школе и на курсах.

УДК 802.0
ББК 81.2Англ

ISBN 978-5-9765-5158-9   
© Артёмова А.Ф., 

Леонович Е.О., 2022

© Издательство «ФЛИНТА», 2022

Предисловие

Idiomatic turns of expression are usually forcible, terse, and vivid; the 
same meaning could be set forth in some other way, but not with equal 
force and brevity. It is the idiomatic part of a language that is the most 
difficult part for a foreigner to master.

W. McMordie

Idioms are the lifeblood of evolving, changing languages indicating that 
the society using them is a dynamic one.

Adam Makkai

«Словарь лингвистических терминов» О.С. Ахмановой дает 
следующие 
определения 
термину 
«идиома»:
«Идиома 

(идиоматизм, идиоматическое выражение) 
англ. 
Idiom, 

Idiomatic expression.1. Словосочетание, обнаруживающее в 
своем 
синтаксическом 
и 
семантическом 
строении 

специфические и неповторимые свойства данного языка. 2. То 
же, что фразеологическая единица. Собственно, идиома англ. 
Idiom proper. Фразеологическая единица, обладающая ярко 
выраженными стилистическими особенностями, благодаря 
которым ее употребление вносит в речь элемент, шутки, 
нарочитости».
Английская 
идиоматика 
(фразеология)

представляет 
значительную 
трудность 
для 
студентов, 

изучающих английский язык. На наш взгляд, на языковых 
факультетах не уделяется достаточного внимания проблемам 
английской фразеологии, тогда как в настоящее время, когда 

фразеология выделилась в самостоятельную лингвистическую 
дисциплину, 
необходимость 
ее 
изучения 
постоянно 

возрастает. Студент-филолог, будущий переводчик или 
учитель английского языка должны быть знакомы с 
предметом, основными понятиями и категориями этой 
дисциплины.
Хорошее 
владение 
английским 
языком 

невозможно без знания его фразеологии.
Как отмечал 

выдающийся 
отечественный 
фразеолог
А.В. 
Кунин, 

«фразеология – это сокровищница языка», а фразеологизмы –
«высоко информативные единицы языка». Задача нашего 
пособия и состоит в том, чтобы познакомить студента с этим 
богатым наследием английского языка и культуры, расширить 
его идиоматический запас. Пособие представляет собой 
сборник упражнений, цель которых помочь практически 
овладеть таким необходимым и важным экспрессивным 
средством английского языка, каким является его идиоматика.

Пособие включает 20 разделов-блоков, каждый из ко
торых содержит 14-15 упражнений. В приложении приводятся 
предназначенные для анализа и перевода образцы специально 
подобранных оригинальных английских текстов, насыщенных 
идиомами. 
В 
конце 
пособия 
прилагается 
список 

использованной литературы.

Авторы выражают надежду, что эта книга заинтересует 

читателей и побудит их к более глубокому изучению 
фразеологии англоговорящих стран.

Unit 1 

1.1. Use these common idiomatic phrases 

you know what they mean.

1.
On the tip of my tongue.

2.
First come, first served.

3.
A likely tale.

4.
Make the best of a bad job.

5.
Play the game.

1.2. Which are the clichés in these extracts? Suggest less hackneyed phrases in the colloquial 

idiom that could be used instead.

1.
The Browns expect a happy event about next June.

2.
What are your reactions to the Prime Minister’s speech?

3. Civilian and military personnel will be required to show their passes at the 

gate before they enter.

4.
— How about repairing the broken lock on the cupboard door?
— All right, I’ll fix it tomorrow.
— There’s no time like the present, I say. Tomorrow never comes.

5.
The announcement was heard in stony silence.

1.3. Use a phrasal verb in place of the words in italics.

GET
LOOK

1.
What are you trying to suggest!

2.
When you next pass this way, call and see us.

3.
I’ll manage somehow.

4.
He is a person one can respect.

5.
I’ll scrutinize your composition with you, if you wish.

6.
They are publishing a new edition shortly.

7.
Do you think the Labour Party will succeed at the next elections?

8.
Come and watch the programme on our television set.

1.4.
Put the phrases in italics into simple non-colloquial English:

1. He called me a liar, but later on when he learnt the truth he had to eat humble 

pie.

2.
I wish I could come, but I really don’t feel up to it.

3.
Our center-forward has had to cry off from next Saturday’s game.

4.
It seems a lame excuse to me.

in a natural context. First make sure that

6. How time flies.
7. Before you could say Jack 

Robinson.

8. Mind your own business.

5.
Please don’t try to back out now that everything’s been arranged.

6.
His apology seemed to me to be half-hearted.

7.
Eventually he realized he was in the wrong and had to eat his words.

1.5.
Explain in simple non-colloquial English the meaning of the phrases in italics:

1.
So far as I can see there aren’t any snags in his offer.

2.
The meeting looked like developing into a rough house.

3.
If a teacher can’t answer simple questions like this he will lose face with his 
class.

4.
They aren’t really working; they’re only going through the motions.

5.
So Jones wants to sell his shares cheaply, does he? I smell a rat.

6.
Here’s a telegram for you. Now don’t jump to conclusions'. It may be good 
news after all.

7.
All that glitters is not gold.

8.
An entertainer’s life is not all beer and skittles.

1.6. What are the cliches usually associated with the following?
E.g. China shop. — Like a bull in a china shop.
Hot bricks. — Jumping up and down like a cat on hot bricks.
Grinning. — He was grinning like a Cheshire cat.

a) hot cakes
j) flowers in May
s) lath

b) fortune
k) trooper
t) wildfire

c) nails
1) a vice
u) pack of cards

d) punch
m) ditch-water
v) pitch

e) snug as...
n) grim death
w) velvet

f) right as ...
o) fish... water
x) mole

g) packed like...
p) mustard
y) poison

h) sieve
q) bomb
z) fish

i) as sure as...
r) pikestaff

1.7.
Complete the following:

1.
My trick didn’t work yesterday. It didn’t come ....

2.
Come ... it. You can’t be serious.

3.
Bill’s still in a coma. He hasn’t come ... yet.

4.
I hear that Frank has come ... a lot of money recently.

5.
I don’t know why I did that. I don’t know what came ... me.

6.
Oh dear! There isn’t enough ice cream to go ....

7.
Do you understand now or would you like me to go ... it again?

8.
I’m afraid your shirt doesn’t go very well... your tie.

9. Fortunately no more ugly office blocks are going ... in the center of Bristol.

10.
John’s wife is always going.........him about not doing the washingup.

11.
This problem needs a lot of going ....

12.
I hear that John has gone .............flu.

13.
I don’t think that we should have broken ... diplomatic relations.

14.
When she heard about the accident she broke ....

15.
What time did the meeting break ... ?

16.
Whenever he takes penicillin he breaks ... in spots.

17.
Fred has broken ...........his girlfriend — they have been together for
five years.

18.
Those children have been badly brought... . They are very rude.

19.
The flashing lights brought... his headache.

20.
Can we bring the date of the meeting ... to next Monday?

21. The Government is hoping to bring ... new tax reforms in the next session 

of Parliament.

22. The Fortescues are bringing ... their youngest daughter next season.

1.8. Match each of the following colloquial names for certain types of people with the correct 
description below.

— a pain in the neck
— a rolling stone
— a battle-axe

— a daredevil
— a crank
— a tomboy

— a slow coach
— a daydreamer
— a sponger

— a busybody
— a lone wolf
— a golden boy

a.
He’s always got his head in the clouds, always fantasizing.

b.
She’s very inquisitive about my private life.

c.
He loves taking dangerous risks.

d.
He can’t settle down. He goes from job to job, place to place.

e.
He’s always borrowing money and living off the people.

f.
She’s very aggressive and bossy. She likes to dominate.

g.
Everyone thinks he’ll get rapid promotion. He’s destined to succeed.

h.
He’s always slow and behind the others in his work or studies.

i.
She’s got extremely odd, eccentric, unconventional ideas and theories.

j.
He’s a real nuisance. I can’t stand him.

k.
He likes to do things on his own.

l.
She’s a girl who likes to play rough, boys’ games.

l.9.
Put each of the following phrasal verbs in its correct place in the sentences below.
get down
take down
try out
put up

bring up
call off
bring up
see off

a. Don’t worry about the journey to the airport. I’m coming to ... you... .
b. The other car didn’t stop after the accident but luckily I was able to ... its 

number.

c. The car’s in quite good condition but you can ... it... before you make any

decision to buy.

d.
Would you like to ... any other matters before the meeting closes?

e.
Stop worrying about. Don’t let this failure ... you ... .

f.
I’m afraid we’ll have to... the meeting... .Alice and John can’t come.

g. Her parents died when she was eight and her uncle decided to ... her...

himself.

h.
I’ve got a spare room, so I can ... you ... if you are ever here again.

l.10.
Idioms — key words. The following sentences all contain an idiom with one key word 
missing. Choose one of the four alternatives to complete the idiom.

a. He used the business profits to ... his own nest. His employees gained

nothing, (fill, feather, enrich, build)

b. She is so quick to criticize other people. I think she should learn to set her

own ... in order first, (home, house, business, place)

c. He paid an absolute fortune for a really tiny flat. There’s not enough room

to swing a ... . (cat, handbag, monkey, rope)

d. Don’t be so impatient. You can’t hurry the decorating if you want to do it

well. ... wasn’t built in a day. (St. Paul’s, New York, Rome, Colossus)

e. Friends may let you down, but your family will always stand by you. Blood

is thicker than .... (tea, wine, tears, water)

f. My car has just about had it. It’s on his last... . We’ll have to get a new one.

(legs, life, way, routes)

g. Politics is a cut-throat business where your friends can be more treacherous

than your enemies, but, as they say, “ If you can’t stand the heat, stay out of
the ... . (forge, kitchen, hearth, desert)

h. I don’t know what she’s got to be so cocky and so important about.

Someone should put her in her .... (place, boots, cradle, post)

l.11.
Complete the following proverbs and say in your own words what they mean:

a. Take care of the pence ....
k. Early to bed ....

b. Charity begins....
1. A friend in need ... .

c. A miss is as good ....
m. All is not gold ....

d. The proof of the pudding....
n.Faint heart....

e. Forewarned is ... .
0.Prevention is better

f. Necessity is... .
P- He who hesitates...

g. Actions speak....
q- Second thoughts...

h. One good turn....
r. Honesty is... .

i.
Let sleeping dogs....
s. Virtue is its ... .

 j- He laughs best.... 
t.
It is the early bird ...

l.12.
a. Find sayings which contain the following words and which have something to do with 

“revenge”, “retaliation”, or giving “tit for tat”: coin, scores, pay, square, tables.

b. What kind of person would deal with the matter in camera — a judge, a photographer,

or a film star?

c. Which month is said to come in like a lion and go out like a Iambi Which animal is 

supposed to behave madly or wildly in this month?

d. As a scholar, Jane can not hold a candle to Mary. Whom would you expect to be the 

higher in the examination list?

e. Is it a praiseworthy action or a sinful one to “heap coals of fire on a person’s head”?

f.
Things that are beyond human control are said to be on the knees of the ... or in the lap 
of.... Find the missing words.

g. Find sayings which contain the following words and which can be used in talking about 

people who are “humble”, “obedient”, or “submissive”: humble, thumb, sing, cap, knee, 
heel, lick.

h. A tradesman who sells for four pounds an article that had cost him five pounds is heard 

to use an expression containing the word pocket, what is it?

i.
What is a person said to be doing with his nose when he works very hard for a long 
time? Find a saying about oars that means just the opposite.

j.
If a lady is referred to as “Mrs. Owen, nee Archer”, what was her father surname?

k. Find sayings which contain the following words and which refer to feelings of “anger” 

or “annoyance”: bridle, hot, red, blood.

l.
It is sometimes said that “what is lightly had is little valued”. Find a saying containing 
the word easy that means the same thing.

m. The two sayings shown together below both bring the same word to mind; what is it?

a.
Holding out the olive branch.

b.
The lion lies down with the lamb.

n. Two friends had not seen each other for twenty years. When they met again one of them 

said something about water, what was it?

o.
If you were asked “are nine sixes seventy-two?” would you answer in the affirmative or 
in the negative?

p.
What is it, in the end, that is lost for the want of a nail?

q.
Find sayings which contain the following words and which can be used in referring to 
people who are “successful in life” and who have become “wealthy” and “prosperous”: 
rise, man, purse, well, way.

1.13.
Choose the right answer.

1. One of the senior ministers said that he did not want to associate himself 

with the Government’s taxation policy and that he ... the whole affair.

A.
gave the cold shoulder to
D. showed a clean pair of heels

B.
washed his hands off
to

C. patted himself on the back for                       E. shaved his chin of 

2. When the teacher told to pupil that he we lazy, the pupil really took it to ... 

and began to improve rapidly.

A. heart B. year C. head 
D. blood 
E. mind

3. The manager said to the staff, “Our production is falling and we don’t all 

work hard. Some of us are going to lose our jobs. You can believe me; this 
is ....”

A.
straight from the shoulder 
D. directly from the mouth

B.
right off my head
E. absolutely from the heart

C.
full in the face

4. Mary and Jane had been friends since childhood but they had the most bitter 

and long lasting argument about unimportant incident. The whole thing was 
a mere ....

A.
whirlpool in the bathtub
C. quake in the piecrust

B.
breeze through the keyD. crevasse in an ice cube

hole
E. storm in a tea cup