Advanced everyday english: Advanced vocabulary, phrasal verbs, idioms and expressions - Collins Steven 2011
Lesson One. To mingle
Chapter Eight
Examples:
✵ / think she finds it difficult to mingle with a boisterous crowd of guests.
✵ By and large, most people at the party mingled, and your cousin turned out to be quite a dark horse.
Trait (Characteristic)
Examples:
✵ He clearly has the trait of a winner in him; the rest of them will remain the laughing stock of world football.
✵ She has many of the traits of her grandmother, who was also very outgoing.
To lift a finger (To make an effort to help someone—generally used in the negative)
Examples:
✵ At the dinner all he did was take the mickey out of his mother-in-law. He didn’t lift a finger to help his wife in the kitchen.
✵ A: While I’ve been doing the housework, you haven’t lifted a finger.
B: Oh, get off my back! I’ve got a lot on my plate at the moment.
To be overwhelmed, overwhelming (To be completely controlled by an emotional feeling, too much, over the top, greater than expected—either positive or negative)
Examples:
✵ He was overwhelmed with joy when they told him they were going to publish his book; now he will be able to reap the rewards of years of hard work.
✵ I do find him a bit overwhelming at times; he tends to take over any conversation I start and perpetually refers back to events in his own life..
✵ Take my word for it: the response to your advertising campaign will be overwhelming.
Plight (The difficult/dangerous/depressing situation)
Examples:
✵ To say that the plight of these refugees is an unfortunate one is something of an understatement.
✵ We should be under no illusions that the plight of the Bengal tiger is going to improve.
To be out of one’s depth (To feel that one has insufficient knowledge or experience, to be with people who are more knowledgeable/better educated, or who perform at a much higher level)
Examples:
✵ I felt a little out of my depth when he began to touch on scientific theories.
✵ He was trying to mingle with a group of Oxford professors, but was quite clearly totally out of his depth.
✵ It has become increasingly apparent to me that quite a few of our players are out of their depth in the Premier League. They were all pathetic last Saturday.
“He was trying to mingle with a group of Oxford professors, but was quite clearly totally out of his depth.’’
Teething problems (Initial problems-note that when a baby is “teething” it means that his first teeth are coming through)
Examples:
✵ If we manage to get over these teething problems, we should break even this year.
✵ How can I put it? Let’s just say that when we got this project underway, we had more than a few teething problems relating to the layout of the building, but now things are definitely looking up.
To bring on (To cause—often used in connection with illness)
Examples:
✵ Whenever I talk to a doctor about my illness, I feel like I’m banging my head against a brick wall; if they don’t know what’s going on, they’ll simply say that my illness has been brought on by stress. That causes me stress!
✵ A: She has been rather touchy recently about her relationship with her husband.
B: What brought that on?
To show someone the ropes (To show someone how to do something/ how something works/where everything is)
Examples:
✵ Don’t be cocky when she’s showing you the ropes; it won’t go down too well.
✵ I’ll leave you in Peter’s more than capable hands, taking you round the office; he’s very adept at showing people the ropes.
Peckish (A little hungry)
Examples:
✵ He will only lift a finger with the cooking if he’s feeling peckish.
✵ A: I’m a bit peckish; have you got anything to be getting on with? I haven’t eaten all day.
B: Oh stop whingeing!