Morning, guys!!!

    I was sifting the internet for help with a particular idiom and stumbled across this short list of idioms published by a higly respect English school in Canada. They claim that the following are usual in day-to-day conversation and that all the ESL students must know them by heart 'cause they're bound to hear them often. I'm not familiar with all of them, and as I don't mean to spin my wheels, waste my time, bark up the wrong tree.... anymore (as my friend Dale would say) I would greatly apreciate if you just take a look at them and point out the ones you guys have never used.

Thanx, folks!!!! 

about to:   "The plane is about to take off." ready to, going to

agree with:  "This food doesn't agree with me.  It makes me sick."  suit, have a good effect

ahead of time:  "I will help you with your work if you let me know ahead of time." before, in advance

all at once:  "The car accident happened all at once." suddenly

bad actor:  "The horse is a bad actor.  It kicks anyone who goes near." always misbehaving

bad blood:  "There was bad blood between the two men." an unfriendly feeling, hate

be against:  "He was against his son's plan to buy a car." He was opposed; didn't agree.

be back:  "I'm going to the store.  I'll be back in an hour." return; come back; get back

be out of:  "I wanted to buy some of my favourite cookies, but the store was out of them." not have; lack; run out of

be out of pocket:  "The company paid for his trip to learn more about his job so he wouldn't be out of pocket." spend money of one's own

beside the point:  "What he liked or didn't like was beside the point." having little or nothing to do with the matter being discus

bet your boots on:  "You can bet your boots that our team will win." depend on it, be sure

better late than never: "We don't mind if you were late because of car trouble. Better late than never." It is preferable to arrive late than not arrive at all.

between the devil and the deep blue sea:  "He was between the devil and the deep blue sea." between two equal dangers

break the heart of:  "The mother's heart was broken when her daughter died." crush with sorrow or grief

bring on:  "Poor nutrition can bring on bad health." cause

bring up:  "She brought up three sons and a daughter." raise

by hook or by crook:  "He will try to get elected by hook by crook."  in any way possible

call back:  "My friend called me up on the phone while I was out. I called him back as soon as I got the message." to return a telephone call; respond

call off:  "They called off the search for the lost person after many days."  cancel

call up:  "I will call you up when I am in your city." call on the telephone

close call:  "While I was coming here  I had a close call. I was nearly hit by a car."  narrow escape

close shave:  "He had a close shave when he almost fell off the ladder." narrow escape

come down with:  "I think I'm coming down with a cold." to get an illness

crazy about:  "The children are crazy about ice cream."  really like it

cut corners:  "When he lost his job he had to cut corners to save money."  save money by reducing costs

cut it out:  "He was teasing his little sister, so I told him to cut it out." stop it, knock it off
day in, day out  "His job is boring. He does the same thing, day in, day out."  every single day

do (something) over: "He had to do his essay over again because he did not include some important information." to repeat, to do again

do without:  "Sam did without a car for many years. He used the city bus instead." to live without something

drop in the bucket:  "The amount of his wages that he put in his savings account was drop in the bucket."  a very small amount compared to the rest

drop out of:  "A few teenagers drop out of high school these days." to stop attending

eager beaver:  "Martha and her husband like to eat out every Friday night."  to eat at restaurant

eleventh hour:  "He came to help them at the eleventh hour."  The latest possible moment.  Time just before it is too late

feeling blue:  "She's feeling blue because her mother died." feeling bad

few and far between: "The people who can buy a Rolls Royce are few and far between ."  rare

figure out:  "They couldn't figure out what was meant." think out, understand, to work out

for good:  "I have decided to stay here for good."  always; indefinitely

for good measure: "When he bought a new car, they filled his gas tank for good measure."  as something extra; something not expected

to get (a problem) off  one's chest: "He has a big problem with one of the people at work.  He told me all about it and got it off his chest."  to talk openly about

get on:  "He got on the bus and rode to Calgary."  to enter (a bus, plane, train)

get one's goat: "The spoiled child got her goat because he wanted everything he saw."  annoy, make angry

get out of: "Why don't we get out of the car and take a walk through those beautiful trees?"  to leave (a car or  truck)

give the time of day: "He was very busy and wouldn't give the salesman the time of day."  to pay attention to (negative)

give up:  "The boy could not lift the heavy weight and finally gave up."  stop trying

give up:  "After many years he decided to give up smoking."  to stop a bad habit

give up the ghost:  "The dog was very sick and finally gave up the ghost."  die

go places:  "He's really going places."  achieve success; advance rapidly

go through:  "She really liked to use tomatoes in her cooking.  She goes through a lot of them every month."  to use up

go to one's head:  "When he won the game it went to his head."  become conceited

hang on:  "Hang on a minute and I'll find the doctor's telephone number."  to wait, be patient; to hold on

hang up:  "If no one answer the telephone, then we hang up."  put the telephone receiver back in place

heads up!:  "Heads up!"  watch out!  take care!

hear from:  "It is nice to get Christmas cards.  That's the only time of year you hear from some of your friends."  to receive a letter or phone call

heart in one's mouth: "He heard a very frightening noise and his heart was in his mouth."  be very afraid

in the pink:  "She was in the pink after her fitness exercises."  in good health

in the red:  "His business was in the red."  losing money

it stands to reason:  "If the government wants to eliminate the deficit, it stands to reason that they must cut services and raise taxes."  It is logical to assume

jerk:  "He's a real jerk."  a stupid person

kick in:  "They took up a collection to buy her a gift and everyone kicked in."  pay

lend me your ear:  "Please lend me your ear."  listen to me

let on:  "He let on that he was rich."  pretend

let someone down:  "I'm depending on you to tell me what to buy for Jill's gift.  Don't let me down.  to disappoint

look down your nose:  "She looked down her nose at the boy with old clothes."  sneer at something and think it is no good

look into:  "He looked into the cost of car insurance by getting quotations form several insurance companies."  to investigate

mix up:  "When I got off the subway I was all mixed up and started to walk the wrong way to get to the library."  to confuse of bewilder

moonlighting:  "He has a job in construction but he is moonlighting to get more money."  doing another job in the evenings in addition to one's regular job

no skin off my nose:  "He didn't want me to help him.  It's no skin off my nose."  doesn't matter to me

once and for all:  "Please tell me once and for all if you need tickets for the concert."  one final time

open up:  "When she first came to class, she didn't open up for two or three days."  to show one's feelings

out of hand:  "People go excited and things god out of hand."  out of control

piece of cake:  "He thought that learning to ski was a piece of cake."  very easy to do

pink slip:  "He was given a pink slip."  He was fired (dismissed) from his job.

pitch in:  "Everyone pitched in to get the work done."  help with the work; work hard

pull up stakes:  "He couldn't get a job here so they pulled up stakes and went to Ontario."  move away

put away:  "Carol, please put your toys away."  to clean; to remove

put back:  "Please put the telephone book back after you have finished using it."  to return to the proper place

red herring:  "The politician spoke about matters that many people thought were red herrings."  something to mislead and draw attention from the real issue

red tape:  "It took a long time to get an answer to his question because of the red tape."  annoying official delays

skin of your teeth:  "He escaped by the skin of his teeth."  just barely escaped

sleep on it:   "I'm not sure which car to buy.  I think I'll sleep on it and decide tomorrow."  to consider something important for a while

smell a rat:  "I smell a rat."  think something is wrong

stick one's nose into someone else's business:  "Don't stick your nose into someone else's business."  Don't interfere where you don't belong.

stiff upper lip:  "Face your troubles with a stiff upper lip."  bravely,  with courage

stir up a hornet's nest: "She stirred up a hornet's nest."  caused a lot of trouble,  got people angry

talk turkey:  "They decided to talk turkey."  to get down to business

That's the way the cookie crumbles.: That's the way life is.

think something over: "I was offered a new job.  I'll have to think it over and give the boss an answer tomorrow."  to consider carefully

turn in:  "He said it was getting late and time to turn in."  go to bed

turn off:  "Turn off the lights."  put a light out

turn on:  "Please turn the radio on.  I want to hear the news."  to make something work; to activate

turn one's back on:  "I need his help but he turned his hack on me."  to abandon, forsake

turn up:  "Please turn up the radio.  I can't hear it very well."  to increase the volume

two-faced:  "She's a two-faced person."  dishonest, deceitful

under one's hat:  "Keep this under your hat."  Keep this a secret,  Don't tell anyone.

up to the ears:  "I'm up to my ears in work."  deeply taken up, thoroughly involved, almost overcome

upper crust:  "He was one of the upper crust."  the higher classes  the richest, most important people

wear out:  "I'm throwing old socks in the garbage.  They are worn out."  to use something until it is useless

wear out:  "I worked hard all day.  I'm worn out."  to exhaust

work out:  "Jim and his wife were separated, but they have worked out their problems and they are back together again."  to reach an agreement; to solve a problem

work out:  "Mary gets lots of exercise.  She works out in the gym at least three times a week."  to exercise