ENGLISH IMPROVEMENT

idioms & phrases

AFTERSCHOOL
DEVELOPING CHANGE MAKERS
CENTRE FOR SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP
PGPSE PROGRAMME
World Most Comprehensive programme in social
entrepreneurship & spiritual entrepreneurship
OPEN FOR ALL FREE FOR ALL

www.afterschoool.tk
09/30/15

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AFTERSCHOOL's
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ENGLISH IMPROVEMENT
idioms & phrases
Dr. T.K. Jain.

AFTERSCHOOL
Centre for social entrepreneurship
Bikaner M: 9414430763
tkjainbkn@yahoo.co.in
www.afterschool.tk, www.afterschoool.tk
www.afterschoool.tk
09/30/15

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AFTERSCHOOL's
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AFTERSCHOOL's
FOR PGPSE PARTICIPANTS

MATERIAL FOR PGPSE

Correct it : one of the member of

the board did not agree to majority
decision.
Corrected: one of the members of the
board did not agree to majority decision.

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AFTERSCHOOL's
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Correct it : one should mind his

own business.
Correct : one should mind ones own
business.

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Correct it : she is my cousin sister

Correct : she is my cousin.

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Correct it : marketing manager is

senior than sales manager
Correct : marketing manager is senior to
sales manager

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AFTERSCHOOL's
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Convert into passive : whip the thief

mercilessly.
Let the thief be whipped mercilessly.

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AFTERSCHOOL's
MATERIAL FOR PGPSE

The USA is the .. (de facto/de

jure) ruler of Iraq.
The USA is the de facto ruler of Iraq.

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AFTERSCHOOL's
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India has always been ___ for

Pakistan (bete noire / bona fide).
India has always been bete noire for
Pakistan

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AFTERSCHOOL's
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In a secular state, no person should

be ( protected / presecuted /
projected) for holding a particular
religious belief.
In a secular state, no person should be
presecuted for holding a particular
religious belief.

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Education is the .
(manifestation/ malformation /
manipulation) of the perfection
already in man.
Education is the manifestation of the
perfection already in man.

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What is Demat?
Dematerialisation is to convert a physical
security into a digital security

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What is a road show?

It is to make public presentation about
some project / idea / product where we
convey the the public the merits /
demerits of some theme. It is part of
publicity and propaganda

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Convert into an assertive

sentence : who doesnt know the
God exists.

Every one knows that the God exists.

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Who is philanthropist
Philo = love
Anthrop = mankind
Thus philanthropist is the person who
loves mankind

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What is a hangar ?
The place where an aeroplane is kept is
called hangar

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Close shave
Narrow escape

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Bosom friend
Close friend

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Like a bull in a china shop

Wrong person in wrong job

(doing something opposite ).
Too clumsy
Unfit for the occasion
(imagine, what will happen if a bull enters
a china shop).

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Cold comfort
Mere consolation
No concrete action just plain words..
Mere promise (no action).

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Crocodile tears
Pretended sorrow
(mere show - actually there is no sorrow).

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A dog in the manger

Not to eat, nor allow others to eat
A very honest person in tax department is
like a dog in a manger (as tax department
is a very corrupt department dont take it
otherwise)
A person who doesnt take benefit, and
also doesnt allow others to benefit from
the opportunity
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Bad blood
Ill feeling
(thinking bad about something).

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Backstairs influence..
Use unfair means to achieve success
It also means to influence someones wife
to get the decision in favour.
When Ravi couldn't get the work from the
magistrate, he approached the wife of the
magistrate and used backstairs influence
to get the work done.

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Elbow room
Adequate space / room for a person to
move and work
There is no elbow room in this
compartment.

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Burning question..
The hot issue
The matter which is most discussed by
people

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To split hairs
To find fault in others
To argue over minor matters
To fight over petty issues.

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To rule the roost

To be able to take decision
To be the leader on the occasion.

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Augean stables
Something very difficult to clean (very
dirty)
To clean auguean stable is to do
impossible.
To remove corruption from India is like
cleaning augean stables.

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Argus eyed..
a person who is prejudiced
A person who has ill feelings / jealousy
towards some persons.

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To pour oil on the troubled water..

To try to calm a dispute
To try to make peace
To try to make persons quite.

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Gift of the gab

Art of speaking
Gifted with the art of speaking
He has the gift of the gab

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Cock and bull story

A ridiculous and implausible story
A story which seems unrealistic

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A fish out of water

A person who is uncomfortable
In England, Kapsa will be like a fish out of
water (because he is not comfortable in
English).

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Scylia and Charybdis

In two difficulties, from one has to be
selected both are very difficult and
nauseating

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To tall talk
To be boastful

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Ins and outs ..

Complete details
He know ins and outs of this situation..

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A mares nest
Worthless thing
Actually mare doesnt have a nest
therefore this is something which is not
found.

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Snake in the grass

Deceitful enemy
Treacherous person

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Storm in the teacup

To make a problem on a small matter

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To drive hard the bargain

To be uncompromising
To be very firm in arguments
To be very strict
To make the most in a deal

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To sail before the wind

To take the benefit out of the opportunity
We cannot sail against wind easily, on the
other hand, we can easily sail with the
wind (as the wind pushes a boat in that
direction).
To get the best out of the occasion.

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To weather the storm

To overcome the difficulties and crisis

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To be on the wane
To become weaker
After joining our course, Goti has been on
the wane (becoming weaker day after
day).

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At sixes and sevens

In utter confusion
When things are disturbed, we say that
they are in sixes and sevens.

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Out of frying pan into the fire

To get out from one trouble and get into
another (even more difficult problem).

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To take the wind out of ones sails..

To create difficulty / confusion for
someone.
In earlier times, boats used to move with
the wind, if you take away wind from the
boat, the boat would stop moving, thus to
create problems for some person.

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To be in the same boat

To be in the same problems..

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To take something with a pinch of

salt ..
To regard something as exaggerated
.

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To be in doldrums..
To be in a state of depression
To be in difficulty / confusion
To be in stagnation
In earlier times, the boards used to find it
difficulty in some parts of the sea due to
less wind, that area is called doldrums.
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Penelopes web
A work which goes on and never
completes.
One king asked Penelope to marry, she
said that when her web would be
complete, she would marry. She used to
weave the web in the day and open it in
night and unwind it. Thus the web would
never be complete.
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Wild goose chase ..

Foolish and worthless chase
An effort that doesnt give any reward

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Apple of discord
A matter of dispute

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To show white feather

To show signs of cowardice

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To curry favour
To be sycophant
To win favour by gifts / flattery

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To eat ones heart out

To grieve bitterly

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To buy a pig in a poke

To buy a thing without examining it (thus to
buy worthless thing).

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To cry over split milk

To complain about something, which has
already happened

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To build castles in the air

To make imaginations which are not
realistic

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To boil down to
To amount to
To mean
His arguments boil down to the points that
we have discussed

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The jury is divided on the issue of

capital punishment.
Correct sentence :
The jury are divided on the issue of
capital punishment.
Use are because the members of the
jury are divided.

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When my father and I visited the

police station to get release of our
unlawfully arrested neighbour, we
were unnecessarily harrassed/
harassed/harrased
When my father and I visited the police
station to get release of our
unlawfully arrested neighbour, we were
unnecessarily harassed
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It was not (see) that the

construction of the tall multistoreyed building
was so weak that it would collapse
so soon.
It was not seen / visualised that the
construction of the tall multi-storeyed
building was so weak that it would
collapse so soon.
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The old lady living in our locality

died after a protracted illness.
(replace by a suitable idiom)
The old lady living in our locality passed
away after a prolonged illness.

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Only God is all powerful

Only God is omnipotent

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Loose sheets of paper are available

at the stationery/stationary shop
nearby. (Choose the correct
alternative.)
Stationery
Stationary = something which is fixed
which doesnt move or change
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The day of publication of the

Company Secretaries (Foundation)
Result is fateful / fatal day for the
candidates. (Select the correct
alternative.)
Fatal

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A person to whom property is

mortgaged.
Mortgagor

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A person working as a judge

between the two
parties and whose decision is
binding for both.
parties at their request
Arbitrager

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About AFTERSCHOOL
PGPSE - Worlds most comprehensive
programme on social entrepreneurship
after class 12th
Flexible fast changing to meet the
requirements
Admission open throughout the year
Complete support from beginning to the
end from idea generation to making the
project viable.
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Branches of AFTERSCHOOL
PGPSE programme is open all over the
world as free online programme.
Those who complete PSPSE have the
freedom to start branches of AFTERSCHO
OL
A few branches have already started one such branch is at KOTA (Rajasthan).

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Workshop on social
entrepreneurship
We conduct workshop on social
entrepreneurship all over India and out
of India also - in school, college, club,
association or any such place - just send
us a call and we will come to conduct the
workshop on social entrepreeurship.
These workshops are great moments of
learning, sharing, and commitments.
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FREE ONLINE PROGRAMME

AFTERSCHOOL is absolutely free
programme available online any person can
join it. The programme has four components :
1. case studies writing and analysing using
latest tools of management
2. articles / reports writing & presentation of
them in conferences / seminars
3. Study material / books / ebooks / audio / audio
visual material to support the study
4. business plan preparation and presentations
of those plans in conferences / seminars
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100% placement / entrepreneurship

AFTERSCHOOL has the record of
100% placement / entrepreneurship till
date
Be assured of a bright career if you join
AFTERSCHOOL

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Pursue professional courses along

with PGPSE
AFTERSCHOOL permits you to pursue
distance education based professional /
vocational courses and gives you support
for that also. Many students are doing CA /
CS/ ICWA / CMA / FRM / CFP / CFA and
other courses along with PGPSE.
Come and join AFTERSCHOOL

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