Commonly used english part 12 pptx

Mr_doody2004@yahoo.com 111 come what may - no matter what might happen Come what may I was determined to go to Spain for my holidays. come with the territory - to be expected under the circumstances (like something that comes with a sales territory) The fact that the man has no free time comes with the territory with his work as a news reporter. . commit (something) to memory - to memorize something I worked hard to commit the names to memory. common touch - a friendly manner with everyone He has a common touch and everyone likes him a lot. con (someone) out of (something) - to trick someone out of money or something valuable The man on the street corner tried to con the woman out of some money. confide in (someone) - to tell secrets or personal matters to someone I usually confide in my friend when I have a problem. Mr_doody2004@yahoo.com 112 conk out - to fall asleep quickly with great fatigue As soon as we returned from the hike I conked out in front of the TV. conspicuous by one's absence - to have one's absence noticed The teacher was conspicuous by her absence and everyone asked where she was. contradiction in terms - a statement that seems to have a contradiction It was a contradiction in terms for the woman to pretend that she had no money while living in a mansion. contrary to (something) - in spite of something Contrary to what everybody thought, my friend had already quit his job. control the purse strings - to be in charge of the money My mother always used to control the purse strings in our family. cook one`s goose - to ruin one`s chances The girl cooked her goose and has no chance of getting the new job. cook (something) up - to invent something, to plan or plot something I do not know what kind of plan she is cooking up but it should be quite interesting. Mr_doody2004@yahoo.com 113 cook the books - to cheat in bookkeeping The accountant was fired when someone discovered that he was cooking the books. cool as a cucumber - to be very calm and brave, to be not worried or anxious The woman was as cool as a cucumber when her canoe turned over in the river. cool off/down - to let one's anger die away When the basketball players began to cool down they were allowed to play again. cool one`s heels - to be kept waiting The man was forced to cool his heels in the waiting room before his boss would talk to him. cop a plea - to plead guilty to a crime in order to get a lesser penalty The man was forced to cop a plea when the evidence against him became too strong to dispute. cop out - to avoid doing something that you were planning to do My friend copped out from our plan to go to to the beach for the day. a copycat - someone who copies another person`s work or actions The little boy was accused of being a copycat by the other children. Mr_doody2004@yahoo.com 114 cost a pretty penny - to cost a lot of money I believe that my aunt's new coat cost a pretty penny. cost an arm and a leg - to cost too much The new motorcycle cost my brother an arm and a leg. cough up - to give something unwillingly The man finally coughed up enough money to pay for the bicycle. could do with (someone or something) - to want or need someone or something I could do with a new computer now that mine is getting old. count noses - to count people After the teacher finished counting noses everyone got on the bus. count on (someone or something) - to depend on someone or something You can count on our boss to do everything right. count one`s chickens before they`re hatched - to assume that something will be successful before it is certain "Don`t count your chickens before they`re hatched. You are spending your money and you do not have a job yet." Mr_doody2004@yahoo.com 115 count (someone) in - to include someone in something I know that my friends will count me in if they go to the zoo. count (someone) out - to exclude someone from something "Please count me out of your plans to go skiing for the weekend." a course of action - the procedures that will be followed to do something We decided on our course of action before we told our boss about our decision. cover a lot of ground - to deal with much information or facts, to travel a great distance We covered a lot of ground in our history class at school. cover for (someone) - to make excuses for someone, to cover someone's errors I covered for my friend when the boss saw that she was away from her desk. cover for (someone) - to do someone else's work We always cover for each other when someone at work is sick. cover one`s tracks - to hide where one has been, to hide what one has done The man was trying to cover his tracks but it was easy to see where he had been. Mr_doody2004@yahoo.com 116 cover up (something) - to hide something wrong or bad They tried to cover up the facts regarding the illegal election campaign funds. cozy up to (someone) - to try to be extra friendly to someone I do not know what my neighbor wants but recently he has been trying to cozy up to me. crack a book - to open a book to study I did not crack a book until the last week of classes. crack a joke - to tell a joke The man was a lot of fun at the party because he was always cracking jokes. crack a smile - to let a smile show on one`s face Our boss never cracked a smile during the meeting. crack down on (someone or something) - to enforce laws or rules strictly The school principal decided to crack down on people running in the halls. crack of dawn - daybreak, early in the morning We got up at the crack of dawn to go fishing. Mr_doody2004@yahoo.com 117 crack open a book - to open a book to study I did not crack open a book during the weekend. crack the whip - to try to make someone work hard or obey you by threatening them We had to crack the whip in order to get the job finished before the weekend. crack up - to burst into laughter I cracked up when the man started talking about the incident with the taxi driver. crackpot - an eccentric person with ideas that do not make sense to others The man is a crackpot and you never know what he will do next. cramp one`s style - to limit one`s talk or action Working in the new department is beginning to cramp my style. crank (something) out - to produce or make something I was able to crank out two very good papers before the end of the year. crash and burn - to fail spectacularly We did not want to crash and burn so we were very careful about how we proceeded with the project. Mr_doody2004@yahoo.com 118 crash the gate - to enter someplace without a ticket or without paying Many people did not have a ticket for the concert so they decided to crash the gate. crazy about (someone or something) - to like someone or something very much My sister is absolutely crazy about rap music. cream of the crop - the best When our company hires new employees we always look for the cream of the crop. create a stink - to make a big issue out of something The woman decided to create a stink when she found the bad product at the supermarket. create an uproar - to cause a sensation The referees created an uproar when they asked the star player to leave the game. creature comforts - things that make people comfortable We had no creature comforts during our trip to South America. a credit to (someone or something) - to be invaluable or beneficial to someone or something The doctor was a credit to the hospital where he had trained. Mr_doody2004@yahoo.com 119 the creeps - a strong feeling of fear or disgust I get the creeps every time that I see a spider or snake. creep up on (someone or something) - to crawl quietly toward someone or something The thief crept up on the elderly woman in the supermarket. crocodile tears - a show of sorrow that is not real The man said that he was very sorry but his tears were only crocodile tears. crop up - to appear or happen unexpectedly I will meet him early next week unless something crops up that keeps me busy. cross a bridge before one comes to it - to think and worry about future events or problems before they happen We should not worry about that problem now. We can cross that bridge when we come to it. cross one`s heart and hope to die - to promise that what you are saying is true "I promise that I will pay back the money next week. Cross my heart and hope to die." Mr_doody2004@yahoo.com 120 cross one`s mind - to think of something, to occur to someone It crossed my mind that I would see him in the evening so I did not need to phone him. cross out (something) - to eliminate something by drawing a line through it I crossed out my name from the list of volunteers. cross swords with (someone) - to have an argument with someone I do not want to cross swords with the head teacher again. cross the Rubicon - to do something where you cannot go back (Julius Ceasar crossed the Rubicon and made a fight with the Roman Senate inevitable) The man crossed the Rubicon when he began on a course that he could never turn back from. cross to bear/carry - something that you must do or continue with even though you are suffering Looking after my sister`s children is my cross to bear. crux of the matter - the central issue of a matter The crux of the matter is that we no longer have enough money to go on a holiday. . to someone I usually confide in my friend when I have a problem. Mr_doody2004@yahoo.com 112 conk out - to fall asleep quickly with great fatigue As soon as we returned from the hike. already quit his job. control the purse strings - to be in charge of the money My mother always used to control the purse strings in our family. cook one`s goose - to ruin one`s chances The. day. a copycat - someone who copies another person`s work or actions The little boy was accused of being a copycat by the other children. Mr_doody2004@yahoo.com 114 cost a pretty