Idiom Ý nghĩa Ví dụ

My dream is to become a successful businessman and

at all cost Bằng mọi giá
I will work hard for it AT ALL COSTS

be out of your Trong tình thế khó xử/khó I am used to teach General english but I was OUT OF
depth khăn MY DEPTH when I had to teach Academic English

We need to EXPLORE ALL AVENUES before doing

Suy tính đến các
something that is not very safe to a great number of
explore all avenues hướng/bước để tránh xảy ra
people in order to minimize unfavourable
vấn đề/hậu quả xấu
consequences.”

Hãy đối mặt/chấp nhận thực Let’s face it. You won’t be able to achieve 7.0 IELTS
let’s face it
tế/sự thật if you do not work hard

My friend never likes using smartphones. She’s so

behind the times Lỗi thời, hết thời
BEHIND THE TIMES.

Trong tình thế nguy He has not submitted his dissertation so he’s IN DEEP
in deep water
hiểm/khó khăn WATER.

put yourself in Thử đặt mình vào vị trí/hoàn If you PUT YOURSELF IN MY SHOES, you would
somebody’s shoes cảnh của người khác understand why I made that decision.

to be up in arms Tức giận, buồn bực vì điều

She has been UP IN ARMS about the rent increase.
about something gì đó

He said it is a difficult problem, but I don’t agree. It

as easy as pie Rất dễ, dễ như ăn bánh
seems as easy as pie to me!

Tôi ghét (tôi không chịu I’m sick and tired of doing nothing but work. Let’s go
be sick and tired of
được) out tonight and have fun.

bend over Rất cố gắng ( có khi quá sức He bent over backwards to please his new wife, but
backwards ) she never seemed satisfied.

Suy nghĩ (trước khi quyết That sounds like a good deal, but I’d like to sleep on it
sleep on it
định) before I give you my final decision.

broke Hết tiền I have to borrow some money from my Dad. Right
 now, I’m broke.

I was planning to work late tonight, but I changed my

change one’s mind Đổi ý
mind. I’ll do extra work on the weekend instead.

Cut it out! Dừng làm việc gì xấu That noise is really annoying. Cut it out!

drop someone a Gửi 1 lá thư hay email cho It was good to meet you . Drop me a line when you
line ai đó have time.

figure something I don’t understand how to do this problem. Take a

Hiểu được vấn đề gì
out look at it. Maybe you can figure it out.

While I was away from the store, my brother filled in

fill in for someone Làm dùm ai khi họ vắng mặt
for me.

Have you seen Joe recently? I haven’t seen him in

in ages Từ rất lâu
ages.

give someone a
Giúp I want to move this desk. Can you give me a hand?
hand

hit the hay Đi ngủ It’s after 12 o’clock. I think it’s time to hit the hay.

Our business is really improving. We’ve been in the

in the black Sinh lời, có lời
black all year.

Business is really going poorly these days. We’ve

in the red Mất tiền, lỗ
been in the red for the past three months.

I got to the drugstore just in the nick of time. I really

in the nick of time Xíu nữa, 1 lúc nữa
need this medicine!

I know things have been difficult for you recently, but

keep one’s chin up Dũng cảm và tiếp tục
keep your chin up. It will get better soon.

know something
Biết 1 việc gì rất rõ If you get lost, just ask me for directions. I know this
like the back of
part of town like the back of my hand.
your hand

once in a while Đôi khi, lâu lâu Have you been to the new movie theater? No, only see
 movies once in a while.

I’ll meet you at 9 o’clock sharp. If you’re late, we’ll

sharp Chính xác thời gian đó
be in trouble!

Đừng đánh giá một sự He doesn’t look very intelligent, but you can’t judge a
Don’t judge a book
vật/sự việc/con người chỉ book by its cover.
by its cover
qua vẻ bề ngoài

miss the boat = to

If you miss the boat, it means you are too late to get
miss an Lỡ cơ hội
an opportunity in my company.
opportunity

I’m feeling under the weather – I think I’m getting a

feeling under the Cảm thấy không khỏe,
cold.
weather không được tốt

leave no stone I’ll leave no stone unturned until I find out the reason.
Làm tất cả để đạt mục tiêu
unturned

I think you hit the nail on the head when you said that
hit the nail on the Đoán đúng, đánh đúng trọng what’s lacking in our company is a feeling of
head tâm, nói đúng…. confidence.

I’m sitting on the fence with my girlfriend when we

sit on the fence Lưỡng lự
went shopping!

Coi việc có cái gì như một He took her help for granted without saying thank
take for granted điều hiển nhiên nên không you.
trân trọng khi có điều đó

Getting a band 6.5 in the speaking test will be a piece

A piece of cake Dễ dàng
of cake.

Khi thứ gì đó “blow you

Blew me away away”, nghĩa là thứ đó thực The new technology blew me away.
sự rất đáng ngạc nhiên

once in a blue I used to see him all the time, but now he just visits
Rất hiếm khi
moon me once in a blue moon.
 Run of the mill Thông thường Apple phones are very run of the mill these days.

Bạn chí cốt tâm giao, tri âm

Soulmate My husband is not just my lover, he’s my soulmate.
tri kỷ

Down in the dumps Buồn bã I was really down in the dumps after my dog died.

I’d love to buy a Lamborghini supercar, but it costs an

cost an arm and a Rất đắt tiền
arm and a leg.
leg

Ở một thời điểm thời gian The class will start at 8:00 a.m. on the dot, so don’t be
on the dot
chính xác late!

Moving to a new city was difficult at first, but I soon

Cảm thấy thoải mái để làm
Find my feet found my feet.
việc gì

Chỉ một ý tưởng hoặc suy I was surprised he knew what I was planning, like he
read my/your/his
nghĩ đã được người khác could read my mind.
mind
biết

Set in their ways Không muốn thay đổi My parents are quite traditional and set in their ways.

Kết thúc một công việc Well, it was nice chatting with you, but it’s time for
call it a day trong ngày, hoặc trong buổi me to call it a day.
tối

Over the moon Vô cùng hài lòng và hạnh

I was over the moon when I passed my speaking test.
phúc

chill out Despite terrorism, Obama still kept calm, and told his
Thư giãn, bình tĩnh lại
staff to chill out, and got back to work.

(to be) fed up with

Chán ngán với Be careful, I think the boss is fed up with us today