(idiomatic, after keep, put, have, hold (one’s)) used to form idioms meaning “to work hard, or focus heavily on work.” If he’d keep his nose to the grindstone a bit more, he could be a pretty good student.

something that you hope will happen but is very unlikely to happen: Their plans to set up their own business are just pie in the sky.

to refuse to think about unpleasant facts, although they will have an influence on your situation: You have to face facts here – you can’t just bury your head in the sand.

“I’d like to get you on a slow boat to China” was a well-known phrase among poker players, referring to a person who lost steadily and handsomely. Loesser moved the phrase to a more romantic setting, yet it eventually entered general parlance to mean anything that takes an extremely long time.

: to do hard, continuous work You’ll do well at school if you just keep your nose to the grindstone.

: to control someone or something often in a secret way It turned out that his brother was the person pulling the strings behind the operation.

informal. : to lose control of one’s emotions : to become very angry He tends to fly off the handle when people disagree with him.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The idiom tongue-in-cheek refers to a humorous or sarcastic statement expressed in a mock serious manner.

In American English, you can simply say “I’m beside myself” to mean you are shocked or very upset. For example, if you have a bad fight with a close friend, you might be beside yourself. You might scream, write your friend an angry letter, or just go somewhere by yourself and cry.

Now, let’s talk turkey. The phrase “talk turkey” usually means “speak frankly,” though this time of year it’s more likely to be a discussion of how to cook the bird. In other words, the white man was intent on keeping the good bird. The Native American supposedly replied, “You’re not talking turkey to me.”

1 : to appear or come to light unexpectedly or after being lost new evidence has turned up.

in a frank manner spoke

The origin of “talk turkey” seems to come from colonial times. Historical accounts suggest the phrase came about from the day-to-day bartering between colonists and Indians over wild turkeys.

What’s the origin of the phrase ‘Fly off the handle’? This is an American phrase and it alludes to the uncontrolled way a loose axe-head flies off from its handle. It is first found in print in Thomas C. Haliburton’s The Attaché; or, Sam Slick in England, 1843/4: “He flies right off the handle for nothing.”

To talk serious business; to talk frankly. Speak plainly, get to the point, as in Don’t call me until you’re ready to talk turkey. This expression allegedly comes from a tale about an Indian and a white man who hunted together and divided the game.

US, informal. : in a luxurious style Those movie stars live pretty high on the hog.

To cut the mustard is “to reach or surpass the desired standard or performance” or more generally “to succeed, to have the ability to do something.” For instance, Beyoncé really cut the mustard in her new song.

The word caboodle in the phrase the whole kit and caboodle is an alliteration of the word boodle. Boodle appears in the United States in the 1830s to mean a crowd of people, later evolving to mean a large amount of ill-gotten money. An older rendering of the phrase is the whole kit and boodle.

You’ll know if someone is on his high horse, because he will behave as though he’s superior to everyone around him, almost like a haughty king riding his horse past his lowly subjects. The phrase high horse grew to mean “pompous or self-righteous” from there.

In an arrogant or condescending manner. For example, When they started talking about music, David got on his high horse and said that classical music was only fit for museums and archives. This expression, alluding to the use of tall horses by high-ranking persons, dates from the late 1700s.

to stop talking as if you were better or smarter than other people: It’s time you came down off your high horse and admitted you were wrong.

To be on one’s high horse means to act in an arrogant or haughty fashion. Eventually, the phrase came to mean the attitude assumed by someone who could afford to ride a tall horse.