IELTS Idioms for Success and failure
1) back to the drawing board
Meaning- If you have to go back to the drawing board, something you have done has not been successful and you have to try another idea.
Example- His government should go back to the drawing board to rethink their programme.
2) bring the house down
Meaning- If a person or their performance brings the house down, the audience claps and cheers loudly for a long time because they liked the performance so much.
Example- We had just one rehearsal and I was very nervous but the show brought the house down.
3) come up in the world
Meaning- If someone has come up in the world, they are richer or more powerful than they used to be and have a higher social status.
Example- A polite and pleasant young man, he was an ordinary worker who had come up in the world.
4) fall flat on your face
Meaning- If someone falls flat on their face when they try to do something, they fail or make an embarrassing mistake.
Example- He was trying to introduce changes in the prison system but he fell flat on his face.
5) be fighting a losing battle
Meaning- If you are fighting alosing battle, you are trying to achieve something, but you are very unlikely to succeed.
Example- The theatre has to compete with the movies and DVDs and it's fighting a losing battle.
6) go belly-up
Meaning- If a company goes belly-up, it fails and does not have enough money to pay its debts. [INFORMAL]
Example- Factories and farms went belly-up because of the debt crisis.
7) go pear-shaped
Meaning- If a situation or activity goes pear-shaped, it starts to fail or have problems. [BRITISH, INFORMAL]
Example- He is always asked to comment when the global economy goes pear-shaped.
8) hit the nail on the head
Meaning- If you hit the nail on the head, you describe a situation or problem very precisely.
Example- Smith hit the nail on the head when he said that the Prime Minister promised so much and yet changed so little.
9) plain sailing
Meaning- If an activity or task is plain sailing, it is easy to do or achieve. [BRITISH]
Example- Once I got used to the diet it was plain sailing and I lost six kilos over a four-month period.
10) save the day
Meaning- If someone or something saves the day in a situation which seems likely to fail, they manage to make it successful.
Example- After a disastrous first night for the show, it was Biggs who stepped in to save the day.
11) touch and go
Meaning- If it is touch and go whether something will happen, you cannot be certain whether it will happen or not.
Example- I thought I was going to win the race, but it was still touching and go.
12) win hands down
Meaning- If you win a contest hands down, you win it easily.
Example- We have been beaten in some games which we should have won hands down.
Example- When he said he would beat me hands down, I didn't know he could run that fast!
13) with flying colours
Meaning- If you achieve something, such as passing an examination, with flying colours, you achieve it easily and are very successful.
Example- She passed the entrance exam with flying colours.
14) work like a charm
Meaning- If something works like a charm, it is very successful or effective.
Example- Our little arrangement worked like a charm.
Example- Our little arrangement worked like a charm.
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