English: Miscellaneous Vocabulary — Solved MCQs Solved MCQs

Someone who makes a wise judgement about something that has previously proven difficult to resolve.

Someone who is basically good hearted but lacking social graces and respect for the law.

Advertising slogan for De Beers' diamonds.

A small but irritating flaw that spoils the whole thing.

A state of happiness based on false hope.

An introduction or way in to something, made in order that progress may be made later.

Say nothing - especially in circumstances where saying the wrong thing may get you into trouble.

Remain resolute and unemotional in the face of adversity, or even tragedy.

Keep it secret.

Remain cheerful - keep your head held high.

Be prepared and save your resources until they are needed.

The skill of ball-juggling - to keep a ball in the air for as long as possible by bouncing it off any part of the body that is allowed in the rules of football, i.e. any part except the hands and arms.

A dainty little trinket or ornament.

A reversal of fortune or disappointment.

To finish work for the day.

Used to highlight and ridicule snobbish forms of behaviour or speech.

The good life, full of pleasure and indulgence.

Work undertaken for the pleasure of it or for the benefit of a loved one.

Play the fool, in a childish or careless manner.

To laugh coarsely or loudly, especially at the discomfort of others.

A figure or object of ridicule and laughter.

Do not hold on to your anger for more than one day.

Without impediment.

Encourage many ideas from many sources.

Headlong; at full speed.

Keep out of sight; bide one's time.

Life begins to be better in one's middle age.

A lot; as in 'hurts like the dickens'.

A description of the British soldiers of WWI.

A person's eyes; more recently, the life force or consciousness.

The whole thing.

Old, especially of horses or people.

An unpredictable person or thing, liable to cause damage if not kept in check by others.

Completely mad.

A literary genre in which magical features and storylines appear and are accepted as everyday reality.

The most important issue.

The 'offer' being 'do as I say or I'll kill you'.

Carry on with what you are doing - it will give me an excuse to behave badly.

To state a fact in a way that allows no doubt.

Many small amounts accumulate to make a large amount.

Literal meaning, alluding to the variety in qualities of humankind.

Have many more happy days, especially birthdays.

May you experience much upheaval and trouble in your life.

The real thing - not a substitute.

I'm to blame.

A wave effect formed when crowds in stadia rise up and down from their seats in succession.

With might and main is 'with all of one's strength'.

Great things may come from small beginnings.

An irrelevant argument.

The condition of having a body weight high enough to pose a severe risk to health.

Said in reply to someone who has reported doing something that is considered to be obviously foolish.

A feast day that falls on the same day of the week each year but which has a date which varies.

People of energetic demeanour, who initiate change and influence events.

Whatever one does in one's life is one's own responsibility and cannot be changed.

Keep quiet - say nothing.

Literal meaning.

Excellent - the highest quality.

Affectionate term for a friend.

To display one's opinions and beliefs.

Childish and weakly sentimental.

Literal meaning (it means exactly what it says)

Literal meaning, but usually used for comic effect.

The slogan of the John Lewis Partnership from the 1920s.

A refusal to accept a proposition - equivalent to 'nothing doing'.

Without restrictions or rules.

Human beings do not thrive when isolated from others.

A 'nosy parker, sometimes spelled nosey parker', is a person of an overly inquisitive or prying nature.

Stupid.

Worthless.

Okay.

An old man, especially one who is eccentric, curmudgeonly or grotesque.

Old-fashioned; hackneyed.

To be in luck; in a prosperous happy state.

On the quiet.

'On the wagon' - abstaining from alcohol.

Let us try again one more time.

A performer or act, usually a singer or band, who has just one popular success.

A final drink taken just before leaving on a journey.

A time when criticism or other negative actions may be expected, with no mercy shown.

Given the sack, i.e. asked to leave your job (see 'get the sack').

Saved from great danger.

Pretty damn quick.

Items of quality offered to those who aren't cultured enough to appreciate them.

An adage to encourage us to think long-term and look after future generations.

The power children have, by repeated nagging, of influencing their parents to buy advertised or fashionable items.

Dwindle away to nothing.

Attend to one's own faults, in preference to pointing out the faults of others.

A share in an activity, or in its profits.

Having a narrow chest with a protruding breastbone - alluding to the appearance of pigeons.

'Pig's ear' is Cockney rhyming slang for beer.

Very hot, usually referring to food.

An easy, uncomplicated course.

Feet.

Description of the practice of using speech that conforms to liberal or radical opinion by avoiding language which might cause offence to or disadvantage social minorities.

Close enough to go directly to a target.

A race, usually a horse-race, in a direct line across countryside.

To commend an opinion to those who already accept it.

Now chiefly used to mean absurd; ridiculous.

Induce someone to join the military.

Make every possible effort.

To move home.

Improve your situation by your own efforts.

A request to be quiet.

Deliberately causing mayhem.

Die.

Embark on a journey or task with purpose and gusto.

Hurt your feelings or upset your plans.

Time in which individual attention is given to an otherwise neglected child or partner.

Something given in return for an item of equivalent value - like tit for tat.

Talk.

A common rabble - the hoi polloi.

A reference to the sometimes violent natural world, in which predatory animals unsentimentally cover their teeth and claws with the blood of their prey as they kill and devour them.

In earlier times a church festival or saint's day; more recently, any special day.

A thing which has neither rhyme nor reason makes no sense, from either a poetic or logical standpoint.

Verse from a nursery rhyme.

Bring something to an end.

Separating something from usual judgement and guaranteeing its protection, especially the funds of a project.

An event that is disreputable or strange.

To 'run amok', which is sometimes spelled 'run amuck', is to behave in a wild or unruly manner.

Escape from injury; avoid harm, especially to one's body.

Without incurring payment: or escaping without punishment.

Be firm and resolute.

The full version of the acronym SWALK.

An elderly person; one who is past the age of retirement.

To be ignored or ostracised.

Separate the good from the bad.

All of it; the whole thing.

A lengthy, improbable and ultimately pointless story, often told in an attempt at humour.

One's legs, used as a means of transport.

A hopeful attempt.

To abscond, or depart quickly.

To make short work of - to give little consideration to.

Sleep very soundly.

Sleep well.

Sloane Rangers, or latterly just Sloanes or Sloanies are upper class and fashion-conscious but conventional young people, living in the more expensive parts of West London.

A scruffy or dirty person; one who washes rarely.

Betrayed or cheated.

A rogue or scamp.

A spelling contest.

To use a public lavatory.

Entirely new - fresh or unused.

Stop and give me your valuables.

A loyal and reliable friend.

Using the understanding gained by major thinkers who have gone before in order to make intellectual progress.

Someone 'steals your thunder' when they use your ideas or inventions to their own advantage.

A narrow-minded or unprogressive person; one who lacks initiative.

A difficult situation.

Cruel and unfeeling.

A decoy bird, or a police informer, or criminal's look-out or decoy.

Be enthusiastic to free oneself from the restrictions that bar one's progress.

An acceptance of the unpredictable fortunes of existence, often spoken with an air of weary resignation.

A type of cuisine that combines both meat and seafood (especially lobster and steak), or restaurants that serve such cuisine.

Surfing (a.k.a.

Take control of a situation.

Carry off the honours.

Tease or make fun of.

Ronald Reagan; referring to his ability to get into politically 'dirty' areas but emerge with his reputation and popularity unscathed and with no 'mud' sticking.

The catchphrase on the banner shown at the end of Looney Tunes cartoons.

Originally meaning the central aperture of the eye.

Close interrogation.

A literal view of the subject of remarriage.

The people habitually suspected or arrested in response to a crime.

Literal meaning (it means exactly what it says)

The weather is cold.

Through all forms of obstacle that are put in one's way.

The span of a life.

This slogan was used by US President Clinton to publicize his plans for mandatory life sentences for those convicted of a third violent offence.

Make or take up a challenge, or demonstrate one's willingness to join an enterprise.

No one is so powerful that they can stop the march of time.

Attacking imaginary enemies.

Inoperative; broken.

Something that is 'toe-curlingly embarrassing' is discomforting enough as to make one squirm and curl one's toes in response.

Snobbish; supercilious; stuck-up.

In an ironic manner, not meant to be taken seriously.

At once.

Someone who can be relied on to provide support and comfort.

The ultimatum given by children who call on houses to solicit gifts at Halloween.

To knowingly refuse to acknowledge something which you know to be real.

Reverse the positions of adversaries.

All of the time - twenty four hours/day and seven days/week.

With most phrases it is the origin rather than the meaning that is in doubt.

Up the stairs.

Euphemism for pregnant.

Relax in a slothful and mindless manner.

The reverse of the previous statement, with the main items transposed.

A self-perpetuating process which returns to its starting point with no improvement from when it was begun.

'We have become a grandmother' was UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's statement to the press in 1989, on the birth of her first grandchild, Mark Thatcher's son Michael.

A threat of violence.

Be in charge.

I am plainly saying no, and I mean just that.

A computer screen display which appears onscreen as it will be seen when printed on paper.

A rhetorical question, suggesting that what is being spoken of is without fault.

Suit.

Send away or abandon.

Pertaining to the US white middle classes.

The choice that was given to the victims of highwaymen and other robbers.

You are unpopular.

A series of short straight lines, set at angles to one another and connected to form a continuous line, often forming a regular pattern, but not necessarily so.

Sentimental longing for things that are past.

Output, information about a product etc. that were given to its supplier, maker.

An example that proves something or helps to make something clear.

Someone who copies another person's work or action.

The procedures that will be followed to do something.

Common, easy to get and of little value.

A translation that is not totally accurate.

Much, a lot.

The skill to make plants grow.

Money paid illegally for favourable treatment.

A serious fight or argument.

A person who acts as if he or she knows everything.

An ambiguous compliment interpreted as offensive.

Someone who performs messenger services, an errand boy.

A long distance or trip.

Someone or something which is full of information.

A wrong or mistaken decision in a court of law.

A varied collection of people or things.

A job with regular and normal hours.

A person who makes a reservation for something and then neither comes nor cancels it.

A situation where there is no satisfactory solution.

An unfair treatment.

A car driver who uses more than his share of road.

An approximate estimate/guess.

There is going to be trouble or a storm is coming.

Someone who is new and unknown to a person/place/thing.

Something that is sure to happen.

Specially for everyone and everything.

Refer to something indirectly, by suggestion.

The false assignment of an event, person, scene or language to a time when the event or thing did not exist.

As if a group were one person.

In response to the request made.

The way something is.

Posh society girls with un-posh tastes.

In the way.

The truth of something on the surface; the value or price printed on a stamp/bond/paper money, etc.

Foolish.

Can easily fix things.

A system of persons or things arranged in a graded order.

An economic doctrine that opposes governmental regulation of or interference in commerce beyond the minimum necessary for a free-enterprise system to operate according to its own economic laws.

A very substantial victory (usually in an election).

The members of a group and not the leader, regular soldiers and not the officers.

To be assured, to be certain.

To lie dead peacefully for eternity.

Stubborn, impatient, restless.

To change a number to the next higher or lower whole number.

A meeting held after a larger meeting.

To be safe/whole/healthy.

To be better than everything.

A power to know or feel things other than by sight/hearing/smell/taste/touch.

To advertise anything, everything and all sorts in between through the use of hand-naff signals and dubbed sound effects.

Social rank, occupation.

Damage as a result of ordinary use.

Strength of mind.

A lot of talk about little things.

Cheap and overly sensational newspaper writing.

The exact time when an attack or other military action will start.

Someone who makes a wise judgement about something that has previously proven difficult to resolve.

Someone who is basically good hearted but lacking social graces and respect for the law.

Advertising slogan for De Beers' diamonds.

A small but irritating flaw that spoils the whole thing.

A state of happiness based on false hope.

An introduction or way in to something, made in order that progress may be made later.

A person, usually a man, who comes to the aid of another, usually a woman, in a gallant and courteous manner.

On the menu, with each dish priced.

Fashionable.

Nonsense, rubbish.

A kindred spirit - someone I can agree with.

To minister is to serve, or act as a subordinate agent.

The notion that everything should have a place to be stored in and that it should be tidily returned there when not in use.

A frustrated curse on both sides of an argument.

From the previous.

A radical, and apparently mystical, change.

A stimulus.

A welcome visitor - someone you are glad to see.

Someone who hides malicious intent under the guise of kindliness.

Literal meaning (it means exactly what it says)

Join a conversation in which another is speaking continually and leaving little opportunity for others.

Change direction.

Openly - without any trickery.

The lack of something increases the desire for it.

An act which is accepted legally as being outside human control.

Behave foolishly.

A genre of popular fiction.

'To aid memory'.

Italian - literally 'in the fresh'.

In a state of confusion and disorder.

Not at any price.

A burden which some unfortunate person has to carry.

The notion that for every wrong done there should be a compensating measure of justice.

A horrible year.

A stance, with the arms on the hips and elbows turned outwards.

Pertaining to, or having an interest in, the arts - often pretentiously and affectedly so.

Said of something or someone so unappealing that one wouldn't want to approach near.

Hard-up - in a bad situation.

Go directly towards.

Said of something or someone so unappealing that one wouldn't want to approach near.

Hard-up - in a bad situation.

Go directly towards.

Said of something or someone so unappealing that one wouldn't want to approach near.

Hard-up - in a bad situation.

Go directly towards.

Hard-up - in a bad situation.

Go directly towards.

An extreme standard of comparison.

Go directly towards.

An extreme standard of comparison.

If something is working adequately well, leave it alone.

An extreme standard of comparison.

If something is working adequately well, leave it alone.

In a superior or advantageous position.

An extreme standard of comparison.

If something is working adequately well, leave it alone.

In a superior or advantageous position.

An extreme standard of comparison.

If something is working adequately well, leave it alone.

In a superior or advantageous position.

If something is working adequately well, leave it alone.

In a superior or advantageous position.

Engage with the basic facts or realities.

If something is working adequately well, leave it alone.

In a superior or advantageous position.

Engage with the basic facts or realities.

If something is working adequately well, leave it alone.

In a superior or advantageous position.

Engage with the basic facts or realities.

If something is working adequately well, leave it alone.

In a superior or advantageous position.

Engage with the basic facts or realities.

In a superior or advantageous position.

Engage with the basic facts or realities.

The appeal of nature in the raw.

The appeal of nature in the raw.

Literal meaning (it means exactly what it says)

To compare badly to a known authority - to be unfit even to hold a subordinate position.

The appeal of nature in the raw.

Literal meaning (it means exactly what it says)

To compare badly to a known authority - to be unfit even to hold a subordinate position.

The appeal of nature in the raw.

Literal meaning (it means exactly what it says)

To compare badly to a known authority - to be unfit even to hold a subordinate position.

The amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted during an industrial or domestic process; a measure of how that process contributes toward global warming.

Someone who is skilful at playing or manipulating cards, or one who makes a living by cheating at cards.

Euphemism for being bankrupt or in debt.

Having free rein to choose whatever course of action you want.

Disclose a secret.

In a superior or advantageous position.

To be caught in the act of committing a misdemeanour, with the evidence there for all to see.

The proverb has a literal meaning although the 'weakest link' referred to is figurative and usually applies to a person or technical feature rather than a link of an actual chain.

A form of sofa with a backrest at one end only.

A publicity campaign, usually by politicians, that attempts to attract supporters by emphasizing their charisma or trustworthiness.

A jokey way of saying expensive.

The literal translation from French is "look for the woman".

A scene of disorder; a ruin; a mess.

Casual smalltalk or gossip.

Crammed so tightly together as to prevent movement.

To get to know or understand something.

Originally a term from competitive rowing referring to an obvious gap between the leading boat and those following.

To join a growing movement in support of someone or something, often in an opportunist way, when that movement is seen to be about to become successful.

A fanciful or ideal realm.

In a state of blissful happiness.

Without any knowledge or understanding.

In poor condition, but just managing to get the job done.

A type of slang in which words are replaced by words or phrases they rhyme with.

Nonsense.

Very cold weather conditions.

To 'get cold feet' is to become disheartened or timid, losing one's previous enthusiasm or courage.

A display of coldness or indifference, intended to wound.

Literal meaning (it means exactly what it says)

A weariness of and diminishing public response to frequent requests for charity.

The deliberate distorting of a firm's financial accounts, often with the aim of avoiding the payment of tax.

Very hot, usually referring to food.

An easy, uncomplicated course.

Feet.

Description of the practice of using speech that conforms to liberal or radical opinion by avoiding language which might cause offence to or disadvantage social minorities.

Close enough to go directly to a target.

A race, usually a horse-race, in a direct line across countryside.

Lies.

Port out, starboard home.

Take one's chance as to what meal one is served when accepting another's hospitality.

Literal meaning (it means exactly what it says)

A weariness of and diminishing public response to frequent requests for charity.

The deliberate distorting of a firm's financial accounts, often with the aim of avoiding the payment of tax.

Rape by an acquaintance during a social engagement.

The bottom of the sea; the resting place of drowned mariners.

Blatant and unfair overcharging.

An irrevocable choice has been made.

A person who holds stubbornly to a minority view, in defiance of the circumstances.

This term is usually part of 'a fine kettle of fish', 'a pretty kettle of fish' etc, which mean 'a muddle or awkward state of affairs'.

Lies.

Port out, starboard home.

Take one's chance as to what meal one is served when accepting another's hospitality.

To commend an opinion to those who already accept it.

Now chiefly used to mean absurd; ridiculous.

Induce someone to join the military.

Make every possible effort.

To move home.

Improve your situation by your own efforts.

A request to be quiet.

Deliberately causing mayhem.

Die.

A person, usually a man, who comes to the aid of another, usually a woman, in a gallant and courteous manner.

On the menu, with each dish priced.

Fashionable.

To wait upon someone in an overly assiduous or sycophantic manner.

An archetypal elderly couple.

The evil and malevolent aspect of human personality or society, often referred to in a lighthearted or comic context.

To wait upon someone in an overly assiduous or sycophantic manner.

An archetypal elderly couple.

The evil and malevolent aspect of human personality or society, often referred to in a lighthearted or comic context.

To wait upon someone in an overly assiduous or sycophantic manner.

An archetypal elderly couple.

The evil and malevolent aspect of human personality or society, often referred to in a lighthearted or comic context.

Rape by an acquaintance during a social engagement.

The bottom of the sea; the resting place of drowned mariners.

Blatant and unfair overcharging.

A false and exaggerated belief about one's status or importance.

Heroic daring.

A short growth of beard, aimed to affect a rugged masculine or deliberately unkempt appearance.

An irrevocable choice has been made.

A person who holds stubbornly to a minority view, in defiance of the circumstances.

This term is usually part of 'a fine kettle of fish', 'a pretty kettle of fish' etc, which mean 'a muddle or awkward state of affairs'.

Spiteful and mean spirited.

A mess or muddle.

Dressed or displayed in an ostentatiously smart manner.

Don't offer advice to someone who has more experience than oneself.

A feeling of pessimism and despondency, often with regard to business or political prospects.

An act of treachery, perpetrated on a previous partner in a deceit.

Wasted and unrecoverable.

To fail to recall a memory or fail in some speculative effort.

Dressed flamboyantly or smartly.

A fight.

An affectionate term for wife.

A paid day's work in which the employee is allowed to stay at home for rest and relaxation.

The talking is over - there's no more to be said.

The English dictum that a man's home is his refuge.

Supposedly the last words of Julius Caesar.

Someone who slavishly follows fashion trends.

Be inconstant and unreliable.

Soundly asleep.

Someone sympathetic toward a certain point of view without being a fully paid-up member of the club.

Literal meaning (it means exactly what it says)

A day of excitement or a circumstance of opportunity.

Excellent - especially of food.

Clumsy, unable to hold things steadily in one's hands.

Of the highest quality.

For Christ's sake.

Indefinitely.

There is an appropriate time for everything.

Jew.

Alluding to the alleged inherent weakness of character of women.

A colloquial expression, used to denote icy weather.

One's children.

A stuffy or foolishly old-fashioned person.

Complete, the whole thing.

A derogatory term for a black person, especially one with fuzzy hair.

An exclamation - a euphemistic shortening of God's hooks (the nails on the cross).

The process is in active existence.

Don't concern yourself with something that's already in the past; accept it and move on to more productive pursuits.

Become irritated or annoyed.

The reply of Jesus when tempted by the Devil.

To apply unnecessary ornament - to over embellish.

Drunk; by drinking gin or other alcoholic drink.

Ginger beer = queer, i.e. homosexual.

To go wrong, to become overly excited or deranged.

Go very fast; in a vigorous manner.

Speak or act prematurely.

An expression of disdain, along the same lines as 'get lost', 'go and play in the traffic', etc.

Become ruined.

Prepare for a battle or adopt a warlike stance.

Well-behaved and obedient.

Dependable men, of rank and honour.

An expression of pleasure on seeing rid of some annoyance - usually an individual.

The abandonment of elderly relatives by their carers.

To tackle a difficult problem boldly.

Inform on someone to the police.

Severe traffic congestion, where backed-up traffic blocks movement on intersecting roads and progress is completely halted.

Lose momentum and stop.

Grinning broadly.

A glance made with partially lowered eyelids.

Calm, peaceful days.

Pinch (steal).

A disparaging name for the form of Christian religious observance which is informal, musical and spontaneous.

Unprovoked attacks on individuals made in order to record the event, and especially the victim's shock and surprise, on video phones.

A sign, warning of bad things to come.

Have a look.

Have a dispute to take up with someone or, to have an ulterior motive; to have private ends to serve.

Have a vague intimation of; have a slight knowledge of.

An indication that a piece of information was obtained via an informal contact.

To one's (or your) heart's content means to one's complete inner satisfaction - until one's heart is content.

A mild exclamation of surprise.

Literal meaning (it means exactly what it says)

Agitated.

In a carefree, stylish manner.

A temperamental outburst; a tantrum.

Live in the present, not the past.

Get off to a brisk and successful start.

Injured by the device that you intended to use to injure others.

Pretentiously self-important, haughty or pompous.

Hold on; be patient.

Having a passionate nature, or being inclined to quick temper.

Freshly printed.

In close pursuit of someone/something, or immediately after some event.

A nonsense phrase with no real meaning as such, although it also sometimes used as a jovial greeting.

Literal meaning - it is especially painful to raise an ungrateful child.

In secret; in a clandestine manner.

To have 'another think coming' is to be greatly mistaken.

Eager; ready to participate.

(Stumped means stuck) unable to proceed, often regarding being confounded by some intellectual puzzle.

To be in disgrace or out of favour.

Laughing uproariously.

Virtually secured - as good as in one's possession.

In perfect condition, especially of health.

In debt.

In an instant.

With the inside on the outside.

A jokey alternative version of 'Is the Pope Catholic?'.

A complete and sudden surprise.

Dancing.

Some pleasant event in the future, which is never likely to materialize.

Built in a makeshift and insubstantial manner.

Inextricably linked - inseparable.

A tiny amount.

To reach the point in a TV series that denotes it is irretrievably past its best by introducing some ridiculous or otherwise unbelievable plot device or characterisation in order to boost ratings.

Say nothing - especially in circumstances where saying the wrong thing may get you into trouble.

Remain resolute and unemotional in the face of adversity, or even tragedy.

Keep it secret.

Remain cheerful - keep your head held high.

Be prepared and save your resources until they are needed.

The skill of ball-juggling - to keep a ball in the air for as long as possible by bouncing it off any part of the body that is allowed in the rules of football, i.e. any part except the hands and arms.

A dainty little trinket or ornament.

A reversal of fortune or disappointment.

To finish work for the day.

Play the fool, in a childish or careless manner.

To laugh coarsely or loudly, especially at the discomfort of others.

A figure or object of ridicule and laughter.

Do not hold on to your anger for more than one day.

Without impediment.

Encourage many ideas from many sources.

Headlong; at full speed.

Keep out of sight; bide one's time.

Life begins to be better in one's middle age.

A lot; as in 'hurts like the dickens'.

A description of the British soldiers of WWI.

A person's eyes; more recently, the life force or consciousness.

The whole thing.

Old, especially of horses or people.

An unpredictable person or thing, liable to cause damage if not kept in check by others.

Completely mad.

A literary genre in which magical features and storylines appear and are accepted as everyday reality.

The most important issue.

Many small amounts accumulate to make a large amount.

Literal meaning, alluding to the variety in qualities of humankind.

Have many more happy days, especially birthdays.

May you experience much upheaval and trouble in your life.

The real thing - not a substitute.

I'm to blame.

A wave effect formed when crowds in stadia rise up and down from their seats in succession.

With might and main is 'with all of one's strength'.

Great things may come from small beginnings.

An irrelevant argument.

The condition of having a body weight high enough to pose a severe risk to health.

Said in reply to someone who has reported doing something that is considered to be obviously foolish.

A feast day that falls on the same day of the week each year but which has a date which varies.

People of energetic demeanour, who initiate change and influence events.

Whatever one does in one's life is one's own responsibility and cannot be changed.

Keep quiet - say nothing.

Literal meaning.

Excellent - the highest quality.

Affectionate term for a friend.

To display one's opinions and beliefs.

Childish and weakly sentimental.

Literal meaning (it means exactly what it says)

Literal meaning, but usually used for comic effect.

The slogan of the John Lewis Partnership from the 1920s.

A refusal to accept a proposition - equivalent to 'nothing doing'.

Without restrictions or rules.

Human beings do not thrive when isolated from others.

A 'nosy parker, sometimes spelled nosey parker', is a person of an overly inquisitive or prying nature.

Stupid.

Worthless.

Okay.

An old man, especially one who is eccentric, curmudgeonly or grotesque.

Old-fashioned; hackneyed.

To be in luck; in a prosperous happy state.

On the quiet.

'On the wagon' - abstaining from alcohol.

Let us try again one more time.

A performer or act, usually a singer or band, who has just one popular success.

A final drink taken just before leaving on a journey.

A time when criticism or other negative actions may be expected, with no mercy shown.

Given the sack, i.e. asked to leave your job (see 'get the sack').

Saved from great danger.

Pretty damn quick.

Items of quality offered to those who aren't cultured enough to appreciate them.

An adage to encourage us to think long-term and look after future generations.

The power children have, by repeated nagging, of influencing their parents to buy advertised or fashionable items.

Dwindle away to nothing.

Attend to one's own faults, in preference to pointing out the faults of others.

A share in an activity, or in its profits.

Having a narrow chest with a protruding breastbone - alluding to the appearance of pigeons.

'Pig's ear' is Cockney rhyming slang for beer.

Very hot, usually referring to food.

An easy, uncomplicated course.

Feet.

Description of the practice of using speech that conforms to liberal or radical opinion by avoiding language which might cause offence to or disadvantage social minorities.

Close enough to go directly to a target.

A race, usually a horse-race, in a direct line across countryside.

Lies.

Port out, starboard home.

Take one's chance as to what meal one is served when accepting another's hospitality.

To commend an opinion to those who already accept it.

Now chiefly used to mean absurd; ridiculous.

Induce someone to join the military.

Make every possible effort.

To move home.

Improve your situation by your own efforts.

A request to be quiet.

Deliberately causing mayhem.

Die.

Embark on a journey or task with purpose and gusto.

Hurt your feelings or upset your plans.

Time in which individual attention is given to an otherwise neglected child or partner.

Something given in return for an item of equivalent value - like tit for tat.

Talk.

A common rabble - the hoi polloi.

A reference to the sometimes violent natural world, in which predatory animals unsentimentally cover their teeth and claws with the blood of their prey as they kill and devour them.

In earlier times a church festival or saint's day; more recently, any special day.

A thing which has neither rhyme nor reason makes no sense, from either a poetic or logical standpoint.

Verse from a nursery rhyme.

Bring something to an end.

Separating something from usual judgement and guaranteeing its protection, especially the funds of a project.

Horse dung.

Aggressively argumentative, and sometimes violent, behaviour indulged in by drivers when annoyed by other road users' actions.

To take from one merely to give to another; to discharge one debt by incurring another.

An event that is disreputable or strange.

To 'run amok', which is sometimes spelled 'run amuck', is to behave in a wild or unruly manner.

Escape from injury; avoid harm, especially to one's body.

Without incurring payment: or escaping without punishment.

Be firm and resolute.

The full version of the acronym SWALK.

An elderly person; one who is past the age of retirement.

To be ignored or ostracised.

Separate the good from the bad.

All of it; the whole thing.

A lengthy, improbable and ultimately pointless story, often told in an attempt at humour.

One's legs, used as a means of transport.

A hopeful attempt.

To abscond, or depart quickly.

To make short work of - to give little consideration to.

A very long time.

Don't bother to pursue your application further.

Don't change your leader or your basic position when part-way through a campaign or a project.

Don't offer advice to someone who has more experience than oneself.

A feeling of pessimism and despondency, often with regard to business or political prospects.

An act of treachery, perpetrated on a previous partner in a deceit.

Wasted and unrecoverable.

To fail to recall a memory or fail in some speculative effort.

Dressed flamboyantly or smartly.

A fight.

An affectionate term for wife.

A paid day's work in which the employee is allowed to stay at home for rest and relaxation.

Act submissively and apologetically, especially in admitting an error.

A display of confidence in a particular outcome.

Conveying an untrue version of events by leaving out the important facts.

Embark on a journey or task with purpose and gusto.

Hurt your feelings or upset your plans.

Time in which individual attention is given to an otherwise neglected child or partner.

Nonsense, rubbish.

A kindred spirit - someone I can agree with.

To minister is to serve, or act as a subordinate agent.

The notion that everything should have a place to be stored in and that it should be tidily returned there when not in use.

A frustrated curse on both sides of an argument.

From the previous.

A radical, and apparently mystical, change.

A stimulus.

A welcome visitor - someone you are glad to see.

Someone who hides malicious intent under the guise of kindliness.

Literal meaning (it means exactly what it says)

Join a conversation in which another is speaking continually and leaving little opportunity for others.

Change direction.

Openly - without any trickery.

The lack of something increases the desire for it.

Used to highlight and ridicule snobbish forms of behaviour or speech.

The good life, full of pleasure and indulgence.

Work undertaken for the pleasure of it or for the benefit of a loved one.

Sleep very soundly.

Sleep well.

Sloane Rangers, or latterly just Sloanes or Sloanies are upper class and fashion-conscious but conventional young people, living in the more expensive parts of West London.

A scruffy or dirty person; one who washes rarely.

Betrayed or cheated.

A rogue or scamp.

A spelling contest.

To use a public lavatory.

Entirely new - fresh or unused.

Stop and give me your valuables.

A loyal and reliable friend.

Using the understanding gained by major thinkers who have gone before in order to make intellectual progress.

Someone 'steals your thunder' when they use your ideas or inventions to their own advantage.

A narrow-minded or unprogressive person; one who lacks initiative.

A difficult situation.

Cruel and unfeeling.

A decoy bird, or a police informer, or criminal's look-out or decoy.

Be enthusiastic to free oneself from the restrictions that bar one's progress.

An acceptance of the unpredictable fortunes of existence, often spoken with an air of weary resignation.

A type of cuisine that combines both meat and seafood (especially lobster and steak), or restaurants that serve such cuisine.

Surfing (a.k.a.

Take control of a situation.

Carry off the honours.

Tease or make fun of.

Ronald Reagan; referring to his ability to get into politically 'dirty' areas but emerge with his reputation and popularity unscathed and with no 'mud' sticking.

The catchphrase on the banner shown at the end of Looney Tunes cartoons.

Originally meaning the central aperture of the eye.

Close interrogation.

A literal view of the subject of remarriage.

The people habitually suspected or arrested in response to a crime.