Dear friends,
As you know, I am doing a research into a specific sort of intelligent dictionary of English idioms. Usually for testing the efficiency of the method one suggests, s/he should use a data bank for statistical analysis, and in order to gather information for the data bank a survey should be carried out. It's why I send you this questionnaire. I would appreciate it if you would fill it in.
The procedure is very simple:
1-You are given thirty sets of examples. Each example consists of one or more sentences which include a particular idiom. The idioms are in bold Typeface, so you can easily distinguish them.
2- Carefully read all the examples of each set. If you have not heard of, or are not familiar with the idiom in that set, this will give you an idea what it means.
3- Think of at least one phrase which can define this meaning and then type it/them at the end of the set in front of the sign:
In order to make it clear, here I bring the set number 1:
Set 1. be worked up
- Why are you so worked up? I didn’t break your glass deliberately.
- Don’t get worked up about it! It was only a suggestion.
- Don’t work yourself up over such an unimportant matter.
- Tom is all worked up about the threats of the new war.
Now, you should think of at least a phrase which convey the meaning of the idiom ‘be worked out’. It (or each of them) can be like one of the following four examples:
> to be angry and upset, especially when there is no good reason to be.
> raise to a high level of excitement about something.
> to be exited or upset.
> angry, worried, or unhappy.
Now it is your turn to type your own phrase(s) below. If what you have in mind is like or the same as the mentioned phrases, that is Ok - just go on and type:
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Please Note :
1- If you already know the meaning of the idiom, it is better that you do not skip reading the examples. Make your own sentence or words according to both your previous knowledge of the idiom and the examples. If you have not heard an idiom before you should infer the meaning from the examples.
2- The shorter your phrases is, the better. However if you really cannot express an idea by short phrases, it does not matter, think of longer ones. It is better that the shortness of a phrase does not cost its not being exact.
3- Try to make your phrases by simple words and grammatical patterns. Avoid passive verbs. Avoid idiomatic expressions and phrasal verbs. Here by phrasal verb we mean a verbal construction consisting a verb combined with an adverb or a preposition, or sometimes both, to make a new verb with a meaning that is different from that of the simple verb, eg go in for, win over, blow up. A phrasal verb functions as a single verb and its meaning mostly cannot be worked out from its separate parts.
4- You will see that many of the idioms you are presented in this questionnaire have similar meanings and these meanings can be simply expressed by: ‘angry’, ‘become angry’, or ‘make someone angry’. But if you pay more attention, you will realize that these idioms are sometimes slightly different in meaning. So what you type should be exact and show these differences.
5- You will also realize that, for example, ‘become angry’ does not exactly show the meaning of an idiom and the exact meaning can be expressed, for example, by ‘ to suddenly become angry with no reason’. Please note that it is important that you make an exact phrase, not a general one.
6- If you are a native speaker of English, or you have lived in an English speaking country for years, or English is spoken in your country as the second language, please as well, mention at the end of each set how frequent and known that idiom is in your country.
7- The following abbreviations are used frequently in this questionnaire:
sb somebody, someone
sth something
esp especially
Well ! You have already completed the set number one. Now here comes the rest:
Set 2. Be/go on the warpath
- Be careful if you see the manager this morning. He’s on the warpath about a complaint he received from a customer.
- After two accidents outside the school the Parent’s Association is on the war path.
- When the meat wasn’t delivered, the chef went on a warpath.
- Daddy’s on the warpath, looking for a culprit. Someone has pinched his gardening gloves.
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Set 3. hot under the collar
- There is no need to get hot under the collar at Susie’s remarks – she didn’t mean to offend you.
- He became very hot under the collar when he realized that his secretary was being rude to him on purpose.
- The boss was really hot under the collar when you told him you lost the contract.
- She got very hot under the collar during his last examination, but then became calm towards the end.
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Set 4. be in a (bad/foul/awful/rotten/filthy/etc.) temper
- Jeff was in a temper this morning. So I left the house as early as possible.
- It is no use talking to him when he is in a temper.
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Set 5. (all) steamed up (about/over sth)
- Calm down, it’s nothing to get steamed up about!
- You can easily buy another copy of the book you’ve lost, so there is no need to get all steamed up.
- Don’t get steamed-up about it – it’s not really important.
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Set 6. up in arms (about/over/against sb/sth)
- Residents are up in arms about plans to build a cinema complex on a local nature reserve.
- We must respect the law, or else we’d be up in arms every time a judge made a decision we didn’t agree with.
- The parents were up in arms about the closing of the school.
- The farmers rose up in arms over the reduction in the price of milk.
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Set 7. burned up (at sb)
- Arthur was really burned up at his son for denting the new car.
- It burns me up to hear you talk that way.
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Set 8. pissed (off) (with) taboo
- I don’t know why you’re so pissed off – I told you I’d probably be late.
- Wendy’s really pissed off with you, because you left the kitchen in such a mess.
- By this time Bill was really pissed off with the job and was looking for a way out - any way out.
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Set 9. be after (sb's) blood
be out for (sb's) blood
- I was late for work again this morning, so my boss is after my blood!
- Where is Clive? Jacobs is after his blood for undercutting prices.
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Set 10. kick oneself (for doing sth)
- I could kick myself for not having posted my application yesterday. Now it’s too late.
- I could have kicked myself for being so rude.
- I’ve been kicking myself all day for forgetting the keys.
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Set 11. go berserk ALSO: be/drive sb/make sb berserk
- If his wife finds out about this, she’ll go berserk.
- A young man shot a girl he did not know and then himself. He is believed to have gone berserk.
- He went berserk and attacked me.
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Set 12. lose (one's) temper
- “I’ve been waiting for hours” said Helen, trying not to lose her temper.
- It’s understandable but not helpful, to lose your temper with very small children.
- When she found out what Anne had done, she lost her temper.
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Set 13. fly off the handle
- Whenever Sandra’s small children will not do as they are told, she flies off the handle and smacks them.
- I’m sorry. It wasn’t your fault. I shouldn’t have flown off the handle like that.
- All right, there is no need to fly off the handle. I only wanted to borrow your car.
- You have to be very careful what you say to him – he often just flies of the handle for no reason.
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Set 14. burst a blood vessel / pop a vein
- My dad nearly burst a blood vessel when I told him I quit college.
- There is no need to burst a blood-vessel just because the referee made the wrong decision.
- When I asked my boss for more wages, he almost burst a blood vessel.
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Set 15. go/jump off (at) the deep end
- When his secretary told him she had forgotten to book his hotel room, john went off at the deep end and began to shout at her.
- When he heard about John’s smashing into his car, he went off the deep end.
- My father went off the deep end because I failed all my examinations.
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Set 16. see red
- It makes me see red when somebody borrows my English book and forgets to return it.
- When mother saw the mess that Peter’s friends had made in the living-room, she simply saw red and threw them all out.
- He’s no friend of mine – it makes me see red every time I hear his name.
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Set 17. get sb's blood up
- He got my blood up by criticizing my best friend. I lost my temper and almost hit him.
- You’ve annoyed him. You’d better be careful, now that he’s got his blood up.
- What a nasty thing to say. That’s the sort of remark that really gets my blood up.
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Set 18. make sb's blood boil
- It makes my blood boil the way they experiment on innocent animals.
- It made my blood boil to hear the insulting things he was saying about my brother.
- Whenever Jim criticizes his father, it makes my blood boil.
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Set 19. drive/send sb up the wall
drive sb crazy/mad/bananas/bonkers/nuts
drive sb to drink
- All these silly arguments are driving me up the wall. I don’t understand how people can say such things.
- He’ll go up the wall, if he finds out you’ve been lying to him.
- His habitual lateness drives me crazy.
- Apologizing over and over drives me bananas.
- Your nagging is driving me to drink.
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Set 20. wind sb up
- He only pretends to be a sexist in order to wind me up.
- Stupid! They are only winding you up.
- Don’t take any notice – she’s just trying to wind you up.
- Are you winding your sister up again, Fred?
- When you told me that she’d died her hair pink I thought it was a wind-up.
Set 21. needle sb
- All through the evening she was needling me about my working-class background.
- She’s always needling me about my accent.
- I could see that my questions were needling him.
- The boys always needled Jim about being fat.
Set 22. jump down sb's throat
jump all over sb
jump/land on sb
- When I gave my opinion at the meeting, Bill suddenly jumped down my throat and accused me of causing trouble.
- He doesn’t seem to be very happy this morning. He jumped down my throat when I asked him if he had enjoyed his holiday.
- You don’t have to jump down my throat! I was only asking how you were.
- There is no need to jump down my throat every time I ask you a question.
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Set 23. give sb a piece of one's mind
let sb have a piece of ones mind
- Carol gave Tom a piece of her mind for coming into the house with dirty shoes.
- I’ll give her a piece of my mind if she’s rude to me like that just once more.
- The next time he says he hasn’t got time to help, I shall give him a piece of my mind.
- Sally, stop it, or I’ll give you a piece of my mind.
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Set 24. rant and rave
- Tina and I were walking past someone’s house last night when suddenly a man came out and started ranting and raving, accusing us of stealing his vegetables.
- There was an old chap in the butcher’s ranting and raving about the price of meat.
- The boss allows us one hour for lunch and even if we take even five minutes longer he starts ranting and raving about our laziness.
- You can rant and rave all you like, but you’ll still have to pay the fine.
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Set 25. bite/snap sb's head off
- There’s no need to bite my head off. I only asked you a question – I wasn’t criticizing you.
- My mother bit my head off when I came home late last night.
- I asked if she needed any help, and she bit my head off.
- I was only two minutes late but she really bit my head off.
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Set 26. let fly (at sb)
fly at sb
- Mary let fly at her little boy when he kept on talking, but I really think she shouldn’t have been so angry.
- The teacher let fly at the disobedient child.
- “I’m sorry” she said, “Some times your cold-blooded look does something to me and I have to let fly”.
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Set 27. look daggers at sb
- She didn’t say anything when I told her to be quiet but she certainly looked daggers at me.
- When I asked him what he’d done with the money he just looked daggers and refused to speak.
- He looked daggers at me when I told him he was lazy.
- Tom must have been mad at Ann from the way he was looking daggers at her.
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Set 28. give sb a dirty/black look
get a dirty/black look from sb
- Her father would give her black looks whenever she disagreed with him in front of other people.
- When I started to tell the story, Carole gave me a really dirty look.
- I stopped whistling when I got a dirty look from Ann.
- When I remarked that some people let the others do all the work, Paul obviously thought I meant him, because he gave me a black look.
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Do you think ‘black look’ is a racial slur?
Set 29. make/create a scene
- I’m not telling my husband about Jacky skipping school, he’ll only make a scene.