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Popular Idioms and Usages Part P

By VJ

This post is the happy ninety-ninth post in CuteWriting. We are slowly approaching our hundredth post, the time for celebration. In this post, we will go through the popular idioms and usages starting with the letter ‘P’. This is a late post, and let me remind you that I am in deep tweaking of the new blogger template to grace CuteWriting tomorrow. Please bear with me…

Paddle your own canoe: To take your decisions yourself.

Paint the town red: Perform wild spree.

Paper tiger: A person who has authority only in appearance.

Pass the buck: Pass on the responsibility to another person.

Pearls before swine: Something of quality offered to someone who neither deserves it nor can evaluate it.

Peeping Tom: Somebody who peeps for sexual pleasure, a voyeur.

Peg out: To die

Pen and ink: To stink. Cockney Rhyming Slang.

Peter out: To decrease to nil.

Pie in the sky: A vacant promise of bright future for today’s sufferings.

Pig’s ear: Beer. Cockney Rhyming Slang.

Pin money: Money earned via part-time jobs.

Pipe down: Be quiet.

Pipe dream: A fantastic hope.

Piping hot: Extremely hot.

Plates of meat: Feet. Cockney Rhyming Slang.

Play by ear: To handle a situation clumsily without abiding by the rules.

Play the race card: Political strategy of gaining advantage by using the racism of the electorate as the trump card.

Point to point: A horse race, in a direct line across countryside.

Pony and trap: Crap. Cockney Rhyming Slang.

Pop goes the weasel: A nursery rhyme saying that means you lost all money in a pub and have to pawn your suit to raise some.

Pork pies: Lies. Cockney Rhyming Slang.

Pour oil on troubled waters: Attempting to pacify a turbulent situation.

Power dressing: Stylish dressing in a workplace.

Praying at the porcelain altar: To vomit in the toilet.

Press into service: Force someone to join the military.

Prick up your ears: To pay close attention.

Pull out all the stops: Try hard at something.

Pull the plug: To stop doing something.

Pull yourself up by your bootstraps: Improve a situation with your efforts.

Punching above his weight: To compete with anyone above your stature.

Push the envelope: Get to the limit of known performance.

Put a sock in it: To request to remain quiet.

Put on the wooden overcoat: To pass away.

Put on your thinking cap: To be hard at thought.

Put paid to: To complete something.

Put the wood in the hole: Close the door.

Put your back up: Be very angry.

Put your best foot forward: Make a brave start.

Pyrrhic victory: A victory at a greater cost.

More of the series will be coming in the coming days. Hope you liked the post, please voice your comments.

Copyright © Lenin Nair 2008

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Comments

  1. treasured_creativesJuly 1, 2008 at 12:08 PM

    Great compilation... could do with the new knowlege for my writing...

    ReplyDelete
  2. MeghnaJuly 6, 2008 at 7:02 AM

    Thanks a lot for that wonderful post....really helped my muddled head :P

    ReplyDelete

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