sour grapes
Pretending not to want something after failing to get it.
Example: He said the award didn't matter, but it sounded like sour grapes.
C120 words · Advanced
Food Idioms vocabulary — C1
Food idioms for describing expertise, honesty and unrealistic plans, with phrases like eat humble pie, know your onions and pie in the sky.
20 questions
Words in this set
20the proof is in the pudding
The real value of something can only be judged by the actual results it produces.
Example:
The plan sounds great, but the proof is in the pudding — let's see if it actually works.
spice things up
To make an activity or event more interesting or exciting than it currently is.
Example:
They added a dance number to spice things up for the finale.
a bun in the oven
Expecting a baby.
Example:
They announced they had a bun in the oven at the family dinner.
gravy train
A situation where money can be earned easily, with little effort.
Example:
Once the contract was signed, the whole department was on the gravy train.
eat humble pie
To admit you were wrong and apologise, often after being proven mistaken.
Example:
After his prediction failed, he had to eat humble pie in front of the whole office.
when life gives you lemons, make lemonade
Try to find something positive in a bad or difficult situation.
Example:
She lost her job but started a business — when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.
know your onions
To be very knowledgeable and skilled in a particular subject.
Example:
Ask the mechanic — he really knows his onions.
sugarcoat something
To make an unpleasant fact or situation seem better or more pleasant than it really is.
Example:
Please don't sugarcoat it — just tell me the truth.
meat and potatoes
The most basic, important or essential part of something.
Example:
Let's skip the intro and get to the meat and potatoes of the plan.
a curate's egg
Something that is partly good and partly bad.
Example:
The report was a curate's egg, praised and quietly ignored.
as flat as a pancake
Completely flat, or completely lacking in energy.
Example:
The tyre was as flat as a pancake by Tuesday morning.
out of the frying pan into the fire
From a bad situation into a worse one.
Example:
He left one impossible job for another, out of the frying pan into the fire.
salad days
The time when you were young and inexperienced.
Example:
He talks about his salad days in the same three anecdotes.
cook the books
To change financial records dishonestly.
Example:
Somebody had been trying to cook the books for three years.
eat out of someone's hand
To do exactly what someone wants, willingly.
Example:
Within a week the whole committee would eat out of someone's hand.
grist to the mill
Something useful that can be put to good use.
Example:
Every complaint was grist to the mill for the inquiry.
pie in the sky
A hope or plan that is very unlikely to happen.
Example:
The second bridge was pie in the sky and everyone knew it.
the upper crust
The highest social class.
Example:
The club was the upper crust and made sure you knew it.
a hard nut
A person or problem that is very difficult to deal with.
Example:
That committee is a hard nut and always has been.
