bread and circuses
Cheap entertainment and superficial pleasures offered to distract people from serious problems.
Example: Critics called the lavish festival mere bread and circuses while the city's schools crumbled.
C222 words · Proficient
Food Idioms vocabulary — C2
Food idioms for advanced, often idiomatic description, with phrases like cut the mustard, manna from heaven and a dog's dinner.
22 questions
Words in this set
22manna from heaven
Something urgently needed that arrives suddenly and unexpectedly, like a stroke of luck.
Example:
The unexpected grant was manna from heaven for the struggling charity.
the salt of the earth
A genuinely good, honest, and dependable person.
Example:
Our neighbours are the salt of the earth — always ready to help.
cut the mustard
To reach the necessary standard, or perform well enough for what is expected.
Example:
Two players didn't cut the mustard and were dropped from the team.
a big fish in a small pond
An important or powerful person only within a limited group, but not in a wider context.
Example:
He was a big fish in a small pond at his old school, but not anymore.
bring something to the table
To contribute something valuable, such as skills or ideas, to a group effort.
Example:
Everyone on this team brings something to the table.
eat your words
To admit that something you said confidently before was wrong.
Example:
He said we'd lose, but he had to eat his words after we won.
a lot on your plate
Having many responsibilities or problems to deal with at the same time.
Example:
I can't take on another project — I already have a lot on my plate.
milk it
To get as much advantage, attention or sympathy from a situation as possible.
Example:
He wasn't that hurt, but he milked it for extra sympathy.
have egg on your face
To be embarrassed because you were clearly wrong or did something foolish.
Example:
The company had egg on its face after the failed product launch.
a moveable feast
Something whose date or nature keeps changing.
Example:
The deadline is a moveable feast and everyone plans around that.
the fat of the land
The best of everything, without having to work for it.
Example:
They lived off the fat of the land for a generation.
a baker's dozen
Thirteen of something.
Example:
The box held a baker's dozen and the invoice said twelve.
sup with a long spoon
To be very careful when dealing with someone dangerous.
Example:
Anyone signing that contract should sup with a long spoon.
a dog's dinner
Something made an untidy mess of.
Example:
They made a dog's dinner of the timetable and blamed the software.
half a loaf is better than none
A partial result is better than nothing at all.
Example:
She took the settlement, since half a loaf is better than none.
the milk of human kindness
Natural sympathy and generosity towards others.
Example:
There is not much the milk of human kindness in that letter.
a sweetener
Something extra offered to make a deal acceptable.
Example:
They added a sweetener and the objection disappeared overnight.
in the soup
In serious difficulty.
Example:
One missed filing and the whole firm was in the soup.
a square meal
A proper, satisfying meal.
Example:
He had not had a square meal in a fortnight and it showed.
chew something over
To think about something carefully for a while.
Example:
Give them a week to chew something over before pressing.
on the back burner
Left aside to be dealt with later.
Example:
The whole review went on the back burner in September.
