Idioms for IELTS
Lesson 16
Loving and liking
1.nothing to write home about or not much to write home about
If something is nothing to write home about or not much to write home about it is not very interesting, exciting or special. [INFORMAL]
Example: The house was nothing to write home about – a rather scruffy Victorian semi-detached like many they’d seen.
Example: The nightlife is not much to write home about.
- of your dreams
If someone or something is the person or thing of your dreams, they are the best you can imagine.
Example: Maybe, just maybe, the man of your dreams will walk through that door and into your life tonight.
- an old flame
An old flame is someone who you had a romantic relationship with in the past.
INOTE I An old meaning of ‘flame’ was the person that someone was in love with.
Example: Last week Alec was seen dining with his old flame Janine Turner in New York.
- not a patch on someone/something
If one person or thing is not a patch on another, the first is not nearly as good as the second. [INFORMAL]
Example: He was handsome, she thought, but not a patch on Alex.
- a saving grace
A saving grace is a good quality or feature in someone or something that prevents them from being completely bad or worthless.
Example: It’s an excellent performance and one of the film’s few saving graces.
- there are plenty more fish in the sea or there are other fish in the sea
If you tell someone that there are plenty more fish in the sea or there are other fish in the sea you mean that there are many other people, they could have a relationship with.
Example: Tell him there are plenty more fish in the sea and he’s sure to find the perfect woman.
Example: Remember that there are many more fish in the sea.
- think the world of someone
If you think the world of someone you like and admire them very much or are very fond of them.
Example: He thinks the world of his little grandson.
- you have to be cruel to be kind
When people say you have to be cruel to be kind they mean that sometimes if you are unkind to someone it will be the best thing for them.
Example: ‘I have to be cruel to be kind’ said Lindsay. ‘If I don’t control his food he will gain too much weight.’
- carry a torch for someone
If you carry a torch for someone, you are in love with them but they do not love you.
Example: What makes a woman so special that a man will carry a torch for her all his life?
INOTE I You can use the verb hold instead of carry.
Example: He never saw the woman again. And he went through the rest of his life holding a torch for her.
- common-or-garden or garden-variety
You use common-or-garden [BRITISH] or garden-variety [AMERICAN] to describe something of a very ordinary kind, with no special features.
I NOTE I These expressions were originally used to describe the most ordinary variety of a species of plant.
Example: These are designer rain boots – not your common-or-garden wellington boots.
Example: The experiment itself is garden-variety science that normally would attract little public attention.
- fall head over heels or fall head over heels in love
If you fall head over heels or fall head over heels in love you fall suddenly and deeply in love with someone.
Example: It was obvious that Alan had fallen head over heels in love with Veronica.
Example: When I was 18 I fell head over heels for my next-door neighbor, Alex.
I NOTE I You can also say that someone is head over heels or is head over heels in love.
Example: You have to remember that I was head over heels in love with Bill.
- have a soft spot for someone/something
If you have a soft spot for someone or something, you like them.
The actress has admitted having a soft spot for our future King.
Example: I’ve always had a soft spot for roses – my Dad used to grow them when I was a child.
- head and shoulders above someone/something
If one person or thing is head and shoulders above others of their kind, they are much better than them.
Example: In the world of newspaper publishing there is one success story that stands head and shoulders above the rest.
Example: Richards, according to lmran Khan, was head and shoulders above any other player .
- no great shakes
If someone or something is no great shakes they are not skillful or of good quality. [INFORMAL]
Example: She can write screenplays well enough but she’s no great shakes as a director.
Exercise 1
Complete the sentences with the words in the box.
spot I flame I home I grace I head I torch I patch I dreams
- We’ve known each other for years and I’ve always had a soft……………………..for Gerri.
- We didn’t think her new boyfriend was a………………….on the one she had before.
- I found a photo of my dad with an old……………….from his college days.
- She carried a……………………..for the boy next door all through their teenage years.
- Yes, I suppose he’s good-looking, but not really much to write………………..about.
- You can see they’re……………………over heels in love with each other.
- It was in Tunisia that they saw the house of their……………………
- I don’t like her but the fact that she loves him so much is her saving…………………….