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Shit Slang & Idioms

The word “shit” is vulgar, but there are many common idioms that use this word. You shouldn’t use this word in a professional setting, but you will hear these phrases listed below all of the time.

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Food Idioms - Part 4

Notes:

When spill the beans takes an object, you spill the beans to someone or you spill the beans about something. You can also use this phrase without an object (”She finally spilled the beans.”)

When you tell someone to take something with a pinch of salt or to take something with a grain of salt, you are telling them to be skeptical or not to rely on it.

Example:

“John told me he is coming here tomorrow, but you have to take anything he says with a grain of salt.” (You have to be skeptical of what John says. You should always doubt what John says, etc.)

The implication is that you can’t always believe what John says.

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Food Idioms - Part 3

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Food Idioms - Part 2

Note: The idiom “have your cake and eat it too” can be confusing. The original version of this saying is, “You can’t eat your cake and have it too,” meaning that if you eat your cake, you won’t have it any more. People get confused because we use the expression “have some cake” to mean “eat some cake,” and they therefore misunderstand what “have” means in this expression. Alternatively, people think that “have” and “eat” represent a sequence of actions, so one can indeed “have” one’s cake and then “eat” it.

Just think of it like this: if you eat a piece of cake, you won’t “have” (possess or own) it anymore. So the idiom is describing two contradictory states at the same time.

Here are some other examples:

“Some people want to eat more and lose weight at the same time, but you can’t have your cake and eat it too.”
“We try to have our cake and eat it too; to agree with every idea that comes along - even if those ideas are directly opposed to each other.”

The idea is that you are trying to get two things that are usually mutually exclusive (e.g., you can’t eat more and lose weight at the same time, etc.)

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Food Idioms - Part I

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Tools

Wrench (扳手) - Any of various hand or power tools, often having fixed or adjustable jaws, used for gripping, turning, or twisting objects such as nuts, bolts, or pipes. Other pictures here.

Monkey Wrench - A hand tool with adjustable jaws for turning nuts of varying sizes. I don’t know what monkey wrench is in Chinese.

There is a common idiom that uses monkey wrench.

Examples:

“He threw a monkey wrench into our plans.”
“The boss threw a monkey wrench into our plans when he said we’d have to work Saturday.”
“The weak dollar can throw a monkey wrench into your international travel plans.”
“Kim Jong-Il recently threw a monkey wrench into the deal, slowing work on disabling its reactor at Yongbyon.”

The idiom is “to throw a monkey wrench into” something. This means to sabotage, ruin, or frustrate a project or a plan or a deal, etc.

Note: Most people think a monkey wrench looks like this:

But that is actually called a “pipe wrench.” In any case, when you hear someone say “monkey wrench,” they probably really mean a “pipe wrench.”

Chainsaw (电锯) - a portable power saw that has teeth linked together to form an endless chain.

Pliers (钳子) - A variously shaped hand tool having a pair of pivoted jaws, used for holding, bending, or cutting. Note: Pliers is a singluar noun even though it ends in ’s’.

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Fix

The word “fix” has many different meanings. Here are the most common idioms and slang involving the word “fix.”

be in a fix - to be in a difficult situation. More examples

“I’m in a fix. I lost my wallet and my car keys.”
“If you quit now, you’ll put me in a real fix.”

to fix someone up with someone - to arrange a date for someone.

“I fixed him up with Jill, but they didn’t like each other.”
“Don’t fix me up with any of your friends ever again.”

to fix someone - to punish, get revenge.

“I’ll fix you for that.”
“I’ll fix him real good.”

to fix (an animal) - to remove the uterus or testicles of a pet animal (dog, cat, etc.) so it can’t breed.

“We got our dog fixed last week.”
“You should get your cat fixed before she gets pregnant.”

fixing to - preparing to, getting ready to, planning to. (this is more common in the South of the US and rural areas)

“There is a movie I’m fixing to shoot down in Louisiana called ‘Prince of Pistols.’”
“I’m fixing to make myself a steak dinner.”

a fix - n. slang - a dose of a drug or narcotic.

“The drug addict needed a fix so badly that he was shaking.”

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Come As You Are

“We are having a party tomorrow, nothing fancy, just come as you are.”

“She soon came to understand that, to her, religion was a ‘come as you are’ party, with no need to pretend to be anything but your own true self.”

“The meeting is at noon and is a come-as-you-are event.”

“The vibe is low-key and come-as-you-are. The tables don’t have cloths, and diners on either side of us wore Red Sox warm-up jackets and baseball hats.”

Come as you are means “informal; relaxed; not dressed up or wearing formal attire.” If you tell someone to “come as you are,” you are saying that they don’t need to wear anything special or formal. You will often hear this in relation to parties.

You will also hear come-as-you-are used as an adjective to describe an atmosphere (of a restaurant, for example) or to describe an attitude (a relaxed, informal, accepting attitude).

Come as you are also has an accepting, non-judgmental connotation to it: “you don’t need to pretend to be someone you are not — you can just be yourself, without pretension.” It has this feeling to it.

One of the most famous rock songs of the 1990s is called “Come As You Are” by Nirvana:

Come as you are, as you were, as I want you to be.
As a friend, as a friend, as an old enemy.
Take your time, hurry up, the choice is yours, don't be late.
Take a rest, as a friend, as an old Memory ah
Memory
Memory
Memory

Come doused in mud, syruped in bleach, as I want you to be.
As a trend, as a friend, as an old memory ah
Memory
Memory
Memory

Well, I swear that I don't have a gun
No, I don't have a gun
No, I don't have a gun

Memory... Memory... Memory... Memory...

Well, I swear that I don't have a gun
No, I don't have a gun
No, I don't have a gun
No, I don't have a gun
No, I don't have a gun
(Memory...Memory....)

Don’t try to figure out what it means.

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Color Idioms

Phrases to remember:

1. pass with flying colors - With complete or outstanding success; to succeed brilliantly.

Examples:

• He passed the Latin test with flying colors.
• Don’t worry about your exam tomorrow. I’m sure you’ll pass with flying colors.

2. come through with flying colors - With complete or outstanding success; to succeed brilliantly.

Examples:

• I was worried she would let me down, but she came through with flying colors.

3. in the red - in debt or losing money.

Examples:

• Yahoo has been in the red for the past three years.
• The U.S. government is currently trillions of dollars in the red.

The opposite of “in the red” is “in the black.”

4. In the black - profitable or making money.

Examples:

• Microsoft is currently in the black but investors fear that next quarter it will be in the red.
• The company has been in the black since it hired a new CEO .

5. show/reveal one’s true colors - to show what someone is truly like.

Examples:

• She pretended to be nice, but her true colors were revealed at the meeting.
• When disaster strikes, people show their true colors.
• This crisis has forced politicians to show their true colors: they are all liars.

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On The Rocks

“Their relationship has been on the rocks for a while.”

“They have been married for 20 years, but there are rumors that their marriage is on the rocks.”

“Bartender, get me a whiskey on the rocks.”

As you can see, the idiom “on the rocks” has two different meanings.

1. having troubles or likely to fail – this meaning is usually applied to relationships or marriages. You will also hear “rocky” applied to relationships. For example, “We have always had a rocky relationship.” This means “We have always had a problematic or difficult relationship.” When applied to relationships, smooth is the opposite of rocky. So if you said, “We have always had a smooth relationship,” it would mean, “We have always had a good relationship without many problems.”

2. with ice. The “rocks” are ice cubes. In this sense, you normally only use “on the rocks” when referring to alcoholic beverages. It would sound a little funny to say, “I’ll have a Coke on the rocks.” (It isn’t wrong, but it sounds like you are trying to make a joke.)

There is a famous song from 1980 called, “Love on the Rocks” by Neil Diamond.

Love on the rocks
Ain't no surprise
Just pour me a drink,
And I'll tell you some lies
Got nothing to lose,
So you just sing the blues, all the time  

Gave me your heart, you gave me your soul
Then you left me alone here
With nothing to hold
Yesterday's gone
Now all I want is a smile  

First they say they want you
How they really need you
Suddenly you find you're out there
Walking in a storm  

And when they know they have you
Then they really have you
Nothing you can do or say,
You got to leave, just get away
We all know the song  

Love on the rocks
It ain't no big surprise
Just pour me a drink
And I'll tell you my lies
Yesterday 's gone
Now all I want is a smile.....

You can see that the song is playing on the double meaning of the phrase “on the rocks.” He is singing about a relationship that is “on the rocks,” but he also uses the phrase “pour me a drink” which is associated with “on the rocks” also.

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Rub Me the Wrong Way

“That girl rubs me the wrong way.”

“Her comments really rubbed me the wrong way.”

“All of his complaining rubbed me the wrong way.”

“I liked your friend, but his political views really rubbed me the wrong way.”

In this case, “rub” means 摩擦, but it is used in an abstract sense in this idiom. So when someone (or something) “rubs you the wrong way” they annoy you or displease you. If you say that a person rubs you the wrong way, you are really saying that you don’t like that person or that they are annoying.

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Bat Out of Hell

“I drove down the road like a bat out of hell.”

“The car came around the corner like a bat out of hell and nearly ran us over.”

“When the police showed up, he took off like a bat out of hell.”

“The cop ran through the airport like a bat out of hell when the explosion went off.”

The phrase “like a bat (蝙蝠) out of hell” is a simile which means “very fast or in a rush, often with a reckless disregard for safety.” It does not mean simply “fast.” It would sound a little strange to say, “I’ve been working like a bat out of hell.” Instead, you normally see this phrase used when motion is implied; for example, describing a car speeding down the road, the way someone is driving, someone running or rushing someplace, etc.

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