Idioms – C

“Cat got your tongue?”

-      We say this when someone should be talking or answering a question, but they don’t (because they might be surprised or embarrassed).

Catch-22

-  A “catch-22” is a situation in which it is impossible to get the result that you want. (For example: “I can’t work because I don’t have a car, but I can’t get a car because I don’t have a job.” This is a “catch-22.”)

Change of heart

-      If you have a “change of heart,” this means that you change the way that you think or feel about something.

Cheap shot

-      A “cheap shot” is words that are mean or unfair. (For example, if two people are arguing about politics, and one of them calls the other “fat” or “ugly,” this is a “cheap shot.”)

(on) Cloud nine

-      If someone is “on cloud nine,” then they are extremely happy.

(get) Cold feet

-      to get scared or to lose the courage to do something (usually used when someone decides that they don’t want to get married).

Come clean

-  means to be honest or admit that you did something wrong.

Curiosity killed the cat.

-      This is a warning against being too curious about things that you might not need to know. (Cats, for example, are very curious, and this can cause them to get hurt or killed.)

Fill in the Blanks

Using the idioms, fill in the blanks in the following sentences:

1. Jake and Julie dated for several years. They got engaged last winter, but on the day of the wedding, Jake ____________________ and cancelled it. The next day, Jake explained to Julie that he had a ____________________ and that he didn’t want to get married anymore. Julie is devastated.

2. Chris just found out that he got a perfect score on his test and will go to the best school in town. Because of this accomplishment, his parents are going to buy him a car. Nothing can upset him right now. He is ____________________.

3. Son, your teacher called today and said that in the middle of a class discussion about religion, you yelled at your classmate and called her stupid. Is that true? You need to ____________________. If you did that, then you need to apologize to her because that is a ____________________ and you know it.

Now, do the opposite. Read the last sentence, and write the sentences before it that describe the situation!

4__________________________________________________

__________________________________________________

_________________________________________It’s a catch-22!

5._________________________________________________

__________________________________________________

__________________________________________________

So I said, “What’s the matter? Cat got your tongue?”

6. ________________________________________________

__________________________________________________

__________________________________________________

He asked for my advice, so I told him, “Curiosity killed the cat.”