短语与习语

A

• A bad workman blames his tools
• A blessing in disguise
• Absence makes the heart grow fonder
• A chain is only as strong as its weakest link
• Actions speak louder than words
• A drowning man will clutch at a straw
• A fool and his money are soon parted
• A friend in need (is a friend indeed)
• A friend to everyone is a friend to no one
• A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step
• A little learning is a dangerous thing
• All good things must come to an end
• All is well that ends well
• All roads lead to Rome
• All things come to those who wait
• A miss is as good as a mile
• An apple a day keeps the doctor away
• An army marches on its stomach
• An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth
• An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure
• Any port in a storm
• A penny saved is a penny earned
• A picture is worth a thousand words
• April showers bring forth May flowers
• A rising tide lifts all boats
• A rolling stone gathers no moss
• Ask no questions and hear no lies
• As the twig is bent, so is the tree inclined
• A stitch in time saves nine
• As you sow so shall you reap
• Attack is the best form of defense
• At the end of my rope
• A watched pot never boils

B

• Bad news travels fast
• Barking dogs seldom bite
• Beat around the bush
• Beauty is in the eye of the beholder
• Beauty is only skin deep
• Better late than never
• Better safe than sorry
• Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt
• Big fish eat little fish
• Bite the bullet
• Blood is thicker than water
• Born with a silver spoon in one’s mouth
• Boys will be boys
• Business before pleasure

C

• Charity begins at home
• Children should be seen and not heard
• Clothes don’t make the man
• Cold hands, warm heart
• Comparisons are odious
• Count your blessings
• Crime does not pay

D

• Denial is not a river in Egypt
• Discretion is the better part of valour
• Do not bite the hand that feeds you
• Do not judge a book by its cover
• Do not make a mountain out of a mole hill
• Do not put the cart before the horse
• Do not rock the boat
• Do not wash your dirty linen in public
• Don’t put too many irons in the fire
• Do unto others as you would have them do unto you

E

• Easier said than done
• Easy come, easy go
• Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper
• Empty vessels make the most noise
• Enough is as good as a feast
• Even a worm will turn
• Every cloud has a silver lining
• Every little bit helps
• Every man has his price
• Every picture tells a story
• Every tide has its ebb

F

• Failing to plan is planning to fail
• Fair exchange is no robbery
• Faith will move mountains
• Fake it till you make it
• Fall seven times, stand up eight
• False friends are worse than open enemies
• Familiarity breeds contempt
• Fight fire with fire
• First come, first served
• First things first
• Forewarned is forearmed
• From the sublime to the ridiculous (is only a step)

G

• Give credit where credit is due
• Give him an inch and he will take a mile
• God helps those who help themselves
• Good fences make good neighbours
• Great minds think alike

H

• Half a loaf is better than no bread
• Haste makes waste
• He that goes a-borrowing, goes a-sorrowing
• He who hesitates is lost
• He who laughs last laughs longest
• He who lives by the sword, dies by the sword
• Hindsight is always twenty-twenty
• History repeats itself
• Hold your horses
• Honesty is the best policy
• Hope for the best, and prepare for the worst
• Hope springs eternal

I

• If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it
• If it were a snake, it would have bit you
• If wishes were horses, beggars would ride
• If you cannot stand the heat, get out of the kitchen
• If you lie down with dogs, you will get up with fleas
• If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys
• If you want a thing done well, do it yourself
• In for a penny, in for a pound
• It doesn’t add up
• It goes without saying
• It is a small world
• It is better to give than to receive
• It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness
• It never rains but it pours
• It takes a thief to catch a thief
• It takes a whole village to raise a child
• It takes one to know one
• It takes two to tango
• It’s Greek to me

J

• Judge not, that ye be not judged

K

• Keep your chin up
• Keep your friends close and your enemies closer

L

• Laugh and the world laughs with you, weep and you weep alone
• Laughter is the best medicine
• Least said, soonest mended
• Less is more
• Let bygones be bygones
• Let sleeping dogs lie
• Let the buyer beware
• Let the punishment fit the crime
• Let well alone
• Life begins at forty
• Life is what you make it
• Like father, like son
• Little pitchers have big ears
• Little strokes fell great oaks
• Look before you leap
• Loose lips sink ships
• Love will find a way

M

• Make hay while the sun shines
• Man does not live by bread alone
• Might is right
• Mighty oaks from little acorns grow
• Misery loves company
• Moderation in all things
• Money does not grow on trees
• Money talks
• Mud sticks

N

• Necessity is the mother of invention
• Never let the sun go down on your anger
• Never look a gift horse in the mouth
• Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today
• Never say die
• Never say never
• Never speak ill of the dead
• Never too old to learn
• No guts, no glory
• No man is an island
• No news is good news
• No pain, no gain
• No pun intended
• No rest for the wicked
• Nothing ventured, nothing gained

O

• Oil and water do not mix
• Once bitten, twice shy
• One good turn deserves another
• One hand washes the other
• One law for the rich and another for the poor
• One man’s trash is another man’s treasure
• One swallow does not make a summer
• Out of sight, out of mind
• Out of the frying pan and into the fire
• Out of the mouths of babes (and sucklings)

P

• Penny wise and pound foolish
• Play stupid games, win stupid prizes
• Possession is nine-tenths of the law
• Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely
• Practice makes perfect
• Practice what you preach
• Prevention is better than cure
• Procrastination is the thief of time
• Put your best foot forward
• Put your money where your mouth is

R

• Respect is not given, it is earned
• Revenge is a dish best served cold
• Rome was not built in one day

S

• Seek and ye shall find
• See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil
• Slow but sure
• Snake in the grass
• Speak as you find
• Still waters run deep

T

• Take care of the pennies, and the pounds will take care of themselves
• Talk is cheap
• Tell me who your friends are, and I’ll tell you who you are
• That makes two of us
• The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree
• The best things in life are free
• The bigger they are, the harder they fall
• The customer is always right
• The darkest hour is just before the dawn
• The early bird catches the worm
• The end justifies the means
• The enemy of my enemy is my friend
• The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence
• The left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing
• The leopard does not change its spots
• The light is on but nobody is home
• The more the merrier
• The only way to find a friend is to be one
• The pen is mightier than the sword
• The pot calling the kettle black
• The proof of the pudding is in the eating
• There is no place like home
• There is no such thing as a free lunch
• There is no such thing as bad publicity
• There is no time like the present
• There is safety in numbers
• There’s nowt so queer as folk
• The squeaky wheel gets the grease
• Those who live in glass houses should not throw stones
• Time and tide wait for no man
• Time flies
• Time is a great healer
• Time is money
• To each his own
• To err is human, to forgive divine
• Tomorrow is another day
• Tomorrow never comes
• Too little, too late
• Too many cooks spoil the broth
• Too much of a good thing
• To the victor go the spoils
• Truth is stranger than fiction
• Two heads are better than one

U

• Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown
• United we stand, divided we fall
• Up a creek without a paddle
• Use it or lose it

W

• Walls have ears
• Waste not, want not
• Well begun is half done
• What does not kill me makes me stronger
• Whatever floats your boat
• What goes around, comes around
• When it rains it pours
• When life gives you lemons, make lemonade
• When the cat is away, the mice will play
• When you have seen one, you have seen them all
• Where there is a will there is a way
• Where there is life there is hope
• Where there is muck there is brass
• Who will bell the cat?
• Wonders will never cease

Y

• You are what you eat
• You can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make it drink
• You cannot get blood out of a stone
• You cannot make bricks without straw
• You cannot push a rope
• You cannot win them all
• You must have rocks in your head
• Youth is wasted on the young