Proverbs and Expressions  Answers and explanations.

Don't beat about the bush.

Come to the point without prevarication. In the past, when hunting, men used to hire "beaters" who used to walk round and beat the bushes to frighten the birds out.

You can't get blood out of a stone.

If there's nothing to discover, it's no use trying to discover it.

You may beat someone to find the truth, but it's a waste of time if he knows nothing.

A rolling stone gathers no moss.

If you keep moving around, you don't get any responsibilities.

He who pays the piper calls the tune.

The person who pays the bill is the person who makes the decisions.

Birds of a feather flock together.

People of the same group support each other.

He always keeps his cards close to his chest.

He's reticent, and doesn't easily give secrets away. From card games where you hold your cards close to your chest to stop others seeing them, of course.

Let's get down to brass tacks.

No prevarication - come to the point (see No.1)

People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.

If you're vulnerable in defence, you should be careful about attacking.

You made your bed - now you must lie in it!

You made the decisions, now you have to suffer the consequences.

Blood is thicker than water.

If a choice has to be made, people of the same family group tend to stick together.

All that glitters is not gold.

Just because it seems attractive, it doesn't mean it's the genuine article, or the right thing.

A stitch in time saves nine.

The sooner you repair something broken, the less work you'll have to do later. Actual meaning: if you use a needle and thread to put a stitch in something you wear which is torn, you won’t have to use nine stitches later because it has become even more damaged.

It never rains but it pours.

It doesn't happen for a long time, then a number of times!Like London buses: you wait 20 minutes for a number 9, and then 3 number 9's appear!

One man's meat is another man's poison.

Just because something suits one person, it doesn't mean that it will suit another.

A miss is as good as a mile.

If you miss something by a very small margin, it's as if you missed it by a long way.

Every cloud has a silver lining.

If something bad happens, it must surely have some good aspects, too (see 19).

Make hay while the sun shines.

Or, while he cat's away, the mice will play!

Strike while the iron's hot.

When the moment is appropriate, use it.

It's an ill wind that blows nobody any good.

If something bad happens, someone somewhere usually benefits. If no one at all gets anything positive from it, it must indeed be an ill, or evil, wind.

Live and let live.

Let people get on with their lives without interference, while you get on with your own. The title of a famous James Bond film was "Live and Let Die"

Mind your P's and Q's.

Be careful what you say! In old times, in a pub  people used to order a pint or a quart (a quarter of a gallon) and the landlord would have a slate where he wrote P for pint and Q for quart so he would know what to charge at the end of the evening. The person drinking would have to mind (think about) his P's and Q's - that is, how much he had drunk.

To get the answer you must cut through all the red tape.

All the bureaucracy. Solicitors used to tie up all their files in red tape.

He did the dirty on me. He sold me down the river!

Let someone else know all my secrets, betrayed me. Slavemasters used to sell unruly slaves to rougher farms further down the Mississippi river

To gain a victory we'll have to pull out all the stops!

do everything necessary. You pull out the stops on an organ to make the music louder.

I'll take a rain check if you don't mind.

I'll accept your offer another time (a good answer if you are invited on a date and prefer not to go!)

I'll get even with you!

I'll get my revenge.

John will have to face the music.

accept criticism or punishment for something that he has done.

She's dead! She kicked the bucket yesterday.

Kick the bucket means to die. Colloquial, and obviously not in good taste!.

He spilt the beans to the police when they questioned him.

He told them everything they wanted to know. Told all the secrets.

Hold your horses!

Don't be in too much of a hurry!

It was very easy! A piece of cake.

Very easy: "The exam was a piece of cake!"

John's well oiled - he's been drinking since this morning!

Well oiled means very drunk!

She never puts a foot wrong. You could say she's squeaky clean!

Squeaky clean means perfectly correct and honest.

Let your hair down.

relax and enjoy yourself, probably with a night out

To be ‘up tight’ or ‘uptight’.

Behave in a very tense or stressed way; not able to relax.