Drive someone up the wall

Meaning:

1. Annoy or irritate someone very much.
2. Put someone into an extreme position or situation. (= force someone up the wall)

If someone or something drives you up the wall, he/she/it annoys you very much or
pushes you to an awkward or extreme position.


Example:

The heat in this apartment drives me up the wall!

The company didn't fix the problem until the government forced it up the wall.

Easy as pie / As easy as pie

Meaning:

Very easy.

If something is (as) easy as pie, it is very easy to do.

Example:

The midterm should be easy as pie if you prepare well.

Baking great bread is as easy as pie with this brand-new breadmaker.

Eat one's words

Meaning:

Admit that what you said was wrong.

If you eat your words, you admit that the statements or predictions you made were wrong.

Example:

Tom said Nancy would never succeed in her business, but after seeing her business grow, he had to eat his words.

I taught a grammar rule in my ESL class, and one of my students said I was wrong. After I checked it in dictionaries and asked other teachers, I found she was right. I had to eat my words in the next class.

Feel like a fish out of water
Be like a fish out of water

Meaning:

Feel uncomfortable because you are in an unfamiliar situation.

If you feel like a fish out of water, you feel awkward or uncomfortable because you are in an unusual or unfamiliar situation.

Example:

I don't like going to the big parties they have. I always feel like a fish out of water there.

Todd is a country boy raised in a small town in Idaho and was like a fish out of water when he visited New York Cit

Food for thought

Meaning:

Ideas that make you think carefully.

If something gives you food for thought, it gives you insights or new information, and makes you think about something carefully.

Example:

Today's reading assignment will give you enough food for thought to prepare for next week's class discussion.

Dr. Smith's speeches always offer much food for thought.

A frog in someone's throat /
A frog in the throat

Meaning:

If you have a frog in your throat, you have a sore throat, or your throat is dry, and have difficulty speaking
because you want to cough.


Example:

In a speech contest last year, she suddenly got a frog in her throat and had a hard time speaking.

A: Why don't you sing with us in our next concert this Friday?
B: I wish I could, but I caught a cold and have a frog in the throat.

Get over something

Meaning:

to begin feel better again after being sick or having an unhappy experience.

If you get over sickness or a sad experience, you start to feel better again after that.

Example:

She was just getting over the flu when she had a stomachache.

It took him years to get over the death of his wife.