Food & Eating Idioms

1- Piece of cake – very easy
Example: The exam was a piece of cake.

2- Spill the beans – reveal a secret
Example: He spilled the beans about the surprise.

3- Take something with a grain of salt – not take something too seriously
Example: Take his advice with a grain of salt.

4- Bite off more than you can chew – take on more than you can handle
Example: She bit off more than she could chew with that project.

5- Bring home the bacon – earn money for the family
Example: He works hard to bring home the bacon.

6- Cool as a cucumber – very calm
Example: She stayed cool as a cucumber during the exam.

7- Cry over spilled milk – be upset about something that can’t be changed
Example: Don’t cry over spilled milk.

8- Have bigger fish to fry – have more important things to do
Example: I can’t go out; I have bigger fish to fry.

9- In a nutshell – in a short and simple way
Example: In a nutshell, the plan didn’t work.

10- The icing on the cake – an extra good thing
Example: The bonus was the icing on the cake.

Unit 7 – At Work: Careers
Part A – A Career in Sales

1- telesales (noun) – selling goods or services by phone.
He started his career in telesales after finishing school.

2- telemarketing (noun) – marketing products by telephone.
Telemarketing requires strong communication skills.

3- cold calling (noun) – phoning people who have not requested a call to sell something.
Many customers dislike cold calling.

4- hard sell (noun) – a very forceful or persuasive way of selling.
The salesman used a hard sell technique.

5- persevere (verb) – continue trying despite difficulties.
She persevered and finally succeeded.

6- persuade (verb) – convince someone to do something.
He persuaded customers to buy the product.

7- part with (money) (phrasal verb) – spend or give money.
Customers were happy to part with their money.

8- TV shopping channel (noun) – a television channel devoted to selling products.
She works on a TV shopping channel.

9- merchandise (noun) – goods that are bought and sold.
The store sells sports merchandise.

10- leisure market (noun) – market related to free-time products.
The company focuses on the leisure market.

11- set up (a company) (phrasal verb) – start a business.
He set up his own company.

12- not look back (idiom) – move forward successfully.
After launching her brand, she never looked back.

Part B – Buying and Selling

13- purchasing power (noun) – the ability to buy goods.
Inflation reduces people’s purchasing power.

14- shop around (phrasal verb) – compare prices in different places.
You should shop around before buying a laptop.

15- stock (something) (verb) – keep a supply of something.
This shop stocks organic products.

16- trade up (phrasal verb) – buy something more expensive than before.
They traded up to a bigger house.

17- trade down (phrasal verb) – buy something cheaper than before.
He traded down to a smaller car.

18- brand loyalty (noun) – preference for one brand.
Brand loyalty influences purchasing decisions.

19- loss leader (noun) – product sold at a very low price to attract customers.
Milk is often used as a loss leader.