Na m e : ___ Date: _
Directions: Each passage below contains an idiom. Underline it. Then imagine that you have to
explain to a little kid what was really meant. Write your explanation on the lines.Let me give it to you straight from the horse’s mouth—
an idiom is an expression that means something other
than what the words really say. You dig?- On her way home from school, Cassandra saw that
someone had thrown trash on the sidewalk. “Littering
drives me up the wall,” she mumbled to herself.
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- Jack tried out for the team, but when the results were posted his name did not appear
on the list. It was a bitter pill to swallow.
___________________________________________________________________________________- Melanie was studying for her science test. After an hour her head was swimming with
facts. “I hope I remember all this,” she thought as she turned out the light.
___________________________________________________________________________________- Jeff’s older brother Jim doesn’t usually mind when Jeff wants
to hang out in his room or play video games with him. But
when Jim has friends over, that’s a horse of a different color.
___________________________________________________________________________________- At dinner, Mom asked Dad how his first day at his new job went. “It’s all new to me,”
he said. “I obviously need some time to get my feet wet.”
___________________________________________________________________________________- Rachel had been looking forward all week to spending the weekend with her dad. When
he called on Thursday night to say he couldn’t make it, her heart sank.
___________________________________________________________________________________- Brent answered the phone. It was for his brother, Andy. When Andy picked up the phone
and found out it was Ellen, he suddenly got tongue-tied.
___________________________________________________________________________________