IDIOMS AND VOCABULARY VARIATIONS 77
hold off: delay
burnout: a point of physical or emotional exhaustion
fly off the handle: to get angry
life of the party: a person who makes things enjoyable for a group of people
cool his heels: wait a long time
be a wash: even out
spitting image: exact likeness
up to the job: capable of doing the work
by and large: as a general rule
give the slip to: escape
once in a blue moon: very seldom
keep your ears open: to stay attuned
all of a sudden: suddenly
boil down: summarize; amount
catch up: to complete something belatedly
drop off: deposit or deliver
find out: discover, learn
have on: wear
keep + - ing verb: continue without interruption
jump in: begin or enter eagerly
make up your mind: settle, decide
put off: to hold back to a later time
show up: arrive, appear
sleep on it: delay making a decision until the next day
take place: happen, occur
used to + verb: something accomplished in the past, but not in the presentHERE’S A HINT
NEW AND EMERGING VOCABULARY
All words have some point of origin. Words that gain sudden popularity in the lan-
guage often do so because they’ve grown out of a common new experience or
observation. Some of the ways new words are made include:- shortening longer words—for example, from gymnasiumto gym
- making up acronyms—such as snafu,which means “an error” and derives
from the phrase “ s ituation n ormal, a ll f ouled u p.” - blending two words together—as in camcorderfrom cam eraand re corder
- adapting people’s names to ideas that are associated with them—for exam-
ple, Reaganomics,from Reagan and econ omics.