Word choice · C1
Break the ice, cut corners, bite the bullet
An idiom is a fixed phrase whose meaning you cannot work out from its parts. Break the ice is starting a conversation among strangers. Cut corners is doing it cheaply and badly. Sit on the fence is refusing to choose. Bite the bullet is accepting something unpleasant because there is no alternative left.
Which word, and why
- break the ice
get a conversation started among strangers
To relieve awkwardness at the beginning of a social occasion.
break the ice · an icebreaker
- cut corners
do it cheaply and badly
To save time or money by leaving out something that mattered.
cut corners on safety · no corners were cut
- sit on the fence
refuse to take a side
To avoid committing to either position.
sit on the fence · a fence-sitter
- bite the bullet
accept the unpleasant option because there is no other
To do something difficult that you have been avoiding.
bite the bullet · we bit the bullet
- hit the nail on the head
identify the problem exactly
To say precisely the right thing.
hit the nail on the head
- in the same boat
sharing the same difficulty
In the same unpleasant situation as someone else.
we are all in the same boat
- the last straw
the small thing that ends someone’s patience
The final problem that makes a situation unbearable.
that was the last straw
- a blessing in disguise
bad at the time, good in the end
Something that seemed unfortunate but turned out well.
a blessing in disguise
- once in a blue moon
very rarely
Almost never.
once in a blue moon
- get cold feet
lose your nerve just before committing
To become too frightened to go through with something.
get cold feet
- jump the gun
act before you were supposed to
To do something too early.
jump the gun
- call it a day
stop, having done enough
To decide to stop working on something.
call it a day
- on thin ice
one more mistake and there is trouble
In a risky position where you have little margin left.
on thin ice · skating on thin ice
- the tip of the iceberg
the small visible part of a large problem
The small known part of something much larger.
the tip of the iceberg
- a grey area
the rules do not clearly cover it
A situation where what is allowed is unclear.
a legal grey area
- out of the blue
with no warning at all
Completely unexpectedly.
out of the blue
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Someone had to , so I asked where everyone had travelled from.