Common Colloquial Expressions

Bone idle: very lazy.

e.g. She's bone idle: she never does any household chore.

Are you with me?: understand or agree with me.

e.g. I've been explaining this for an hour. Are you with me?

Hook on to: attach oneself to.

e.g. Don't hook on to your computer all day.

.

Bang out: reveal.

e.g. If you go into politics, you must be prepared to let all your secrets bang out.

Not on your life!: definitely not.

e.g. "Do you think I should call the police?" "With your past records, not on your life!"

Hook it: depart immediately.

e.g. Come on, hook it; our parents will be back soon.

Walk: disappear.

e.g. I don't know how and where those documents had walked

Go under: fail.

e.g. I am sorry to say that all your proposals have gone under.

Fork out: pay

e.g. Well, everybody has to fork out $50 for the farewell present to the boss.

Look here: emphasizing a point.

e.g. "Look here, I can't help you right now; I'm cooking our dinner."

e.g. "Look here, it was impolite to talk to your parents like that."

Better than a slap in the eye: okay, acceptable.

e.g. Not all the goals were accomplished. Well, at least the project was completed on time; it's better than a slap in the eye.

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau