Food Idioms: Have you ever completed that one Math problem and went like, “yeah that was a piece of cake,” or maybe put those beautiful earnings on for the “cherry on the cake”? Or what about “buttering your mom” to let you go to your friend’s birthday party?
Food Idioms
- Introduction to Idioms
- Food idioms in English
- List of Food Idioms
- Idioms about food with meaning and idioms about food
Introduction to Idioms
Idioms are unknowingly a part of our everyday life. We use them to express our feelings in a more fun and exciting way.
Idioms are defined as an expression that contains a symbolic meaning. They mean something utterly different from the literal meaning of the expression expressed.
Let’s talk idioms
Native speakers usually use idioms. Native speakers are already familiar with idiomatic expressions. They hence use the terms effortlessly, but what about the non-native speakers, who are still trying to get a grip over the depth of the new language? For example, If a non-native English speaker is presented with the sentence “so you are looking for a job, are you trying to bring home the bacon?”!, they would be too Confused as to “bacon!? Why bacon??? I’m just looking for a job!”. It would be challenging for them to understand that the sentence does not mean by its literal meaning, but they want to earn for themselves or support themselves.
Hence today in this article, let’s talk about some popular English Food Idioms with detailed explanations so that you could make them a part of your everyday conversation.
Food Idioms in English
What are food idioms? Food idioms are idioms based on terms related to food. Since food is something everyone likes and can relate to them more than anything, Food Idioms are a yummy and healthy way to express your thoughts.
List of Food Idioms
- (Don’t) cry over spilled milk
- Carrot top
- (Not) my cup of tea
- Spill the beans
- Cool as a cucumber
- Apple of one’s eye
- Bad egg
- Lemon
- Big cheese
- Butter someone up
- In a nutshell
- Hot potato
- Piece of cake
- Spice things up
- Sugarcoat
- Worth your salt
- Forbidden fruit
- Rotten to the core
- Half baked
- Hard nut to crack
- Couch potato
- Small fries
- As sour as vinegar
- Have a bigger fish to cry
- Half a loaf is better than none
- Not for all the tea in china
- Walk on eggshells
- There is no such thing as free lunch
- Eat like a horse
- As nutty as a fruitcake
- For peanuts
- Pie in the sky
- Like two peas in a pod
- Life is a bowl of cherries.
- The cherry on the cake
Idioms About Food With Meaning, And Idioms About Food
(Don’t) Cry Over Spilled Milk
Meaning: To get sad or upset over something which had already taken place and cannot be changed.
For example, the flower vase is already broken, don’t cry over spilled milk, and let’s figure out how to fix it.
Carrot Top
Meaning: someone with reddish or orange hair.
For example, the sunset made him look like a carrot top.
(Not) My Cup Of Tea
Meaning: Something you enjoy and feel comfortable with.
Example 1: Painting is my cup of tea
Example 2: Math is not my cup of tree
Spill the Beans
Meaning: to speak the truth
Example: would you like to spill the beans, or do we report it to the principal
Cool as a Cucumber
Meaning: calm and relaxed
Example: Our English teacher is as cool as a cucumber
Apple of One’s Eye
Meaning: someone or something that one cherishes the most.
Example: My pet car is the apple of my eye
Bad Egg
Meaning: Someone who is dishonest and unreliable
Example: He was the bad egg of the group
Lemon
Meaning: Something worthless or fraud
Example: These markers looked good in the malls, so I brought them, but they are a complete lemon
Big Cheese
Meaning: an influential person
Example: The big cheese has a separate VIP room for them
Butter Someone Up
Meaning: to convince someone for something
Example: I need to butter my mom up for permission to the carnival
In a Nutshell
Meaning: in the fewest possible words, or all together, in short, or like a compact format of the actual thing
Example: In a nutshell, the performance was terrific, and I loved it.
Hot Potato
Meaning: a controversial issue, or something which is difficult and awkward to deal with.
Example: The plan had been executed recklessly, and now we are at a hot potato.
Piece of Cake
Meaning: Something straightforward
Example: Skateboarding is a piece of cake for me
Spice Things Up
Meaning: to make something more interesting or exciting
Sugarcoat
Meaning: to make something superficially attractive or accepted
Example: We should not sugarcoat the truth. The company won’t survive if we go on this way.
Worth Your Salt
Meaning: competent at a particular job
Example: He finally met an opponent worth his salt
Forbidden Fruit
Meaning: Something which is forbidden, something which is desired but is not allowed to give
Example: They, of course, chased behind the forbidden food but failed miserably
Rotten to the core
Meaning: extremely bad or dishonest, from its origin. Entirely bad
Example: The cops were rotten to the core
Half baked
Meaning: partial information, or partially done
Example: How are you supposed to submit your Half baked essay?
Hard nut to crack
Meaning: Something hard to complete
Example: The Geography test was a hard nut to crack.
Couch potato
Meaning: a person who doesn’t like to work out at all and loves to watch television
Example: It’s Sunday, stop being a couch potato and play with your friends
Small Fries
Meaning: insignificant people
Example: The boss skipped the small fries in seconds
As Sour as Vinegar
Meaning: a disagreeable or rude person
Example: She is Sour as vinegar, no doubt others don’t like to talk to her.
Have a bigger fish to cry
Meaning: to have something more important to do
Example: I can’t talk now I have a bigger fish to cry about.
Half a loaf is better than none
Meaning: Something is better than nothing
Example: I needed seven sheets of paper, but since they didn’t have seven, I took four. After all, something is better than nothing.
Not for all the tea in china
Meaning: it means there is nothing you can do to induce someone to do something
Example: I will never sell you my signed albums, not for all the tea in China.
Walk on eggshells
Meaning: to be very cautious and careful
For example, he was walking on eggshells throughout the trial.
There is no such thing as free lunch
Meaning: Everything requires hard work
Example: There is no such thing as free lunch in this university. You study well and achieve well.
Eat like a horse
Meaning: to eat a lot
Example: I am jealous of those who eat like a horse yet manage to stay healthy.
As nutty as a fruitcake
Meaning: insane, someone or Something completely Insane
Example: The kids always go as nutty as a fruitcake when the new toys arrive.
For peanuts
Meaning: to do something with very little or no pay at all
Example: Lack of money makes people work for peanuts
Pie in the sky
Meaning: Something which is very pleasant but unlikely to be achieved or realistic
Example: She lost everything dreaming about the Pie in the sky
Like two peas in a pod
Meaning: two people or two things are very similar to each other
Example: My best friend and I are like two peas in a pod
Life is a bowl of cherries.
Meaning: life is full of pleasure and enjoyment
Example: Life is a bowl of cherries; let’s enjoy it
The Cherry on the Cake
Meaning: the finishing touch which makes something look more pleasant
Example: My New red sandals are the cherry on the cake.