Food Talk
Food has provided many idioms to the English language. Here are just a few examples:
To sow wild oats - to have a good time as a young person before settling down to adult responsibilities.
"Like many young men, John wanted to sow some wild oats after graduating from college."
From soup to nuts - everything imaginable
"The bridal shop has everything from soup to nuts when it comes to weddings"
To be a peach! - to be great!
"My friend Susan was a peach to lend me ten dollars when I found I didn't have enough money for lunch."
Peachy keen - fantastic
"All the kids agreed that the movie was peachy keen."
To separate the wheat from the chaff - to separate the good from the bad, or the useable from the useless
"The revised evaluation process was designed to separate the wheat from the chaff."
To work for peanuts - to have a low salary
"Tired of working for peanuts, Tom applied for and obtained a better job."
Sour grapes - resentment and jealousy
"Some people reacted negatively to Maureen's promotion, but she thought that it was just sour grapes."
A lemon - an automobile that is always breaking down because of poor workmanship
"Convinced that his car was a lemon when it broke down for the third time in a month, Bill decided to return it to the dealer from whom he bought it."
To have your cake and eat it, too - a desire to have something both ways at once
"Margaret, who enjoyed the convenience of living with her parents but longed for the independence of living in her own apartment, finally accepted the fact that she could not have her cake and eat it, too."
Crying over spilled milk - pointless regret over something that cannot be changed
"Nicholas was upset that he had overslept and missed his job interview, but he decided that it was pointless to cry over spilled milk.