Essential English Vocabulary and Idioms

Essential Vocabulary

Assortment (collection): A group of similar things (with different sizes, colors, etc.).
Bottom line (in brief): The most important factor to consider.
Commit a crime: To do something illegal or bad.
Crave: To beg or plead for.
Disruptive (problematic): Confusing, disturbing.
Drop (down): To go down.
Enrollment (registration): To record or note in a roll or list.
Imbalance (disequilibrium): The lack of balance.
Inmate (internal): A person confined to an institution such as a prison or hospital.
Lack (lack of): To be deficient in; to have need of.
Level: A horizontal datum line or plane.
Liable (prone): Susceptible or exposed.
Measure: To determine the size, amount, etc., of something.
Nourishing (nutritional): To provide what is necessary for life and growth.
Pill (tablet): A small spherical or ovoid mass of a medical substance.
Point out (pointing): To specify or indicate.
Rage (anger): Intense anger, fury.
Rate (index): A quantity or amount considered in relation to another quantity or measure.
Remarkable (outstanding): Worthy of attention or note.
Ruin: To bring to ruin, destroy.
Severity: Strictness.
Staff (employees): A group of people employed by a company, individual, etc.
Sweat: To secrete sweat through the pores of the skin.
Treat (deal): To regard or deal with in a certain manner.

Common Idioms

• Butterfingers: To be clumsy.
• Butter up someone (Alagoas): To flatter someone.
• A piece of cake (no-brainer): Something very easy.
• The icing on the cake: An additional benefit.
• Sell like hot cakes: To sell quickly and in large quantities.
• Chalk and cheese: Completely different.
• Something is fishy: Suspicious; I get a bad feeling.
• Cry over spilled milk: To mourn something that cannot be changed; not worth it.
• A hot potato: A contentious issue.
• Cup of tea: Something one likes or is good at.
• Couch potato: A lazy person.
• Food for thought: Something to think about.
• Take it with a pinch of salt: To not completely trust something.
• Bite my head off: To speak angrily and rudely.
• Eat my hat: An expression of disbelief; a bet.
• Put all your eggs in one basket: To risk everything on one venture.
• Have her cake and eat it: To want everything without compromise.
• Bite off more than you can chew: To take on more than one can handle.