salt-and-pepper = hair that is becoming grey.
Some women like men with salt-and-pepper hair. They think it looks
distinguished.
easy as pie = very easy.
Learning English is easy as pie.
in a stew = confused or worried about a difficult situation.
When David's girlfriend was late, he got into a stew.
to be in the soup = to be in trouble.
When Harry lost his job, he was really in the soup.
to be in a pickle = be in a difficult situation and not know
what to do.
When Mark lost his passport, he was in a pickle.
to be packed like sardines = be crowded tightly together in
a small space.
People on the evening train are packed like sardines.
to beef up some thing = improve something, add force to something.
The green party needs to beef the campaign up.
to get a roasting = to be told off for something wrong.
The player got a roasting from angry fans.
to make a hash of something = make a mess of something, do something very
badly.
Fred made a real hash of his exams.
a sunny smile = a happy and friendly smile.
The air hostess greeted the passengers with a sunny smile.
a stormy relationship = a relationship full of strong and angry feelings.
They had a stormy relationship so they decided to get divorced.
a storm in a teacup = a lot of fuss about something unimportant.
That's a storm in a teacup, stop fussing about it, you can do it.
a storm of protest / criticism = a situation in which people suddenly protest
about or criticize something, showing very strong feelings.
The government plan to raise the taxes provoked a storm of protest.
to weather the storm = to experience a difficult period and reach the end of it
without being harmed too much.
We're undergoing a difficult situation, but I will weather the storm.
to dance / sing up a storm = do something with energy.
The schoolgirls were singing up a storm.
to be on cloud nine = to be very happy about something.
When she realised that she had won the lottery, she was on cloud nine.
to have one's head in the clouds = to think about something that is unpractical.
Come on, you always have your head in the clouds. It's time to get back to
reality!
to be under a cloud (of suspicion) = to be suspected of doing something wrong
or illegal.
She left the company under a cloud of suspicion.
a cloud on the horizon = something that might spoil a happy situation.
The only cloud on the horizon was the final exam in June.
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