Food Idioms

This post presents a selection of common food-related idioms. For each idiom, you will find its meaning as well as an example sentence that demonstrates how it is used in context.

1. Idiom: apple of one’s eye.
Meaning: a person who is adored by someone.
Example: Malak is the apple of her father’s eye.
Translation: قرة عين شخص ما و المقصود هنا أنه محبوب جدآ

2. Idiom: (have a) bun in the oven.
Meaning: be pregnant.
Example: I don’t think Malak will come to this event because she has a bun in the oven.
Translation: حامل

3. Idiom: bad egg.
Meaning: a person who is often in trouble/ troublemaker.
Example: I don’t want my little brother hanging around with the bad eggs on the street.
Translation: شخص سيئ

4. Idiom: big cheese.
Meaning: very important person (VIP).
Example: Cristiano Ronaldo is a big cheese.
Translation: شخصية مهمة

5. Idiom: bring home the bacon.
Meaning: earn the income.
Example: We work hard to bring home the bacon.
Translation: تعمل من أجل كسب المال

6. Idiom: cheesy.
Meaning: silly.
Example: She loves reading cheesy romance novels because she doesn’t have to think.
Translation: سخيف

7. Idiom: cool as a cucumber.
Meaning: very relaxed.
Example: I thought I was afraid of flying, but I was cool as a cucumber all the way to England.
Translation: هادئ

8. Idiom: cream of the crop.
Meaning: the best.
Example: We hired the cream of the crop to entertain us at the Christmas party.
Translation: الأفضل

9. Idiom: (don’t) cry over spilled milk.
Meaning: get upset over something that has happened and cannot be changed.
Example: The mirror is broken, and we can’t fix it. There’s no need to cry over spilled milk.
Translation: لا تتأسف أو تبكي على ما فات

10. Idiom: (not my) cup of tea.
Meaning: something you enjoy (usually used negatively).
Example: Watching K-drama is my cup of tea.
Translation: شيئ مفضل عندك و تحبه