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| Be on the ball |
If you are on the ball, you are aware of what is happening and are able to react to the situation quickly. |
| Have a ball |
A person who is having a ball is having a good time, or enjoying themselves. |
| The ball is in your court | If the ball is in your court, it is your turn to speak or act next. |
| Fishing expedition | If someone is on a fishing expedition, they are trying to obtain
information in any way possible. "The lunch invitation was clearly a fishing expedition to obtain information about his private life." |
| Get into full swing |
When something, such as an event, gets into full swing, it is at its busiest or liveliest time. |
| Get into the swing of things |
If you get into the swing of something, you become involved in it or get used to it and begin to enjoy it. |
| Go overboard |
To go overboard means to be too excited or enthusiastic about
something. |
| Give the game away |
If you give the game away, you reveal a secret or a plan,
often unintentionally. |
| Learn the ropes | If you learn the ropes, you learn how to a particular job correctly. |
| Paddle one's own canoe |
If you paddle your own canoe, you do what you want to do
without help or interference from anyone. |
| Play the game | If you play the game, you accept to
do things according to the rules laid down by others. |
| Race against time | If someone is in a race against time, they
have to work very quickly in order to do or finish something before a certain time. |
| Sail through something |
If you sail through something, for example a test or an exam, you succeed in doing it without difficulty. |
| Skating on thin ice | If you are skating on thin ice, you are doing or
saying something that could cause disagreement or trouble. "Don't mention that subject during the negotiations or you could be skating on thin ice." |
| Swim against the tide |
A person who is doing or saying the opposite to most other people is said to be swimming against the tide. "Perhaps it's because she always swims against the tide that her books are so successful." |
| Take someone for a ride | If you are taken for a ride,
you are deceived or cheated by someone. "When my father was persuaded to invest in the new casino, he was really taken for a ride." |
| Take the wind out of someone's sails |
If you take the wind out of someone's sails, you make them feel less confident, by doing or saying something that they do not expect. |
| Two can play at that game |
This expression is used to tell someone that you can behave towards them in the same unpleasant way that they have been behaving towards you. |
| A waiting game |
A person who plays a waiting game delays taking any action or making any decisions because they prefer to wait and see how things develop, usually in the hope that this will put them in a stronger position. |
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