English Idioms and Idiomatic Expressions 

ANXIETY - FEAR, page 1

Idioms relating to anxiety and fear   
from:  'afraid of one's own shadow'   to:  'ignorance is bliss'

• afraid of one's own shadow
  • A person who is afraid of his/her own shadow is very nervous or easily frightened.
    "I've never seen anyone so easily scared. She's afraid of her own shadow!"
    
    
• bated breath
  • If you wait for something with bated breath, you are both anxious and excited about an imminent event.
    "We waited with bated breath for the winner to be announced."
    
    
• make your blood run cold
  • If something makes your blood run cold, it shocks or scares you a lot.
    "The look in the prisoner's eye made my blood run cold!"
    
    
• break out in a cold sweat
  • If you break out in a cold sweat, you begin to perspire a lot, usually from anxiety.
    "I get nervous at the dentist's and usually break out in a cold sweat."
    
    
• bundle of nerves
  • If you describe someone as a bundle of nerves, you mean that they are very nervous, tense or worried.
    "My son is doing his driving test today. Needless to say he's a bundle of nerves!"
    
    
• (have) butterflies in stomach
  • If you have butterflies in your stomach, you are feeling very nervous.
    "At the beginning of an exam, I always have butterflies in my stomach."
    
    
• can't stand the pace
  • If you can't stand the pace, you are unable to do things well when there is a lot of pressure.
    "She once worked for a famous fashion designer but she couldn't stand the pace."
    
    
• (like a) cat on hot bricks
  • A person who is like a cat on hot bricks is very nervous or restless.
    "The week before the results were published, she was like a cat on hot bricks."
    
    
• on the edge of one's seat
  • Someone who is on the edge of their seat is very interested in something and finds it both extremely exciting and nerve-wracking.
    "Look at Bob! He's on the edge of his seat watching that rugby match!"
    
    
• get one's fingers burnt
  • If someone gets their fingers burnt, they suffer as a result of an unsuccessful action and are nervous about trying again.
    "He got his fingers burnt so badly in the last elections that he decided to withdraw from politics."
    
    
• heart in one's mouth
  • A person who has their heart in their mouth feels extremely anxious or nervous faced with a dangerous or unpleasant situation.
    "Emma had her heart in her mouth when she saw her two-year-old son standing in front of the open window."
    
    
• heart misses a beat
  • If your heart misses (or skips) a beat, you have sudden feeling of fear or excitement.
    "When the lights suddenly went out, my heart missed a beat."
    
    
• heebie-jeebies
  • A state of apprehension, nervousness or anxiety is called the heebie-jeebies.
    "Having to go down to the car park at night gives me the heebie-jeebies."
    
    
• hold your breath
  • If someone is holding their breath, they are waiting anxiously or excitedly for something to happen or be announced.
    "I went for a second interview today - now I'm holding my breath!"
    
    
• if you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen
  • This expression means that if you feel that there is too much pressure, you can leave.
    Amid the growing tension, the organiser declared : "If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen!"
    
    
• ignorance is bliss
  • This means that if you don't know about a problem or unpleasant fact, you won't worry about it.
    "I didn't know our neighbour was an escaped prisoner until the police arrived - ignorance is bliss!"