Most popular idioms and sentences 4

• “Burn the midnight oil” – work late into the night

Example sentences:

1. I had a big deadline coming up, so I burned the midnight oil to finish my project on time.
2. The team was determined to meet the deadline, so they burned the midnight oil and worked late into the night.
3. My roommates and I burned the midnight oil studying for our exams – we didn’t get much sleep that week.
4. I had to burn the midnight oil to finish my presentation, but it was worth it – I got an A on the project.
5. The company was under a lot of pressure to meet their goals, so they burned the midnight oil and worked around the clock to get everything done on time.

• “Butter someone up” – flatter or praise someone excessively in order to gain favor

Example sentences:

1. I was trying to butter up my boss by bringing her coffee and offering to help with her workload, hoping that she would give me a raise.
2. My sister was trying to butter up our parents by doing extra chores and being extra nice to them, hoping that they would let her borrow the car.
3. The salesman was trying to butter up the customer by complimenting their outfit and offering them a free gift with their purchase.
4. I knew that I had messed up, so I tried to butter up my friend by buying them their favorite treat and apologizing profusely.
5. The politician was trying to butter up the voters by promising them everything they wanted to hear during the campaign.

• “Buy a pig in a poke” – purchase something without examining it closely or without full knowledge of its value or condition

Example sentences:

1. I bought the used car without having it inspected, and it turned out to be a real pig in a poke – it had all sorts of problems that I didn’t know about.
2. The store was having a sale on “mystery boxes,” but I ended up with a pig in a poke – all of the items inside were cheap and useless.
3. I thought I was getting a good deal on the house, but it turned out to be a pig in a poke – it needed a lot of repairs that I didn’t know about.
4. I was tempted to buy the designer bag from the street vendor, but I knew that it was probably a pig in a poke – it was probably a fake.
5. The investment looked too good to be true, and it turned out to be a pig in a poke – the company went bankrupt and I lost all of my money.

• “By the skin of your teeth” – barely, narrowly

Example sentences:

1. I barely made it to the airport on time – I arrived by the skin of my teeth.
2. The team won the game by the skin of their teeth – it was a close match.
3. I passed the exam by the skin of my teeth – I only got a few questions wrong.
4. The climbers were able to rescue the stranded hiker by the skin of their teeth – it was a very risky operation.
5. The cat chased the mouse around the house, but it was able to escape by the skin of its teeth – it was a close call.

• “Call it a day” – stop working for the day

Examples sentences:

1. I’m exhausted – I think I’m going to call it a day and go to bed.
2. The construction workers packed up their tools and called it a day – they had been working for 12 hours.
3. It was getting late, so we decided to call it a day and continue the meeting the next day.
4. The team was struggling to make progress, so the manager called it a day and asked everyone to come back fresh the next morning.
5. I had been working on my project for hours and wasn’t making much progress, so I decided to call it a day and come back to it with a fresh perspective the next day.