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Overcoming idioms as stumbling block

A stumbling block is any hindrance that prevents you from reaching your goal, any goal.

Taking their feet off the pedal?

By taking their feet off the pedal, they stop giving the effort.

Turn the tables?

For the tables to turn is, originally, to reverse the positions of adversaries.

My bad?

“My bad” means “My fault”, literally. It is perhaps short for “My bad mistake”.

Silver bullets?

Your boss means to say you shouldn’t be looking for easy solutions to problems facing you at work.

Spanner in the works?

Juan Mata refuses to be tethered there; the Spaniard is becoming a spanner in the works.

Tooth and nail?

When people fight each other tooth and nail, in other words, they’re very desperate.

Bet the farm?

By betting the whole farm they own, they’re willing to risk everything – risking losing everything, that is.

Cooking the book?

In cooking the book, people manipulate the numbers, dressing them up, to make the company look good.

Left out to dry?

The person who’s hung out to dry is unprotected and alone.

Push the envelope

To push the envelope is to stretch the limits, to try to break through the old mould, to move into unchartered territories.

Loan shark rate?

Loan sharks are people who lend money to gain immorally high interest.

Mean street, mean city?

“A mean street in a mean city” means a poor street in a poverty stricken city.

Virtual dead heat?

Literally, dead heat means a tied race.

Hat in the ring?

Today, this expression is most commonly seen in articles about politics, where candidates often indicate their intention to enter a race for a public office or another campaign.

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