Phrases & Expressions

To keep criticising something, often by pointing out small and unimportant mistakes.

• Some managers find fault with everything their staff do, which quickly destroys motivation in the team.
• My grandmother always finds fault with my cooking, but she still comes back for a second helping.

To try to make people say nice things about you, often by pretending to be modest.

• When she said her presentation was terrible, I think she was just fishing for compliments.
• Posting selfies with captions like 'I look awful today' is often a way of fishing for compliments online.

(British, informal) for a very long time.

• I've known Sam for donkey's years — we were at primary school together.
• That little shop has been selling the same old-fashioned sweets for donkey's years.

(informal) permanently, so that you can keep something and do not have to give it back.

• My cousin lent me her old guitar, then told me I could have it for keeps.
• Is this jacket just a loan, or can I have it for keeps?

Very happy, cheerful and full of energy.

• After her holiday, my manager came back to work full of the joys of spring and bursting with new ideas.
• I'm not exactly full of the joys of spring at six o'clock on a Monday morning.

To become active, healthy, successful or useful again after a period of being tired or neglected.

• After a hip replacement, my grandmother got a new lease of life and now walks five kilometres every day.
• The old railway station got a new lease of life when it was turned into a popular arts centre.

To travel to remote or unusual places that most visitors never see.

• We decided to get off the beaten track and spent a week in a mountain village with no tourists at all.
• Guidebooks encourage travellers to get off the beaten track, but this can put pressure on fragile rural communities.

To have a very friendly relationship with someone and enjoy their company a lot.

• I was worried my parents wouldn't like my fiancé, but they got on like a house on fire from the very first evening.
• The two exchange students got on like a house on fire and are still in touch ten years later.

To start to understand and deal with something difficult or new.

• Many international students take a few months to get to grips with academic writing conventions at British universities.
• I'm still getting to grips with the new software at work, so everything takes me twice as long.

To find it hard to speak or express yourself because you feel nervous or shy.

• Whenever I meet someone I really admire, I get tongue-tied and say something silly.
• Many candidates get tongue-tied at the start of the speaking test, so it helps to practise the first questions.