Phrases & Expressions

Too old to do something well, especially a job or a sport.

• Some employers wrongly assume that workers in their fifties are over the hill and unable to learn new skills.
• I'm fifty, but I'm hardly over the hill — I've just started learning the guitar and I love it!

To praise someone or something extremely highly, sometimes more than they deserve.

• The critics praised the film to the skies, but I found it slow and rather predictable.
• Her teachers praised her to the skies, so her parents were surprised when her exam results were only average.

Used humorously to show that a criticism does not apply to the people you are talking to.

• Most people in this industry, present company excepted, have no idea how to use social media properly.
• Teenagers today spend far too much time on their phones, present company excepted.

To promise someone wonderful things that you are very unlikely to be able to give them.

• Some online language courses promise students the earth, claiming they will be fluent within a month.
• The salesman promised us the earth, but the internet connection turned out to be slower than before.

Parents who put too much pressure on their children to succeed, especially at school or in sport.

• Some teachers complain that pushy parents demand higher marks for their children instead of encouraging them to work harder.
• Pushy parents who sign their children up for endless extra classes may be doing more harm than good.

To feel so sure that something will happen that you would be willing to bet on it.

• If you ask me, the new café will close within a year – I'd put good money on it.
• Most analysts would put good money on interest rates staying the same this month.

To be so much better than something else that it seems unimportant by comparison.

• The new phone's camera puts its rivals in the shade, especially for night-time photography.
• The city's new science museum puts the older museums in the shade with its interactive displays and virtual reality rooms.

To meet and spend time socially with important or famous people.

• At the film festival, young directors get the chance to rub shoulders with some of the industry's biggest names.
• Working at the embassy, she regularly rubbed shoulders with politicians, diplomats and business leaders.

To do something meant to help yourself that actually damages your own position.

• The airline scored an own goal with its new baggage fees, which drove thousands of customers to its rivals.
• He scored an own goal by posting angry complaints about his employer online, and was soon fired.

An extremely unpleasant or boring experience (used to exaggerate).

• Sitting through a three-hour meeting with no coffee break was sheer torture.
• For a shy teenager, having to give a speech in front of the whole school is sheer torture.