Popular Idioms with their Meanings and their use in Sentences

                           
                  Definition of Idiom

An Idiom is a word or phrase which means something different from it's literal meaning. Idioms are common phrases or terms whose meaning is changed, but can be understood by their popular use.
 
     Twenty One Most Popular Idioms with Meanings and Examples
                                   
                               Best of Both Worlds
Meaning and Sentence of the idiom 'best of both worlds'
Meaning- A situation where one can enjoy the benefits of two very                           different things or opportunities at the same time.
Sentence- Every weekend Mohit comes to his home from the                                boarding school, Mohit is really lucky to have the best                                of both  worlds.
 
                 Every Cloud Has A Silver Lining


'Every cloud has a silver lining' idiom's meaning and sentence
 Meaning- Be optimistic; every bad situation has some good aspect to it.
                     
     Sentence- My former boss was rude to me, I learned to deal with rude people while working with him I  think that " every cloud has a silver lining".                                                                            

               Killing Two Birds with One Stone


Meaning and sentence of the idiom' killing two birds with one stone'

Meaning-To Achieve two goals with one action.
Sentence- I killed two birds with one stone as I watched a movie                         last Sunday and after that also visited my friend                                        who lives near the movie theatre.
                     
                              Caught Red Handed
                                                                               
 Meaning and Sentence of the idiom 'Caught Red Handed'
 Meaning- Catching somebody in the act of doing something                                 wrong. 
Sentence-The shop keeper caught a shoplifter red handed when                            he was trying to steal goods from his shop.
                                   
                       Go The Extra Mile                                     
Meaning and sentence of the idiom ' Go the extra mile'
Meaning-To make extra effort to get it done.
Sentence- Sara is going the extra mile to get good marks in her                                annual exams.
                   
                  Birds of a Feather Flock Together
               
Meaning and sentence of the idiom 'Birds of a feather flock together'
Meaning-People of same type or having same interests generally                         spend time together.              
Sentence- Ali and Rohan are very good in studies and they both                             have interest in sports too. No wonder they hang out                                together most of the time like the birds of a feather flock        together.                          
                   
                         To hit the nail on the head  
                                                                         
                                      Meaning and Sentence of the idiom 'Hit the nail on the head'
Meaning- To describe a  situation exactly, especially a problem or                             a solution.                          
 Sentence- Prime minister hit the nail on the head when he                                    launched a scheme to save and educate the girl child.
                   
                                   To break the ice                                                                           
Meaning and sentence of the idiom 'To break the ice'
Meaning-  To get over the difficulties in starting a conversation                                  with someone.
Sentence- He tried to break the ice by asking her about her                                     favorite hobbies.
                               
                                  Fingers Crossed         

                                                       
 Meaning and Sentence of the idiom'Fingers crossed'


Meaning- To hope or wish for good luck.
Sentence- Hope you win the competition, I am keeping my fingers crossed. 
                       
             Action Speaks Louder than words                     
                                                      Meaning and Sentence of the idiom ' Action speaks louder than words'
Meaning- It is better to act rather than speak about your intentions and                       feelings.
Sentence-Reema really cares for her mother, she helps her in the                      household activities, after all action speaks louder than words.                        
                     
                The Ball is in Your Court

                                        
                  Meaning and Sentence of the idiom 'The ball is in your court'                            
 Meaning- It is up to someone to make the next decision or take a                            step.
Sentence- I have kept my point of view on this issue, now the ball                            is in your court.                                        
                                  
                                Crocodile Tears   
              Meaning and sentence of the idiom ' Crocodile tears'
 Meaning- Pretending feeling sad or upset when you do not really                            feel that way.
 Sentence- Sometimes she sheds crocodile tears to take the                                              attention of her parents.
                                       
                             White Lie
                   
                    Meaning and sentence of the the idiom 'White lie'
 Meaning- Telling a lie about when you don't want to hurt                                        somebody's feeling.
 Sentence-Maria told a white lie to her brother that she was not                         angry with him though she was not happy about what                        he had done.
                            
                      Every Coin Has Two Sides
                               

                           Meaning and sentence of the idiom 'Every coin has two sides'   Meaning- There are two sides of everything, one is positive and                                one is negative.
 Sentence- Globalisation is good for mankind but just as we                                      know that every coin has two sides, it has brought                            some bad effects too. 
                           
                                    Have A Blast                         

                 Meaning and Sentence of the idiom 'Have a blast'
Meaning- To have a great time and lots of fun
Sentence- "Have a blast!Hope you enjoy the picnic.",daddy said to the little kids.
             
 The Grass is Always Greener on the Other Side           
           
Meaning and sentence of the Idiom'The grass is always greener on the other side'
 Meaning- A place or a situation that is far away or different seems better than one's present situation. 
 sentence- Sometimes I think that it will be good for me if quit my job and start a business,well the grass is always greener on the other side.
                                              
                                      On Cloud Nine
                                                                                              

Meaning and sentence of the Idiom 'On cloud nine'
   Meaning- To be extremely happy                      
   Sentence- My daughter got admission in her favorite college,she is on cloud nine these days.              

                                         The icing on the cake
       
                  Meaning and sentence of the idiom' The icing on the cake'  
Meaning- Something really good that makes a good situation even                          better.
Sentence- The food was awesome and prices were reasonable.                     Moreover they served us a free dessert,that was definitely                       the icing on the cake.
         
                                  
                                       Bed of Roses         
                  
                                                                 Meaning and sentence of the idiom' Bed of roses'
     Meaning- A pleasant and easy situation.
Sentence- Do you think that a house wife's job is a bed of roses?
                             
                         Make A long Story Short

                                                     
 Meaning and Sentence of the idiom'Make a long story short'

Meaning- To speak to the point leaving the details out, telling what                          you are saying in a shorter way.
Sentence-  To Make a long story short, I really had a great day.                             
                                   Eat Like a Horse
                                                         
 Meaning and Sentence of the idiom 'Eat like a horse'
Meaning- To eat a lot of food
 Sentence-  I am so hungry, I am going to eat like a horse tonight.   
                                      
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All That Glitters is Not Gold ( Moral Story)

A camel herder taking care of his camel

In a beautiful desert there lived a camel herder in a village. He had a herd of camels.The camel herder was a kind man and he looked after the camels very well. There was a camel in the herd who was very beautiful and had a red spot on his head which made him look different from other camels. He was the favorite of his master too.
 The red headed camel was very popular among the people of the village. They called him''The camel with red head.'' 

There was a city near that village. Everyday  the camel used to pass by that city with his camels to reach his home from workplace. Each time the camel with red head saw the fast moving colorful vehicles,the wide roads and high buildings of the city he got so fascinated by the city's vibrance. One evening, when they returned home from that way, the camel got thrilled again on seeing the bright colorful lights of the city. 

''What a lovely and exciting place.The city looks so beautiful from here. How good it would be if I go to the city and see it by  myself.",the camel thought.

One Day when the camel herder was passing by the city with the camels, the camel with red head escaped from there and reached the city. 
He entered the city with great excitement. 

The city was crowded with lots of people and there were vehicles on the road everywhere. The atmosphere there was noisy, filthy and smoky.The camel who lived in the peaceful climate of the desert got so confused and scared to see all this.He remained standing in a corner.
Some people saw him,they caught the camel and one of them gifted the camel to his friend who was a stable owner.

There were all horses in the stable.The camel felt so lonely there.He missed his friends a lot.  

Every day the camel's new master gave him hey and dry grains to eat which he didn't like at all. He missed the delicious dates, oats and wheat  that his old master used to give him in the desert.

He missed the soft under his feet sandy ground of desert whenever he walked.

The camel couldn't  adapt to his new life. He missed each and every thing of his past life.

 He cursed himself for leaving the desert and coming to the city. He always felt sad and gloomy. The red headed camel stopped eating anything and became so week and idle, he kept crying all the time. 

A sad camel is crying, tears are falling

Fortunately one day a man came there to meet the stable owner. That man was from the same village where the camel used to live.
The villager recognized the camel by the red spot on his head.''Oh! That is the camel with red head,that's my friend's camel!"

"How did you find him?" , he asked the stable owner.

The stable owner told him how he got the camel and said that the camel was of no use to him and he doesn't want to keep him any more.'' 
''You can take the camel to his master, he is not happy here.'', the stable owner said to his guest.

The man went near the camel and caressed the camel's head. Camel also recognized the man from his village and grunted happily. 
The villager took the camel with him to the village where it's master lived.The camel's master became so glad to find his lost camel.
The camel was so happy and relieved to get his old life back. He had gone through a bad phase of life but he learnt a valuable lesson that- 'All that Glitters is not Gold'

                 
                        Gold coins with the caption ''All That Glitters is not Gold ''  
                                                             Story Written By-Aunt Mary

My School Essay- A short and Easy Essay for Kids

My School Essay- A short and easy essay for kids

School is a very important place. It is like a temple where we seek knowledge. My school is located at a peaceful place in the city. The building of my school is quite large and is surrounded by beautiful green trees. We also have a library and a big playground in our school. The atmosphere of my school is happy and positive .The teachers are always helpful and supportive.They educate us with great care  and tell us how we can keep discipline in our life. We also learn moral values in the school. Many  kinds of activities and programmes are held in the school every year. I like the sports day most among all these activities. I have many good friends in the school. We play and have lunch together. I love my school and I enjoy studying there.  

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Five Easy and simple Science Experiments For Kids


Science Activities are not only fun to do but they also help children to learn different concepts of science in an easy way.Children explore and understand new aspects of science through science experiments. Here are five easy and  simple science activities for  kids of all ages. Kids can perform these  activities at their home or at school. 
Note- Adult supervision is must for all these experiments

 'Pencil is in the plastic bag with water'

Pencil in the Plastic Bag with Water-This is a very simple and easy science activity that can be done with a plastic bag and and a pencil

Things you need-  1. A well sharpened pencil
                               2. A  plastic bag
                               3. Water

 What to do ? - Fill the bag with water about three quarters and seal it well.  Ask someone to hold the bag. Now very carefully and gently stick the pointed end of pencil through one side of the bag and push the pencil in until it starts coming out of the other side of the bag as well.

What do you see? You will see that no water leaks out from the bag.

How does it happen? The plastic bags is made up of polymer and polymers have long chains of flexible molecules.When you stick a pencil in the bag these flexible molecule chains create a seal around the pencil and that's why the water doesn't leak out.

Roll a Can with Balloon- Yes! You can make a balloon roll with the help of a balloon by creating static electricity.

A balloon and a rolling can



Things you need- 1. An empty and dry cola can
                              2. One inflated balloon
                              3. A head full with hair 

What to do? - Place the can on a flat and smooth surface like a table or floor.Hold the inflated balloon in your hand and rub it back and forth on your hair really fast for sometime to charge the balloon.If the balloon is charged enough your hair will stick to it as you move it away from your head. Now keep the balloon close to the can without touching it. Now slowly move the balloon away from the can.

 What do you see? -You will see that the can starts rolling  and follows the balloon. 

How does it happen- This happens because of Static Electricity. When you rub the balloon on your hair, the negative charges from the hair are transferred to the balloon and the balloon becomes negatively charged. The can contains both positive and negative charges, so when you bring the balloon close to the can the positive charges of the can attract to the negative charges of the balloon and that is why the can starts rolling toward the balloon. 

Make A String Phone With Plastic Cups- A string phone may be old fashioned but it's great fun to talk and hear with it.You will surely enjoy this simple experiment.

                                                         
A  string phone made from two plastic cups ,string and toothpicks


                      
  Things you need- 1. Two plastic cups
                                 2. 10 feet cotton thread or kite string
                                 3. Two  toothpicks 
                                 4. A sharpened pencil to poke the holes 

What to do- Make a hole at the bottom of each cup with the pencil. You can ask your parents or teacher to help you with this. Now tie one toothpick to one end of the string and thread the loose end of the string through the hole of one of the cups from inside of it. Now take the other cup and thread the string through it's hole from the outside of the cup. Tie the second toothpick to the end of the string  inside of the cup. Now both the toothpicks are inside both of the cups. Now your phone is ready to use. Hold one cup yourself and give the other cup to your friend. Slowly and carefully walk apart until the string becomes tight and straight.Now one person has to place the one cup over his/her ear and the second person has to talk into the other cup.

What do you find? - You can talk to and hear each other with the help of your string phone.

How does it happen? -  When a person speaks into one cup, the bottom of the cup vibrates and the sound waves occur and these sound waves or vibrations travel through the string and reach into the bottom of other person's cup,which makes the air inside of that cup vibrate and a detectable sound is produced.

Blow up a Balloon With Hot Water- Blowing up a balloon with hot water is a fun experiment, so let's see that how does it happen.


The image describing the activity of blowing up a balloon with hot water



Things you need- 1. A plastic bottle 
                               2.A Balloon
                               3. A pot filled with hot water

Note-This activity should be done by an adult to show the kids because water used for this activity is pretty hot so do it 
carefully.

What to do? - Put the balloon on the top of the bottle. Now put the bottle in the pot of hot water and hold it there. 

What do you see? -You will see that almost instantly the balloon blows up.The balloon does not blow up very big but it expands. 

How does it happen? - When you stick the bottle in the hot water the hot water heats up the air in the bottle and the warm air rises up. The air rises up because the molecules in the air are heated up and spread up becoming less dense and lighter. So the air in the bottle expands and takes up the space in the balloon and the balloon inflates.


Make a Hovercraft With a Balloon-Making a hovercraft with balloon is a very easy and enjoyable activity for kids.So let's make our own hovercraft.
A balloon hovercraft made with the help of a CD, bottle cap and balloon


Things you need- 1. A balloon
                               2. A CD
                               3. A valve type cap of sports bottle 
                               4. glue

What to do- Close the cap and stick it firmly on the hole in the centre of the CD with the help of  glue. Let the cap set. Keep in mind that the edges should be sealed completely. Blow up a balloon and stretch the neck of the balloon over the pop-top cap. The balloon should stand up straight. Place the hover craft on a smooth surface like a table and pop the top open. Push the hover draft and see it moving.
How does it happen- The  air flow produced by the balloon creates a cushion of flowing air between the CD and the surface.This helps the Cd to lift up and reduces the friction, and because of that the CD starts hovering easily.

So these are some easy science activities that kids can  do easily at home or school with the help of their parents or teacher. 
                                                                                         -Aunt Mary    
                                                                  
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Ali Baba And The Forty Thieves ( Folktale from Arabian Nights)

Alibaba is hiding on the tree

This is the story of a poor woodcutter named Alibaba.He lived in the land of Arabia.Alibaba was simple and hard working man.
One day when Ali Baba was cutting the wood in the forest he heard  the sound of running horses. The sound came near and near. Ali Baba thought that there must be a group of robbers, he climbed up a tree and hid himself behind the leaves.
His suspicion was right, it was a group of thieves who were forty in number and each of them had bags with them which were supposedly filled with stolen goods . They stopped near a cave.The captain of the thieves stood  in front of the door of the cave.

Captain of the thieves standing in front of the cave

''Open Sim Sim'' , he said in a loud voice.The door opened and the thieves went into the cave with their bags.
Ali Baba was astonished to see all of this, he couldn't believe his eyes. He stayed there to see what would happen next. 
At Last the thieves came out, this time the captain of the thieves said, ''Close Sim Sim'' and the door got shut.
When the thieves got away from there , Ali Baba came down and said ''Open Sim Sim'' standing in front of the cave. The door opened and Ali Baba entered the cave.
There in the cave was a big treasure of  gold,silver, pearls and diamonds.Which the thieves had stolen and collected there.
Ali Baba took a bag full of gold coins and came out from the cave. He made the cave's door shut by saying 'Close Sim Sim' and left the place.
 Ali Baba's wife became so happy to see the bag full of gold coins   when he reached home. Ali Baba asked his wife to go to his brother's home and borrow scales from his sister in law to weigh the coins. 

Ali Baba's Brother Qasim and his wife

Ali Baba's brother Qasim was a wealthy but cunning and greedy man. His wife was just like her husband. She put a blob of wax in the scales to find out what Ali Baba and his wife were going to weigh with the scales.
When Ali Baba's wife returned the scales, Qasim's wife found a gold coin sticking to the scales and she told her husband about that.
Under pressure from his brother, Ali Baba was forced to reveal the secret of the cave.
Next day Qasim himself went into the cave to take as much wealth as possible. In the excitement of getting the treasure he forgot the magic words and failed to open the door of the cave.The thieves found him in the cave and they killed him.
When Qasim did not return home his wife asked Ali Baba to get him back.Ali Baba found his brother's dead body cut into many pieces at the door of the cave.He brought his body home. Everybody  got struck with grief.
There was an intelligent slave girl Morgiana from Qasim's household. Alibaba entrusted Morgiana with the task of making others believe that Qasim died a natural death.

Morgiana with old tailor Baba Mustafa

Morgiana knew an old tailor who was expert in stitching, his name was Baba Mustafa.She offered him a good number of gold coins for stitching a dead body. Baba Mustafa agreed, Morgiana led him to Qasim's house with a blindfold over his eyes.There he stitched the pieces of Qasim's body back together. 
Ali Baba and his family gave Qasim a proper burial without anyone knowing that what had happened with Qasim. Ali Baba did not want to leave his brother's family alone in this difficult time so he and his family moved into Qasim's house to look after his late brother's family and his business. 

On the other hand, the captain of thieves realized that there must be another person who knows the secret of cave when he found the dead body gone.
He sent one of the thieves to the town to track that person down. 

There in the town that thief came across the tailor Baba Mustafa. He became friendly with the tailor. While talking with him Baba Mustafa mentioned that he has just stiched a man's dead body back together.
The thief offered him some gold coins if Baba Mustafa would lead him to that house where he stitched the body.
The tailor was blindfolded again and managed to retrace his steps and found the house.The thief marked the door with a symbol so that when he come back with other thieves at night he would be able to recognize the house and kill everyone in the house.

The clever girl Morgiana noticed that symbol and made the similar marks on the door of other houses too.In the night the thieves came and could not identify the correct house. Now the captain of thieves himself went into the town and and memorized every single detail of the house.
 The captain went to that house pretending to be an oil merchant who wanted to make a business deal with Ali Baba. He brought mules with him loaded with oil containers, one filled with oil and in the others, thieves were hiding with weapons.Their aim was to kill each person in the house.The captain of thieves requested Ali Baba  to let him stay in his house for one night as he was very tired from his long journey.Kind hearted Ali Baba allowed him to stay there.
                             
                             Captain talking to the thieves who are hiding in the oil containers
At night the captain was discussing the plan of killing the family with other thieves, Morgiana heard them talking.Later in the night, Morgiana killed all the thieves in their jars by pouring hot,boiling oil on them.

Morgiana pouring hot oil on thieves
                                                                          
  The captain managed to escape from there.Ali Baba was so impressed with the loyalty and bravery of Morgiana, he set her free and let her stay in the house as a family member. 
After a few months in order to take his revenge, the leader of thieves established himself as a diamond merchant.He befriended Ali Baba's son who was now taking care of Qasim's buisness. Ali Baba's son invited him home for the dinner.However the thief was recognized by Morgiana. She performed a sword dance and killed the thief with her sword. At first Ali Baba got angry with Morgiana for what she had done, but when he came to know the truth he was extremely grateful and rewarded Morigana by marrying her to his son.
Now only Ali Baba knew the secret of the  treasure in the cave and he decided that he would use the treasure for the welfare of poor and needy people of his town.     
                                                                        Arabian Folktale 
                                                         Re-told by-Aunt Mary

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