801

slated for (something)

- to be scheduled for something
The building is slated for demolition at the end of the year.

a slave to (someone or something)

- someone who is under the control of someone or something
My mother is a slave to her desire to watch soap operas on television.

not sleep a wink

- to not get any sleep (used in the negative)
I did not sleep a wink last night.

sleep in

- to oversleep, to sleep late in the morning
I was very tired so I decided to sleep in this morning.

sleep like a log/baby

- to sleep very soundly
I slept like a log last night.

sleep on (something)

- to think about something, to consider something, to decide something later

"I will sleep on the proposal tonight and I will give you an answer tomorrow."

sleep (something) off

- to sleep while the effects of liquor or drugs go away
We spent the evening in a nightclub and I had to spend most of the next day sleeping
it off.


802

sleep with (someone)

- to share a bed with someone
The little girl always sleeps with her mother when they go on a holiday.

slice of the cake

- a share of something
The city tax office wants a slice of the cake in our new business.

slip away/off/out

- to go away or escape quietly or in secret
I slipped away after my class and got something to eat.

a slip of the tongue

- something that is said at the wrong time and is not what you want to say
The clerk's comment to the customer was a slip of the tongue.


slip one`s mind

- to be forgotten
"I am very sorry that I did not meet you last night but our appointment slipped my
mind."

slip out

- to allow a piece of (secret) information to be revealed
It slipped out that the government is planning to close the large downtown hospital.








803

slip through (someone's) fingers

- to get away from someone
My friend had a very good opportunity but it slipped through his fingers because of
his lack of action.

slip up

- to make a mistake

I slipped up when I said that I would be able to go to the meeting next week.

slow as molasses in January

- to be slow
The little girl is as slow as molasses in January and she never gets her work done on
time.

slow down

- to go more slowly than usual, to cause something to reduce speed
You should slow down when you are driving on a wet road.

a slow-down

- a type of work strike where you do not come to a complete stop
The workers had a slow-down at the post office last year.

slow going

- the slow rate of speed and the difficulty to do something
It was slow going as I studied for my mathematics test.







804


slow on the draw

- to be slow in drawing a gun or in doing something
The man is slow on the draw and never takes advantage of opportunities that he sees.

slow on the uptake

- to be slow to figure something out
The new employee is slow on the uptake and we must explain everything to him at
least two times.

slow up

- to cause someone or something to reduce speed
The factory manager decided to slow up production because of problems in the
shipping department.

slower and slower

- to become slow and then become even slower
The speed of the train was becoming slower and slower as it reached the city.

slowly but surely

- slowly and deliberately
Slowly but surely we are preparing for our holiday next month.

sly as a fox


- to be smart and clever
The storeowner is as sly as a fox and you can never make a good deal with him.







805

smack dab in the middle

- right in the middle
There was a small hole smack dab in the middle of the new bathtub.

smack into (someone or something)

- to collide/hit someone or something
The car ran smack into the car in front of it.

small fry

- someone or something of little importance, young children
The police are trying to find the major criminals in the drug trade. They are not
interested in the small fry.

small/wee hours (of the night/morning)

- the hours immediately after midnight

My father likes to read the newspaper in the small hours of the night.

small/fine print

- the part of a document that you cannot easily notice because of the small size of the
print but which often contains very important information
I always read the small print before I sign a sales contract.

small-time

- small, on a small scale
The man is a small-time criminal and is always involved in some kind of trouble.







806

smash hit

- a very successful performance/song/play/movie
Many of the Star War movies were smash hits.

smear campaign (against someone)

- a campaign (of rumors) aimed at damaging someone's reputation
The newspaper ran a smear campaign against the mayor of the city.


smell a rat

- to become suspicious
I do not know what my colleague is doing but something seems strange and I think
that I smell a rat.

smile on (someone or something)

- to be favorable to someone or something
I think that the sky is smiling on the farmers in our area.

smoke and mirrors

- deception and confusion
The accounting department used a system of smoke and mirrors to hide their illegal
activities.

smoke (someone or something) out

- to force someone or something out with smoke
We smoked the rats out of their nests with the black smoke.







807


smoke (something) out

- to find out the facts about something
We finally were able to smoke out the reason why our boss left the company.

smooth (something) over

- to make something better or more pleasant
We tried to smooth over the problems between our boss and the sales staff.

snail`s pace

- a very slow movement forward
The cars on the highway were moving at a snail`s pace.

snake in the grass

- an enemy who pretends to be a friend
"You should be careful of that woman. Although she seems very nice she is like a
snake in the grass."

a snap

- an easy task
The exam was a snap and I am sure that I did very well.

snap at (someone)

- to speak sharply or angrily to someone

The supervisor often snaps at people when he meets them in the morning.

snap out of (something)

- to return to a normal state
The man finally snapped out of his depression and was able to return to work.


808

snap (something) up

- to take/buy/accept something eagerly
The tickets to the concert were snapped up in three hours.

(not to be) sneezed at

- (not) to be worth having, (not) to be considered unimportant (used in the negative or
interrogative)
The new stereo system is not to be sneezed at.
"Do you think that the new offer is something to sneeze at?"

sniff out (someone or something)

- to locate someone or something
The police dog worked hard to sniff out the bank robber.

a snow job

- insincere or exaggerated talk designed to gain the favors of someone

His presentation at the meeting was a snow job.

a snow job

- technical vocabulary that makes you seem like an expert in a field
The salesman tried to give us a snow job when he started to talk about the
specifications of the machine.

snow (someone) under

- to give so much of something that it cannot be dealt with
The extra paperwork snowed me under during the last week.






809

(not a) snowball`s chance in hell

- no chance at all (used in the negative or interrogative or conditional)
We do not have a snowball`s chance in hell of winning the game tomorrow.
"Do you really think that you have a snowball's chance in hell to win the
championship?" If I thought that I had a snowball's chance in hell to get the job I
would apply for it.

so Idioms
a so-and-so


- a person that you do not like
I do not like that so-and-so. His personality really bothers me.

so far

- until now
So far no one has entered the speech contest at the television station.

so far, so good

- until now things have gone well
"So far, so good," she replied when we asked her how her new job was going.

so help me

- I promise, I swear
"So help me, if you do not pay me back my money I will phone your company and
tell them."

so long

- goodbye
"So long, I will see you next week."


810

so mad that one could scream


- very mad
I was so mad that I could scream when the travel agent made a mistake with my
airline ticket.

so much

- a large quantity of something
There was so much rain in the spring that our garden did not grow well.

so much for (someone or something)

- that is the last that you will see of someone or something
So much for going on a holiday this summer. Now I do not have any money.

so much the better

- all to the better
"So much the better, if extra people help us then we can get the work done quickly."

so quiet you can hear a pin drop

- very quiet
It was so quiet you could hear a pin drop when the woman stood up to speak about her
cancer operation.

so-so

- not good and not bad
I was only feeling so-so and decided not to go to a movie tonight.