881

take (something) up with (someone)

- to raise and discuss a matter with someone
Our supervisor plans to take the issue of overtime up with the senior managers.

take (something) with a grain of salt

- to not take something that someone has said seriously
You can take everything that our teacher says with a grain of salt.

take steps to (prevent/do something)

- to begin to make plans or arrangements for something, to make preparations for
something
Our company has begun to take steps to stop people from smoking in the office
building.

take stock

- to count items of merchandise or supplies that are in stock, to take inventory
The store will be closed next week while the company is taking stock.

take stock in (something)

- to have faith in something, to believe in something (usually used in the negative)
The woman took no stock in the idea that women could not work as firefighters as
well as men.

take stock of (something)

- to carefully study a situation or a number of possibilities or opportunities
After taking stock of the situation the man decided that it would be difficult to
continue working for the company.





882

take that tack

- to take a course of action or do something that is different from the preceding course
of action
I decided to take that tack when I realized that I was making no progress with my
previous plans.

take the bitter with the sweet

- to accept the bad things along with the good things
You have to take the bitter with the sweet when you are an athlete.

take the bull by the horns

- to take some kind of action
My aunt decided to take the bull by the horns and started to plan the family reunion.

take the cake


- to be the best or the worst
The woman's manners take the cake. They are very bad.

take the day off

- to choose not to go to work for one day
I decided to take the day off because I was not feeling well.

take the edge off (something)

- to lessen/weaken/soften something
We had a drink of hot chocolate to take the edge off the cold weather.







883

take the Fifth

- to hide behind the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution which
guarantees any witness the right not to incriminate himself or herself while testifying
at a trial
The man decided to take the Fifth rather than tell all of the facts at the trial.

take the initiative to (do something)


- to decide to do something although one has not been asked to do it
I decided to take the initiative to organize a dinner for my friend who was leaving to
go to a different university.

take the law into one's own hands

- to attempt to administer the law oneself
The citizens took the law into their own hands when they arrested the man who had
cut down the tree.

take the liberty of (doing something)

- to assume the right to do something
I took the liberty of eating the food that was in my friend's refridgerator.

take the plunge

- to do something decisive (such as getting married)
My friend decided to take the plunge and will get married next year.

take the rap for (someone or something)

- to receive punishment for something, to be accused and punished for something, to
receive punishment in place of someone else
The owner of the restaurant was forced to take the rap over permitting underage
workers to work at night.




884

take the stand

- to go and sit in the witness chair in a courtroom
The star witness will take the stand in the trial tomorrow.

take the starch out of (someone)

- to make someone less arrogant, to make someone tired and weak
The criticism by the teacher took the starch out of the girl who thought that she was
the best in the class.

take the trouble to (do something)

- to make an effort to do something
My grandmother always takes the trouble to phone us on our birthdays.

take the wind out of someone's sails

- to challenge someone's boasting or arrogance
It took the wind out of the man's sails when he lost his job.

take the words out of (someone`s) mouth

- to say something that someone else was going to say
The man took the words out of my mouth when he answered the question.

take time off


- to not work for a period of time
I plan to take time off next week so that I can go to a funeral.

take to one's heels

- to run away
The young boys took to their heels when the man came out of the building.


885

take to (someone or something)

- to like someone or something at first meeting, to be pleased by or attracted to
someone or something, to accept someone or something quickly
The team took to the new coach immediately and did very well during the season.

take to (something)

- to begin the work or job of something, to learn something easily, to do well at
something
The man took to the job of administrator and was a great success.

take to the woods

- to run away and hide
The man decided to take to the woods rather than wait to talk to his angry wife.

take turns (doing something)


- to do something alternately with others
We had to take turns using the dictionary because there was only one.

take umbrage at (something)

- to feel that one has been insulted by something
The man took umbrage at the comments that were directed at him by his supervisor.

take up a collection

- to gather something together, to collect something
We decided to take up a collection in order to get money to repair the old building.







886

take up arms against (someone or something)

- to get ready to fight or make war
The citizens of the small country were not willing to take up arms to try and change
their government.

take up (clothes)

- to make a skirt/dress/pants shorter

I went back to the department store to see if they could take up my suit pants.

take up (something)

- to begin an activity or hobby
My father has much free time lately and has decided to take up fishing as a hobby.

take up (somewhere)

- to begin somewhere, to start somewhere
We took up the lesson where we had finished last week.

take up (space or room)

- to fill a space or room, to occupy space or room
The old chairs are taking up space in the garage.

take up (time)

- to fill/occupy time, to waste someone's time
Building model airplanes takes up most of my friend's time.

take up where one left off

- to start up again in the very place that one has stopped
We will take up where we left off during the next class.


887


take up with (someone)

- to become a friend or companion to someone
My cousin has taken up with a very strange group of people.


.



taken aback

- to be unpleasantly surprised, to be suddenly puzzled/shocked/confused
I was taken aback when the woman said that she did not want to work for our
company any longer.

taken for dead

- to be assumed to be dead
The men in the coal mine were taken for dead after there was no contact for several
days.


talk Idioms


talk a blue streak

- to talk very much and very rapidly
The woman who sat behind me in the airplane talked a blue streak from when I first

sat down.

talk back to (someone)

- to answer someone rudely
The woman is very strict and never allows her children to talk back to her.


888

talk big

- to talk boastfully, to brag
The man is always talking big but nobody believes what he says.

talk down to (someone)

- to use words or ideas that make you seem smarter or better than others
I do not like that woman because she is always talking down to the people around her.

talk in circles

- to talk in a confusing or roundabout manner
Our boss was talking in circles for most of the meeting.

the talk of (somewhere)

- the subject of conversations somewhere
The new theater production is the talk of the city.


talk oneself out

- to talk until one can talk no more
I met my friend at the coffee shop and we talked ourselves out.

talk out (a problem)

- to discuss something until everything is agreed upon, to settle something
We stayed up late last night and talked out the problem.

talk shop

- to talk about things related to one`s work
Everybody at the company gathering decided that they would not talk shop during the
dinner.


889

talk (someone) down in price

- to convince someone to lower the price of something
I was able to talk the man down in price when I was buying the stereo.

talk (someone's) ear

- to speak too much, to talk to someone and bore them
The man beside me in the bank talked my ear off.

talk (someone's) head off


- to speak too much, to talk to someone and bore them
My friend always talks my head off when I meet him.
talk (someone) into (doing something)

- to persuade someone to agree to do something, to persuade someone to do
something
My friend talked her father into lending her the family car.

talk (someone) out of (doing something)

- to persuade someone not to do something, to persuade someone to give something
up
I spent an hour yesterday trying to talk my friend out of quitting his job.
talk (something) over

- to discuss something
"You had better talk over your plans with your parents before you decide what to do."

talk through one`s hat

- to make exaggerated or inaccurate statements about something
The man is always talking through his hat and you never know if you can believe him
or not.


890

talk turkey


- to discuss something seriously
"Now you`re talking turkey. Let`s finish and go home."

talk until one is blue in the face

- to talk until one is exhausted
I talked until I was blue in the face but still my supervisor would not let me take a day
off from work.

talk up (someone or something)

- to speak in favor of someone or something
The manager was talking up the new product during the meeting.


.



to be talked out

- to be tired of talking, to be unable to talk anymore
I was talked out and had little to say for the rest of the dinner party.

tamper with (something)

- to attempt to alter or change something
Someone tampered with the lock on the storage locker room.

tan (someone`s) hide


- to give someone a beating, to spank someone hard
The boy`s mother threatened to tan his hide if he did not behave himself.