CDS English · Idioms and Phrases
Idioms for effort, responsibility and money
Idioms for hard work, taking responsibility, having too much to do, wasted effort, and things that cost a lot or a little.
Why this matters
Work idioms test the amount and kind of effort: hard, wasted, spread too thin, or done in someone else's place. Money idioms nearly always turn on one question, expensive or cheap, so get the direction right and most options fall away.
Concept 1 of 2: Effort and responsibility
Effort idioms ask how much effort, and for what. Hard work (work like a dog, strain every nerve), getting ready for it (roll your sleeves up), too many jobs at once (irons in the fire), wasted effort (tilt at windmills), or standing in for someone (hold the fort).
Definition
The groups:
- Hard work: work like a dog, strain every nerve, roll your sleeves up (get ready for it).
- Responsibility: step up to the plate, hold the fort (take charge while someone is away), look to your laurels (work to keep your position).
- Too much at once: too many irons in the fire, a finger in every pie.
- Wasted or overdone effort: tilt at windmills, make heavy weather of something.
- Method: ways and means.
| Idiom | Meaning | Wrong option to avoid | Asked in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Step up to the plate | Take responsibility; rise to a challenge | Take control | 2018 (I)Q Printed without 'to' in 2018 (I). The full idiom, from baseball, is 'step up to the plate'. |
| Roll your sleeves up | Get ready for hard work | To prepare for wrestling | 2020 (II)Q |
| Strain every nerve | Try as hard as you can | Tried half-heartedly | 2023 (II)Q |
| Work like a dog | Work very hard | To work faithfully | 2026 (I)Q |
| Too many irons in the fire | Too many tasks or plans at once | Involvement in illegal activities | 2023 (II)Q |
| Have a finger in every pie | Be involved in many different activities | To be familiar with the latest developments | 2026 (II)Q |
| Ways and means | Methods of getting something done | Norms and regulations | 2021 (I)Q |
| Hold the fort | Take charge while the person responsible is away | Be present at the moment one is needed | 2026 (I)Q |
| Make heavy weather of something | Make a task seem harder than it is | Complain about rainy weather | 2025 (II)Q |
| Look to your laurels | Work harder to keep your position | To guard one's trophies | 2024 (II)Q |
| Tilt at windmills | Waste effort fighting enemies or problems that are not real | To blow hot air | 2024 (II)Q From the novel Don Quixote, whose hero attacks windmills, thinking they are giants. |
Practice this conceptself-check · 4 quick reps
The same idea in a real exam question:
CDS · 2026 · CDS (I) 2026 — English · Q47Moderate
Example 1 · Idioms and Phrases · Idioms: Work and Money
Directions: Given below are some idioms/phrases followed by four alternative meanings to each. Select the most appropriate response from the options provided and mark your response on the Answer Sheet accordingly.
Hold the fort
Dogs are loyal, but the idiom is about effort
Work like a dog means to work very hard. 'To work faithfully' borrows the dog's loyalty, which is the wrong feature.
Look to your laurels is a warning
Look to your laurels means to work harder so that others do not overtake you. It is not guarding trophies, and it is not praising yourself. Do not confuse it with rest on your laurels (to stop trying because of past success).
Heavy weather is not weather
Make heavy weather of something means to make a task harder than it needs to be. Options about rain, clouds or pollution read the words literally.
Involved, not informed
A finger in every pie means being involved in many activities. 'Being familiar with the most recent developments' is knowing about things, not taking part in them.
Concept 2 of 2: Money and cost
Money idioms ask one question first: very expensive, very cheap, or short of money? Get the direction, then check the detail. A white elephant is costly and useless; a banana republic is poor and badly governed.
Definition
The groups:
- Very expensive: cost an arm and a leg, cost a bomb, big ticket, pay over the odds (pay more than it is worth).
- Very cheap: dirt cheap.
- Short of money: feel the pinch.
- Costly and useless: a white elephant.
- A poor, weakly governed country: a banana republic.
| Idiom | Meaning | Wrong option to avoid | Asked in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost an arm and a leg | Be very expensive | Severe punishment to someone | 2018 (I)Q |
| Cost a bomb | Be very expensive | To be with rich people | 2020 (II)Q |
| Dirt cheap | Extremely cheap | Very cheap person | 2019 (II)Q It describes a price. A 'cheap person' would be a mean one, which is a different idea. |
| Big ticket | Very costly | Very easy | 2021 (I)Q |
| Feel the pinch | Have less money than before and feel the hardship | Being hurt by someone | 2022 (I)Q |
| Pay over the odds | Pay more for something than it is worth | To get dividends for investments | 2023 (I)Q |
| A white elephant | Something that cost a lot but has no useful purpose | Someone completely good and honest | 2023 (I)Q |
| A banana republic | A small, poor country with a weak government | A poor country which produces bananas | 2020 (I)Q |
Practice this conceptself-check · 4 quick reps
The same idea in a real exam question:
CDS · 2022 · CDS (I) 2022 — English · Q28Easy
Example 2 · Idioms and Phrases · Idioms: Work and Money
Directions: choose the correct meaning of the idiom
Feel the pinch
Direction first
For big ticket the options were 'very less', 'very costly', 'very easy' and 'not much'. Fix the direction (a lot of money) and three of them fall at once.
Both halves of the meaning
A white elephant has cost a lot and is of no use. An option with only the cost, or only the uselessness, is incomplete.
A price, not a person
Dirt cheap describes how little something costs. 'Very cheap person' changes it into a remark about someone's character.
Summary — formulas & gotchas at a glance
A revision cheat-sheet for the formulas and gotchas above. Click any concept name to jump back to its full explanation.
Reference tables (2)
Effort and responsibility11 rows
| Idiom | Meaning | Wrong option to avoid | Asked in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Step up to the plate | Take responsibility; rise to a challenge | Take control | 2018 (I)Q Printed without 'to' in 2018 (I). The full idiom, from baseball, is 'step up to the plate'. |
| Roll your sleeves up | Get ready for hard work | To prepare for wrestling | 2020 (II)Q |
| Strain every nerve | Try as hard as you can | Tried half-heartedly | 2023 (II)Q |
| Work like a dog | Work very hard | To work faithfully | 2026 (I)Q |
| Too many irons in the fire | Too many tasks or plans at once | Involvement in illegal activities | 2023 (II)Q |
| Have a finger in every pie | Be involved in many different activities | To be familiar with the latest developments | 2026 (II)Q |
| Ways and means | Methods of getting something done | Norms and regulations | 2021 (I)Q |
| Hold the fort | Take charge while the person responsible is away | Be present at the moment one is needed | 2026 (I)Q |
| Make heavy weather of something | Make a task seem harder than it is | Complain about rainy weather | 2025 (II)Q |
| Look to your laurels | Work harder to keep your position | To guard one's trophies | 2024 (II)Q |
| Tilt at windmills | Waste effort fighting enemies or problems that are not real | To blow hot air | 2024 (II)Q From the novel Don Quixote, whose hero attacks windmills, thinking they are giants. |
Money and cost8 rows
| Idiom | Meaning | Wrong option to avoid | Asked in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost an arm and a leg | Be very expensive | Severe punishment to someone | 2018 (I)Q |
| Cost a bomb | Be very expensive | To be with rich people | 2020 (II)Q |
| Dirt cheap | Extremely cheap | Very cheap person | 2019 (II)Q It describes a price. A 'cheap person' would be a mean one, which is a different idea. |
| Big ticket | Very costly | Very easy | 2021 (I)Q |
| Feel the pinch | Have less money than before and feel the hardship | Being hurt by someone | 2022 (I)Q |
| Pay over the odds | Pay more for something than it is worth | To get dividends for investments | 2023 (I)Q |
| A white elephant | Something that cost a lot but has no useful purpose | Someone completely good and honest | 2023 (I)Q |
| A banana republic | A small, poor country with a weak government | A poor country which produces bananas | 2020 (I)Q |
Watch out for (7)
- Dogs are loyal, but the idiom is about effort→ Effort and responsibility
- Look to your laurels is a warning→ Effort and responsibility
- Heavy weather is not weather→ Effort and responsibility
- Involved, not informed→ Effort and responsibility
- Direction first→ Money and cost
- Both halves of the meaning→ Money and cost
- A price, not a person→ Money and cost
Test yourself on Idioms and Phrases
20 past CDS questions from this chapter, timed at 20 minutes and marked the way the exam marks it. You see your score and every answer the moment you finish. Free to start.