C

Call a spade a spade
A person who calls a spade a spade is one speaks frankly and makes little or no attempt to conceal their opinions or to spare the feelings of their audience.
Call the shots
If you call the shots, you are in charge and tell people what to do.
Can of worms
If an action can create serious problems, it is opening a can of worms.
Can’t hold a candle
If something can’t hold a candle to something else, it is much worse.
Card up your sleeve
If you have a card up your sleeve, you have a surprise plan or idea that you are keeping back until the time is right.
Carpetbagger
A carpetbagger is an opportunist without any scruples or ethics, or a politician who wants to represent a place they have no connection with.
Carrot and stick
If someone offers a carrot and stick, they offer an incentive to do something combined with the threat of punishment.
Carry the can
If you carry the can, you take the blame for something, even though you didn’t do it or are only partly at fault.
Cash in your chips
If you cash in your chips, you sell something to get what profit you can because you think its value is going to fall. It can also mean ‘to die’.
Cast doubt on
If you make other people not sure about a matter, then you have cast doubt on it.
Cast your mind back
If somebody tells you to cast your mind back on something, they want you to think about something that happened in the past, but which you might not remember very well, and to try to remember as much as possible.
Castles in the air
Plans that are impractical and will never work out are castles in the air.
Cat among the pigeons
If something or someone puts, or sets or lets, the cat among the pigeons, they create a disturbance and cause trouble.
Cat nap
If you have a short sleep during the day, you are cat napping.
Cat’s whiskers
Something excellent is the cat’s whiskers.
Catch as catch can
This means that people should try to get something any way they can.
Chalk and cheese
Things, or people, that are like chalk and cheese are very different and have nothing in common.
Change horses in midstream
If people change horses in midstream, they change plans or leaders when they are in the middle of something, even though it may be very risky to do so.
Charity begins at home
This idiom means that family members are more important than anyone else, and should be the focus of a person’s efforts.
Chase rainbows
If someone chases rainbows, they try to do something that they will never achieve.
Cheap as chips
If something is very inexpensive, it is as cheap as chips.
Cherry pick
If people cherry pick, they choose things that support their position, while ignoring things that contradict it.
Chew the cud
If you chew the cud, you think carefully about something.
Chew the fat
If you chew the fat with someone, you talk at leisure with him.
Chickenfeed
If something is small or unimportant, especially money, it is chickenfeed.
Chinese walls
Chinese walls are regulatory information barriers that aim to stop the flow of information that could be misused, especially in financial corporations.
Chinese whispers
When a story is told from person to person, especially if it is gossip or scandal, it inevitably gets distorted and exaggerated. This process is called Chinese whispers.
Chip off the old block
If someone is a chip off the old block, they closely resemble one or both of the parents in character.
Cigarette paper
If you cannot get or put a cigarette paper between people, they are so closely bonded that nothing will separate them or their positions on issues.
Clapham omnibus
The man on the Clapham omnibus is the ordinary man in the street.
Clean as a whistle
If something is as clean as a whistle, it is extremely clean, spotless. It can also be used to mean ‘completely’, though this meaning is less common nowadays.
Clean bill of health
If something or someone has a clean bill of health, then there’s nothing wrong; everything’s fine.
Clean slate
If you start something with a clean slate, then nothing bad from your past is taken into account.
Clear as mud
If something is as clear as mud, then it is very confusing and unclear.
Cliffhanger
If something like a sports match or an election is a cliffhanger, then the result is so close that it cannot be predicted and will only be known at the very end.
Close but no cigar
If you are close but no cigar, you are close to success, but have not got there.
Close call
If the result of something is a close call, it is almost impossible to distinguish between the parties involved and to say who has won or whatever.
Close the stable door after the horse has bolted
If people try to fix something after the problem has occurred, they are trying to close the stable door after the horse has bolted.
Closed book to me
If a subject is a closed book to you, it is something that you don’t understand or know anything about.
Cloud cuckoo land
If someone has ideas or plans that are completely unrealistic, they are living on cloud cuckoo land.
Cloud nine
If you are on cloud nine, you are extremely happy.
Cloud of suspicion
If a cloud of suspicion hangs over an individual, it means that they are not believed or are distrusted.
Cloud on the horizon
If you can see a problem ahead, you can call it a cloud on the horizon.
Clutch at straws
If someone is in serious trouble and tries anything to help them, even though their chances of success are probably nil, they are clutching at straws.
Coals to Newcastle
Taking, bringing, or carrying coals to Newcastle is doing something that is completely unnecessary.
Cock and bull story
A cock and bull story is a lie someone tells that is completely unbelievable.
Cold feet
If you get cold feet about something, you lose the courage to do it.
Cold fish
A cold fish is a person who doesn’t show how they feel.
Cold light of day
If you see things in the cold light of day, you see them as they really are, not as you might want them to be.
Cold sweat
If something brings you out in a cold sweat, it frightens you a lot.
Cold turkey
If someone suddenly stops taking drugs, instead of slowly cutting down, they do cold turkey.
Collateral damage
Accidental or unintended damage or casualties are collateral damage.
Collect dust
If something is collecting dust, it isn’t being used any more.
Come a cropper
Someone whose actions or lifestyle will inevitably result in trouble is going to come a cropper.
Come clean
If someone comes clean about something, they admit to deceit or wrongdoing.
Come hell or high water
If someone says they’ll do something come hell or high water, they mean that nothing will stop them, no matter what happens.
Come rain or shine
If I say I’ll be at a place come rain or shine, I mean that I can be relied on to turn up; nothing, not even the vagaries of weather, will deter me or stop me from being there.
Come to grips
If you come to grips with a problem or issue, you face up to it and deal with it.
Come what may
If you’re prepared to do something come what may, it means that nothing will stop or distract you, no matter how hard or difficult it becomes.
Comfort zone
It is the temperature range in which the body doesn’t shiver or sweat, but has an idiomatic sense of a place where people feel comfortable, where they can avoid the worries of the world. It can be physical or mental.
Constitution of an ox
If someone has the constitution of an ox, they are less affected than most people by things like tiredness, illness, alcohol, etc.
Cook someone’s goose
If you cook someone’s goose, you ruin his plans.
Cook up a storm
If someone cooks up a storm, they cause a big fuss or generate a lot of talk about something.
Corner a market
If a business is dominant in an area and unlikely to be challenged by other companies, it has cornered the market.
Couch potato
A couch potato is an extremely idle or lazy person who chooses to spend most of their leisure time horizontal in front of the TV and eats a diet that is mainly junk food.
Could eat a horse
If you are very hungry, you could eat a horse.
Crash a party
If you crash a party, or are a gatecrasher, you go somewhere you haven’t been invited to.
Cream of the crop
The cream of the crop is the best there is.
Crocodile tears
If someone cries crocodile tears, they pretend to be upset or affected by something.
Cross to bear
If someone has a cross to bear, they have a heavy burden of responsibility or a problem that they alone must cope with.
Cry wolf
If someone cries wolf, they raise a false alarm about something.
Cry your eyes out
If you cry your eyes out, you cry uncontrollably.
Cry-baby
A cry-baby is a person who gets emotional and cries too easily.
Curate’s egg
If something is a bit of a curate’s egg, it is only good in parts.
Curiosity killed the cat
As cats are naturally curious animals, we use this expression to suggest to people that excessive curiosity is not necessarily a good thing, especially where it is not their business.
Curve ball
If something is a curve ball, it is deceptive.
Cut and dried
If something is cut and dried, then everything has already been decided and, in the case of an opinion, might be a little stale and predictable.
Cut down the tall poppies
If people cut down the tall poppies, they criticise people who stand out from the crowd.
Cut it fine
If you cut it fine, you only just manage to do something at the very last moment. ‘Cut things fine’ is the same. ‘Cut it a bit fine’ is a common variation.
Cut off your nose to spite your face
If you cut off your nose to spite your face, you do something rash or silly that ends up making things worse for you, often because you are angry or upset.
Cut the Gordian knot
If some cuts the Gordian knot, they solve a very complex problem in a simple way.
Cut the mustard
If somebody or something doesn’t cut the mustard, they fail or it fails to reach the required standard.
Cut to the chase
If you cut to the chase, you get to the point, or the most interesting or important part of something without delay.
Cut to the quick
If someone’s cut to the quick by something, they are very hurt and upset indeed.
Cut your teeth on
The place where you gain your early experience is where you cut your teeth.
Cutting edge
Something that is cutting edge is at the forefront of progress in its area.