English Idioms and Idiomatic Expressions 

PLANTS, FLOWERS and TREES, page 2

from:  'shake like a leaf'   to:  'small dog, tall weeds'

• shake like a leaf
  • If you shake like a leaf, you tremble with fear or nervousness.
    "At the beginning of the interview the candidate was shaking like a leaf."
    
    
• turn over a new leaf
  • If a person turns over a new leaf, they decide to change their behaviour and lead a better life.
    "When Ted left prison, he was determined to turn over a new leaf."
    
    
• root and branch
  • If an action is performed thoroughly or completely, it is done 'root and branch'.
    "The causes of the disease must be eliminated root and branch."
    
    
• come up roses
  • If things come up roses, the end result is successful or positive, even if there were difficult times.
    "After several disappointments, everything seems to be coming up roses for the tennis player this year."
    
    
• sow seeds of suspicion
  • If someone's behaviour, or something they say, sows the seeds of suspicion, it leads people to suspect that they are guilty.
    "The fact that the boy spent a lot of money after the burglary sowed the seeds of suspicion in the neigbours' minds."
    
    
• sow wild oats
  • A person, usually a man, who sows their wild oats goes through a period of carefree pleasure-seeking while they are young.
    "He was advised to sow his wild oats before he got married."
    
    
• grasp at straws
  • If you are in a desperate situation and you grasp at straws, you try any method, even if it has little chance of success, in an attempt to find a solution.
    "In his search for a cure, he turned to a faith healer, knowing that he was grasping at straws."
    
    
• thorn in your side
  • If you say that someone is a thorn in your side, you mean that they continually irritate or annoy you.
    "Jane finds her mother-in-law very irritating, a real thorn in her side!"
    
    
• barking up the wrong tree
  • A person who is barking up the wrong tree is doing the wrong thing, because their beliefs or ideas are incorrect or mistaken.
    "The police are barking up the wrong tree if they think Joey stole the car - he can't drive!"
    
    
• can't see the wood for the trees
  • If someone can't see the wood for the trees, they are so concentrated on the details that they can't see the situation as a whole.
    "The new manager found the situation so complicated that he couldn't see the wood for the trees."
    
    
• shrinking violet
  • A person referred to as a shrinking violet is a timid or shy person.
    "The witness was a shrinking violet who had difficulty expressing herself. "
    
    
• small dog, tall weeds
  • This expression is used to refer to someone who does not have the ability or the resources necessary to perform a task.
    "It may be too difficult for the trainee - small dog, tall weeds!"