American's Favorite Expressions--The Natural world

The great American outdoors

• Carry a chip on your shoulder--Be resentful or quick to take offense

(resenful =feeling angry and upset about something that you think is unfair [= bitter], usage--resentful of/about/at etc ADV resenfully N resenfulness)

• Let the chips Fall where they way--Do the right thing without regard to consequences
  

(consequences=something that happens as a result of a particular action or set of conditions,usage--consequence of ,consequence for ,dire/disastrous/serious etc consequences ,with ... consequences ,take/suffer/face the consequences (of something) (=accept the bad results of something you have done) ,as a consequence (of something)/in consequence (of something)formal as a result of something,
of little/no/any etc consequenceformal not very important or valuable
of little/no/any etc consequence to )

(regard=to look upon or think of with a particular feeling,to have or show respect or concern for,to think highly of; esteem,thought; attention; concern.)

• Have more than you can shake a stick at--To be faced with some overwhelming number of objects, too many to be counted
  

(overwhelming(adj)=having such a great effect on you that you feel confused and do not know how to react,very large or greater, more important etc than any other ADJ overwhelmingly)

• Go haywire--Become excited or distracted; go out of control.
  
• Bite the dust--Be wounded or die in action; fail or be defeated.
  

(wouned(adj)=injured by a weapon such as a gun or knife, very upset because of something that someone has said or done, the wounded= people who have been injured, especially in a war)

(defeated(adj)=sad and unable to deal with problems)

• Put an ear to the ground--Proceed cautiously, especially by collecting relevant information before taking action
  
• Blaze a trail--Mark out a path for others to follow; be an innovator
  
• Send smoke signals--Give an indication of your intentions; send an indirect message
  
• Fight fire with fire--Respond in kind to an attack of threat
  
• Hit pay dirt--Find wealth or sucess; Find what you are looking for
  
• Dish (the) dirt--Gossip; make spiteful remarks about someone
  

(spiteful(adj)=deliberately nasty to someone in order to hurt or upset them [= vicious])

• Take a rain check--Postpone an event until a more convenient time.
  
• Feel a draft--Defect hostility
  

(defect(n)=a fault or a lack of something that means that something or someone is not perfect,(V)to leave your own country or group in order to go to or join an opposing one Usage:defect to/from N defector, defection )

(hostility(n)=1.when someone is unfriendly and full of anger towards another person, Usage:hostility towards/between ,hostility toward,open/outright hostility (=hostility that is clearly shown) ,2.strong or angry opposition to something, 3.fighting in a war)

• Be sent up the river--Be sent to prison
  
• Come from the wrong side of the tracks--Socially or economically inferior
  

(inferior(adj)=not good, or not as good as someone or something else [≠ superior],lower in rank [≠ superior], (N)someone who has a lower position or rank than you in an organization)

Behaving like an animal

• See a man about a dog
• Bark up the wrong tree
• Talk turkey
• Go cold turkey
• Live high on the hog
• go (the) whole hog
• Get someone's goat
• Play possum
• Go like a bat out of hell
• Go belly-up