All that - Acting self-important or full of oneself.

"She thinks she is all that, but she doesn't know how to dress and is always making a fool out of herself."

As easy as ABC (also, as easy as pie) - Something incredibly easy "With its intuitive interface that anyone can figure out on their own, the new operating system is as easy as ABC."

Bad Seed - Someone who cannot be rehabilitated or makes a lot of trouble. "She tried to raise all her children well, but her youngest turned out to be a bad seed and stays in trouble with the law all the time."

Bookworm - Someone who reads a lot. "With five different library cards, six magazine subscriptions, and a basement full of books, you can say my friend is quite a bookworm."

Brainstorming - Coming up with ideas. "Lets all sit for a brainstorming session and try to come up with a new slogan for the advertising campaign."

Cook the books - To tamper with accounting records by falsifying figures. "The accountant was the girlfriend of someone who was stealing from the company, and she often cooked the books to keep him out of trouble."

Copycat - Someone who does what another does or copies their work. "I tinted the windows of my car first and then you had to do it, so stop being a copycat." "Johnny got a zero on his paper and suspended from school for being a copycat."

Couch potato - Someone who is lazy. They may sit on a couch, eat a lot, and watch television. "My son should be out looking for work, but he is such a couch potato and only wants to play video games while eating junk food.

Dear John letter - A letter written to end a romantic relationship. "Pete was serving in the military for several months when he received the dreaded Dear John letter from his girlfriend back home. She apparently found someone else."

Doctor - To tamper with evidence, to make modifications or adjustments to things. "It was a simple matter of doctoring the records to where nobody knew about the fraud." "I like to doctor my food with salt and pepper before eating it."

Fancy pants - Someone who acts in a manner which others think is overly elaborate or pretentious. "The way she dresses up and carries on, she is quite a fancy pants. She acts like she is all that, and nobody really likes her, let alone knows her."

From the top - From the beginning, something coming from leadership. "Lets all take it from the top and play the piece again. We are almost ready to record it." "Good work ethics start from the top of any company, starting with the upper management."

Full of hot air - Just meaningless words. "I like what the politicians promise, but they are all full of hot air like always."

Get an A for effort - Getting recognition for hard work, even if the person does not succeed. "That song performance was terrible, but I must give the singer an A for effort, particularly since someone attacked and injured her yesterday. Despite the injuries and death threats, she still had the guts to show up and try anyway."

Getting back to basics - Trying what traditionally worked for success in the past, or at least refocusing back to what is important. "We need to start getting back to the basics. It is time to stop trying to push social agendas in our schools and start getting back to teaching students how to read, write, and work math problems."

Go down fighting - To not quit, but continue the struggle until completely defeated. "You may try to run me out of political office, but I promise you, I will go down fighting."

Goof off - Wasting time, or a person who does so. "Because he liked to goof off in class, Jim's grades suffered." "This new guy at work is such a goof off, because all he does is smoke, eat, play games on the computer, talk on the phone, and flirt."

Having one's nose in a book - Reading. "Every time I see her, she always has her nose in a book."

High as a kite (also high as the sky) - quite drugged or intoxicated. "The boss had to send an employee home early because that employee was high as a kite on various drugs and was unfit to work."

Ice someone - To kill. "The gangster said he would ice me if I didn't repay the debt by the end of the week."

In a nutshell - A brief summary. "I have a lot to say about nuclear physics, but in a nutshell, it is about splitting atoms to release incredible amounts of energy to create power or destroy a lot of people and property."

In one's blood - Being born or at least raised a certain way. It could mean either blaming genetics or at least your family legacy. It can refer to things that are born talents, or things that you've made second nature. "My grandfather was a singer, both my parents sing, and I sing, so singing must be in my blood."

Learning by heart - Being able to do or remember something without thinking about it. "It is a complex piece, but I finally learned the song by heart. I can play it in my sleep with a blindfold and without sheet music."

Living in an ivory tower - Not being aware of the realities of life. Living in a protected world, like a college campus. "Those college professors have such lofty ideas because they live in ivory towers."

Not just a pretty face - To not only be attractive, but intelligent as well. "The new lady at work is not just a pretty face, but she has a doctorate degree and is determined to work her way to the top."

Nothing to lose - Being in a bad situation that cannot get any worse, and a person may feel they can attempt nearly anything. "Terrorists tend to live in impoverished areas with only broken dreams, so they have nothing to lose."

Off-campus - Held at a place other than school or college. The term could be used more broadly to refer to a corporate or hospital facility and its grounds. "You need to bring the signed permission slips so you can take the off-campus trip with us."

Old school: Traditional thinking or behavior or things that were popular in the past but less common now. Depending on the context, it can be positive (efficient ideas that work) or negative (backwards, living in the past).

"When the lights went out in the forensics lab, we had to go old school and use a very old microscope to solve a very urgent case." "Old school rap music was much better than a lot of what we have now."

On the house - Free. The "house" refers to the owners of whatever business, and the expenses are "on" them. "Since I'm the bartender here, and since you all played such a wonderful game, drinks for everyone are on the house."

Pipe down - To be quiet, to stop making noise. "You all need to pipe down because I am trying to sleep!"

Play by ear - To be able to play a song after just hearing it, without using sheet music. It can also mean to improvise or to take things as they come. "Pete cannot read music, but he can certainly make the guitar talk just playing by ear." "Our schedule may be disrupted and we may have to leave early, so we will play this meeting by ear and see how it turns out."

Play hooky - Be somewhere else when you are supposed to be in school. It is similar to the military term AWOL - absent without leave. The term might also be used in a workplace situation where there are noshows and unexcused absences. "The boys were supposed to be at school, but they were playing hooky at the lake."

Poker face - A face with no expression nor sign of emotion. It is most commonly used in the context of playing poker because you don't want others to read the cards you have from the look on your face. "Nobody knew it was a joke because the humor was so dry and she had on a poker face."

Pulling one's leg - Trying to trick someone.

"Was the sky really green, or were you just pulling my leg?"

Push comes to shove - When times get bad or when someone feels there is no choice other than to take whatever action. "I am generally an honest person, but if push comes to shove and my family is about to starve, I will shoplift."

Raining cats and dogs - Raining very hard. "It was hard to see the road as I was driving here since it is raining cats and dogs outside."

Rub it in - To make a big deal out of an embarrassing moment or a big favor. "I know I lost my temper last week, but please don't rub it in."

Rub one out - To kill. "If you keep messing with our crew, we will rub you out."

Russian Roulette - A very dangerous game nobody should ever play. It uses a revolver which is loaded with just one bullet. The players pass the gun around and each person places it to their head and pulls the trigger. Eventually, an unlucky player may shoot themselves and most likely die. The term is also used for any situation in which a person takes unnecessary risks and are at the mercy of chance. "Driving in that weather is like playing Russian Roulette." "Having unprotected sex is like playing Russian Roulette. You don't know which time will get you pregnant or give you AIDS, just like you don't know which time the gun will fire."

School of hard knocks - Learning through difficult life experiences. "I may not have a college degree, but I learned a lot just from the school of hard knocks."

Send shivers down your spine - To become frightened, excited, or awed. "Reading about medical mishaps such as mistaken amputations and scalpels left inside patients tends to send shivers down your spine." "The way the ballerina could move so gracefully and flawlessly just sent shivers down the spectators' spines."

Set one's teeth on edge - To make someone nervous or uncomfortable. "Just the sound of fingernails on a chalkboard sets my teeth on edge."

Shoot up - 1. To inject drugs. 2. To grow rapidly. 3. To fire guns and cause property damage. "A former student was arrested for shooting up heroin behind the school." "My grand kids shot up a whole 2 inches since I saw them last!" "In the country and western movie, the outlaws rode into town and shot up the place in retaliation for the hanging of their cousin."

Shooting oneself in the foot - To do something that is self-defeating or which works against what one is trying to do. "Attacking others to win an election is just shooting yourself in the foot, since nobody really likes to vote for people who sink to that level."

Shooting star - Someone who is rapidly rising to fame. "A month ago, nobody heard of her, but now with several new albums and fans that love her, she is quite a shooting star!"

Shot in the arm - Encouragement or support. It can also be used in a sarcastic manner. "The candidate was about to throw in the towel, but the sudden increase in donations were quite a shot in the arm."

Socked in - Unable to travel because of extreme fog. "We were stuck in the airport for several hours because we were socked in."

Star struck - Being totally in awe because of someone's celebrity status. "Meeting Lady Gaga for the first time, Tina was totally star struck, and didn't know what to say."

Talking in circles - Talking a lot and not really say anything of meaning. "While the politicians sound good, they keep talking in circles, never covering what matters to most people."

The world's oldest profession - Prostitution, having sex in exchange for money. "That is not the best part of town to live since there are so many drug dealers and women out doing the world's oldest profession."

Throwing in the towel - To quit, give up, or admit defeat. "With the polling numbers down, no media coverage, and a lack of turnout at the rallies, the candidate decided to throw in the towel."

Top of one's game - Being the best one can be at a given moment. "The former tennis champion has suffered losses for the last three games, but today, she is at the top of her game."

Wolf in disguise (also, wolf in sheep's clothing) - An evil or dangerous person who pretends to be nice or friendly. That comes from an old fable about a wolf dressed as a sheep. "Everyone trusts the new pastor, but with the way he treats people, he is just a wolf in disguise."