Every Saturday I’ll give you a couple of idioms to learn. An idiom is a saying or phrase whose meaning cannot be taken from the literal meanings of the words. I thought I’d start off with some animal idioms.
one’s bark is worse than one’s bite: What one says is worse than what one actually does.
Don’t be concerned about that teacher – his bark is much worse than his bite. He always threatens to give tough tests, but as long as you keep up with the homework, you’ll do fine.
bet on the wrong horse: To bet on the wrong horse is to misjudge the outcome of an election, etc.
Tom let his personal feelings cloud his thinking when he supported Bob for student council president. Bob is a good friend, but Tom just bet on the wrong horse.