Idioms starting with C

Each card gives the idiom's meaning and one example of it in use. Open one for the Vietnamese expression that comes closest.

16 idioms

Calamity is man's true touchstone
Success and Failure
Hard times show what a person is really made of.
Example: Nobody knew how strong she was until the factory burned down; calamity is man's true touchstone.
Call a spade a spade
Communication and Mind
To speak plainly, without softening the truth.
Example: Let us call a spade a spade: the project failed.
Call it a day
Work and Business
To stop working, because enough has been done.
Example: We've fixed the main bug — let's call it a day.
Carry coals to Newcastle
Work and Business
To take something to a place that already has plenty of it.
Example: Bringing wine to a vineyard is carrying coals to Newcastle.
Cast pearls before swine
People and Relationships
To offer something valuable to someone who cannot appreciate it.
Example: Explaining the poem to that crowd was casting pearls before swine.
Caught red-handed
Success and Failure
Caught in the act of doing something wrong.
Example: He was caught red-handed taking money from the till.
Close but no cigar
Success and Failure
Very nearly right, but not quite.
Example: Your answer was close but no cigar.
Come rain or shine
Time and Life
Whatever happens; no matter what the circumstances.
Example: She walks the dog at six every morning, come rain or shine.
Cost an arm and a leg
Money and Wealth
To be extremely expensive.
Example: That camera cost an arm and a leg.
Cross that bridge when you come to it
Time and Life
To deal with a problem when it actually happens, not before.
Example: There is no point planning for that yet — cross that bridge when you come to it.
Cross your fingers
Time and Life
To hope for good luck.
Example: Cross your fingers that the weather holds.
Cry wolf
Communication and Mind
To raise a false alarm so often that nobody believes you when it is real.
Example: He cried wolf so many times that nobody came when the server really failed.