Phrase List: Nature
phrases and idioms to try to include in your poem/story
A drop in the ocean - an amount that is so small that it does not make an important difference or have much effect
Ask for the moon - to ask for something that is very difficult or impossible to get
Bark up the wrong tree - to promote or follow a mistaken course
Cast a (dark) cloud - to cause people to stop trusting something
Cloud nine - a feeling of well-being or elation—usually used with on
Cloud on the horizon - a problem that could appear in the future
Cloud someone's judgment - to cause someone to be unable to think clearly
Come into flower - to begin to produce flowers; to bloom—sometimes used figuratively to indicate something is developing
Every cloud has a silver lining - used to say that every bad situation holds the possibility of something good
In the flower of one's youth - when one is young
Moon over - to spend too much time thinking about or looking at (someone or something that one admires or wants very much)
Out of one's tree - mentally unsound—usually used informally in an exaggerated way
Pie in the sky - an unrealistic enterprise or prospect of prosperity
Promise (someone) the stars/moon/earth/world - to promise (someone) that one will do or give something great or wonderful even though it is not possible
Shoot the breeze - to converse idly; gossip
Star-crossed - not favored by the stars; ill-fated
Take to the sky/skies - to begin flying
The salt of the earth - a very good and honest person or group of people
The sky's the limit - used to say that there are no limits and that anything is possible
Throw/fling/cast caution to the wind - to stop being careful and do something that is dangerous or that might result in failure
Turn over a new leaf - to make a change for the better especially in one's way of living
Twist in the wind - to be left to face a difficult situation without support or help
Under a cloud of suspicion - believed by others to have done something wrong
Up a gum tree - in a very difficult situation that one cannot get out of
Which way the wind is blowing - what opinions are popular at a given time
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