IDIOMS ABOUT MIND

TO HAVE A MIND LIKE A SIEVE – to have a bad memory, to forget everything easily.

There once lived an absent-minded man on the Swimming Pool Street in London, whose mind was truly like a sieve.

TO HAVE SMTH ON THE TIP OF ONE’S TONGUE – to almost remember smth.

His name is on the tip of my tongue but I can’t quite remember what it is.

OFF THE TOP OF ONE’S HEAD – without thinking hard to remember.

Well, I can't remember his name off the top of my head, so let’s call him Will.

TO BE MILES AWAY – to be unaware of what’s going on around you because you are thinking about smth else.

Will was often miles away and it wasn’t unusual for him to put on someone else’s coat or shoes since he never paid attention to his surroundings.

TO RACK ONE’S BRAIN – to think hard, to make a great effort to remember smth or find a solution.

He had to rack his brain just to remember where he’d left his keys.

TO CROSS ONE’S MIND – to come to one’s head.

Once Will was sitting on the edge of his bed, putting on what he thought was his shirt, when it suddenly crossed his mind that his sleeves were too long.

TO BE OFF ONE’S HEAD – to be weird, insane.

Will looked behind and thought that he was decidedly off his head because he was putting his arms through leg holes in his trousers. That’s how absent-minded was the man from the Swimming Pool street.

TO LOSE THE PLOT – to stop understanding what’s going on, to become confused.

Will worked at a restaurant. One day the chef was trying to explain something to the kitchen workers and by the end of his speech, Will completely lost the plot.

TO BE OUT OF ONE’S MIND – to be crazy, insane.

After the meeting, Will went to the kitchen. He put a hat on his head and left the restaurant. People outside stared at him as though he was out of his mind.

GUT REACTION – immediate unconscious reaction.

When Will noticed their strange looks, his gut reaction was to look in a shop-window to see his reflection; and there it was, his fashionable headwear – a frying pan from the kitchen.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT – smth worth seriously thinking about.

The frying pan incident gave Will food for thought and after that, he tried to keep in mind that he should look in a mirror at least once in a while.

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