Dear Epit,
You asked for �Earth Idioms� in English. Here are some.
�What �on earth� are you doing?� = When we add �on earth� to a question, it makes the question EMPHATIC, and usually indicates our surprise, irritation, or amusement.
�How on earth did you climb up there?� asks the Mam, to the child sitting on top of the wardrobe.
�Down-to-earth� = practical, sensible, no-nonsense, dealing with FACTS, not theories.
�She�s a down-to-earth woman. She doesn�t believe in horoscopes, and things like that�.
�To come down to earth� = To abandon �dreams in the sky�, and FACE REALITY.
�When Peter left University, he came down to earth with a bump, because he had to start earning some money�.
�To bring someone down to earth� = To FORCE someone to abandon �dreams in the sky�, and FACE REALITY.
�Peter had some expensive ideas on how to improve the factory, but his new Boss soon brought him down to earth�.
�Like nothing on earth.� (A colloquial expression) = HORRIBLE, awful, terrible. (It is used with verbs such as �to look; to feel; to smell; to taste; to sound).
�Tom, you look like nothing on earth in those red trousers, that green jacket, that Panama hat, and those stupid spotted boots�.
�The salt of the earth� = The BEST people on earth.
�She will do anything, go anywhere, give anything to someone who needs help. She is the salt of the earth.
�To disappear off the face of the earth� = to DISAPPEAR COMPLETELY.
�After University, I didn�t hear anything from my best friend Bill. He just disappeared off the face of the earth�.
�To move heaven and earth� = To do EVERYTHING possible to achieve something.
�I want to be a Pop-star! I�ll do ANYTHING! I�ll move heaven and earth to sing on TV�.
�Heaven on earth� = Something EXTREMELY GOOD.
�My Mother�s food is fantastic! Her fruit cake is heaven on earth!�
�To go to earth/ground� = When someone is being followed, pursued, or stalked, and he/she HIDES in a safe refuge.
�The actor escaped from the journalists by going to earth/ground in a house in the forest.
�To run someone to earth/ground� = After a search, to DISCOVER where the escaped person is hiding.
�The journalists eventually ran the actor to earth/ground in a house in the forest�.
When something costs �the earth� = It was very, very, very EXPENSIVE!
�Oh, darling, this diamond ring is beautiful. You must have paid the earth for it!�
�The four corners of the earth� = EVERY PART of the world.
�The Olympic athletes came to London from the four corners of the earth.�
�Hell on earth� = Something which is VERY UNPLEASANT.
�At school many bullies punched, kicked, and taunted me every day. My life was hell on earth.�
�Not to have an earthly� or �Not to have an earthly chance� = To have NO POSSIBILITY of success.
�He intends to race against Olympic Champions, but he hasn�t trained for it. He won�t have an earthly!� (�He won�t have an earthly chance!�)
�No earthly reason� = NO REASON at all, (usually said in irritation).
�There�s no earthly reason why you should give your boy-friend money. He has an EXCELLENT salary, and YOU are still at College!�
�The scum of the earth� = The VERY WORST type of people.
�The farmer starved and beat his faithful old dog. People like him are the scum of the earth�.
�Follow to the ends of the earth� = To travel as far as it is POSSIBLE to go.
�The wife loved her sailor husband very much. She was willing to follow him to the ends of the earth�.
I hope that these are of use to someone.
Les Douglas
