To send shivers down one’s spine
to make someone feel very frightened or excited.
The way he looked at me sent shivers down my spine.
Come back to haunt someone.
The consequences of a bad decision to affect one
negatively later.
I never dreamed that a little thing like a traffic ticket
could come back to haunt me years later.
To dig one’s own grave
To be responsible for one’s own downfall or ruin.
If you try to cheat the bank, you will be digging your own
grave.
Scare the pants off someone.
To frighten someone very badly. (Of is usually retained
before pronouns.)
Wow! You nearly scared the pants off me!
Witching hour
With a modern literal meaning of “midnight,” the term
witching hour refers to the time of day and night (12:00 a.m. or
12:00 p.m. is commonly speculated) when creatures such as witches,
demons, and ghosts are thought to appear and to be at their most
powerful and black magic to be most effective.
Skeleton staff
The fewest number of people needed in an office.
We always operate with a skeleton staff over the Christmas
period.
Ghost town
A town permanently abandoned by its inhabitants, as
because of a business decline or because a nearby mine has been
worked out.
I am stuck in this ghost town, all youngsters in this town
have moved to bigger cities for better opportunities.
In cold blood
To act in cold blood is to do something without any emotion
and deliberately.
The victim was shot in cold blood.
Smell a rat
to suspect that something is wrong or something dishonest is happening
He smelled a rat and passed the letter on to the investigation committee.
Witch-hunt
a campaign against a person or group who have different or unpopular views
There was a lot of witch-hunting in the ruling party.
Not a cat in hell’s chance
no chance at all
Jason didn’t have a cat in hell’s chance of winning the race.
I hope you won’t get scared off by our Halloween idioms and expressions.
H A P P Y H A L L O W E E N ! !
