Meaning: afflatus

n.
a strong creative impulse; divine inspiration

fla Idiom, Proverb

a flash in the pan

a person who does superior work at first I'm looking for a steady worker, not a flash in the pan.

caught flatfooted

not ready to respond, mind in neutral Esposito was caught flatfooted by Lemaire's slapshot - an easy goal!

fall flat

be unsuccessful, fail I think that my attempt at humor fell flat and now she doesn

flag a cab

wave at a cab driver to come, hail a cab The bus was late, so we flagged a taxi that was going by.

flake

phony, not real The salesman was a flake. What he said was phony.

flake out

lie down and sleep, conk out Grant flaked out on the couch after lunch. He was really tired.

flap your gums

talk, speak, gab Don't just stand there flapping your gums. Help with supper.

flare up

become suddenly angry, begin again suddenly The fighting flared up again after the United Nations soldiers left the town.

flash a smile

smile at someone for only a second Andy flashed a smile at me when the teacher asked to see his work.

flash in the pan

(See a flash in the pan)

flat

not motivated, lacking energy, not up for it In the second game, the team was flat. They lacked energy.

flat broke

having no money, out of cash By the end of my first term at university, I was flat broke.

flat out

as fast as possible, pedal to the metal Scott was driving flat out most of the way - over 180 km per hour.

flatfoot

policeman, a constable who walks the streets Ted is a flatfoot in Regina. He works for Regina City Police.

flatfooted

(See caught flatfooted)

flatliner

a person whose emotions do not change The doctor is a flatliner. His face shows no joy, no sorrow.

flattery will get you nowhere

saying nice things will not help you, kiss the blarney stone "When I complimented Anna on her hair, she said, ""Thanks, but flattery will get you nowhere."""

give you flack

tell you what you did wrong, criticize you He gave me flack for smoking in his car. The smell bothers him.

go up in smoke/flames

burn or be destroyed by fire, fail, not come true (dreams) His plans to open a new restaurant have gone up in smoke since he lost his job.

have a flat

have a hole in a tire, have a flat tire If you have a flat, phone a service station for help.

in a flap

worried or upset, in a hurry Kate is in a flap again. Her dog is sick.

in a flash

very quickly, in no time If you're in trouble, Superman will be there in a flash.

in nothing flat

quickly I will have this information printed out for you in nothing flat.

knock flat

knock down, knock over The flag pole was knocked flat - hit by a truck.

old flame

a former lover, an old sweetheart In Toronto, I met an old flame. We were lovers many years ago.

take the flack

listen to the complaints, take the heat When children cause trouble, their parents take the flack.

all up in da kooldid and don't kno da flava!

when someone is intrusive about something that is none of their business and about which they know nothing:

chronic flakes

ashes from a marijuana cigarette

cracking the flags

raining heavily

drop the flag

to quit the gang

flag

handkerchief in the color of the gang

flamboast

to show off in a manner of actually flashing material items in the faces of other individuals

flamin'

refers to a flamboyant gay person

flaming Nora

an exclamation of surprise or annoyance. see ruddy-Nora.

flava

1. flavour
2. Flavor Flav, Chuck D's right hand man in Public Enemy

Flavavision

the glasses of PE's Flavor

flawsin'

to show off

flay

"flay on the mix", serious old school mixing and scratching

flame out

1．burst out in flames；flare out突然冒出火焰；闪亮；突然闪耀
The fire flamed out instantly．火立刻烧了起来。
A beacon flamed out against the night sky．灯塔在夜空下闪闪发光。
2． break out into anger勃然大怒
You need not flame out so much．你不必这样大发雷霆。
His anger flamed out at the sight．见此情景，他勃然大怒。

flame up

1． 2．＝flame out 3．blush violently；glow面孔发红
The girl was so shy that she would flame up when she saw a stranger．这女孩很害羞，见到陌生人脸就红。
Colour flamed up in her cheeks．她面颊发红了。

flash back

return or revert briefly to an earlier point in the story倒叙；闪回故事中的某一主要情节
The film suddenly flashed back to the hero's youth．电影突然闪回到了男主角的青年时代。

flash forward

move briefly to a later point in a story提前叙述故事情节
The film flashed forward to the death of the soldiers．电影提前表现了战士们的牺牲。

flash out

1．speak in a sudden outburst of passion情绪突然激动地说话
She flashed out at Martin：“Do you really believe that no one has any idea what's going to happen？”她突然激动地对马丁说：“你真相信没有人想到要发生什么事情吗？”
She couldn't help flashing out at such a rude remark．听了这种粗鲁无礼的话，她不禁勃然大怒。
2． appear like a sudden bright light突然发出闪光；闪亮
The lightning flashed out from the black clouds．乌云中电光闪闪。
The lights flashed out and night became day．灯光闪烁，黑夜变得亮如白昼。
3．appear or flash very quickly很快地出现或闪现
With a pocket calculator，the exact answer flashes out as soon as one presses four buttons．有了袖珍计算器，按下4个按钮，准确的答案就立即出现了。

flatter oneself

feel assured；be sure of one's own talent or skill； be highly confident自信；敢说
I can flatter myself that my judgement is usually correct．我可以自信地说我的判断通常是正确的。
I flatter myself I can do it．我自信我能做。
She flatters herself that she is a better swimmer than he is．她确信她的游泳技术比他高明。

go up in in flames

1．burn；be destroyed by fire燃烧；烧毁
Before the firemen could get to the scene，the building went up in flames．消防队员赶到现场之前，那栋大楼已被烧毁。
The barn full of hay went up in smoke．装满干草的谷仓已被烧光。
2．disappear；fail；not come true 成泡影；未实现
His hopes of buying a new car went up in smoke when his father lost his job．他想买部新车的愿望因他父亲失业无钱而成了泡影。

go up in smoke flames

go up in smoke/in flames

pour oil on the flames

make the quarrel severe火上加油
You pretended that you were helping them out of difficulty，but actually you were pouring oil on the flames and making matters worse．你假装帮助他们克服困难，而实际上你是在火上加油。

leave sb flat

Idiom(s): leave sb flat

Theme: FAILURE

to fail to entertain or stimulate someone.
• Your joke left me flat.
• We listened carefully to his lecture, but it left us flat.

go up in flames

Idiom(s): go up in flames AND go up in smoke

Theme: WASTE

to burn up.
• The whole museum went up in flames.
• My paintings—my whole life's work—went up in flames.
• What a shame for all that to go up in smoke.

More Idioms/Phrases

goes without saying goes to show you go window-shopping go up in flames go together go to the wall

English Vocalbulary

afflict afflicted afflicting affliction afflictions afflictive afflicts affluence affluent afford affordable afforded affording affords afforest afforestation afforestations afforested