1. Monkey business - silly, mischievous or deceitful behaviour; stupid or time-wasting activity
- Our accountant has been fired as there was some monkey business with the books.
- Are you still fiddling about with those old tools? Stop the monkey business and get some new ones.
2. Rat race - an exhausting and repetitive routine, a hectic struggle for success
- I’m so tired of the rat race. I’d love to retire and move to the country.
- She started to work from home as she couldn’t stand the rat race at the office.
3. Cat burglar - a stealthy burglar who climbs into buildings, usually through upper windows, skylights, etc.
- Grandfather’s old telescope has disappeared from the loft. It must have been a cat burglarthat took it.
- The inspector was surprised by the exploits of a cat burglar who only stole from upper floors and attics.
4. Top dog - the most important person in a group, somebody with the dominant position or highest authority
- I don’t want to be the top dog at our company, I just do my job as well as I can.
- Peter is the top dog at English in our class.
5. Cash cow - a dependable source of income; a product or service that makes money
- Our company’s cash cow is the sales department, which makes enough income to finance the developers.
- The publisher saw the new bestseller as a cash cow.
6. Eager beaver - an enthusiastic hard worker; someone very excited to start a task
- The new secretary is an eager beaver. Although she comes to work at seven every day, she’s the last to leave in the evening.
- Don’t be an eager beaver, we have plenty of time to do this job.
7. Road hog - a dangerous or inconsiderate driver, someone who drives carelessly and selfishly
- Sorry that we’re so slow, but there is no way to overtake that road hog in front of us.
- A road hog nearly ran me over at the crossing as he failed to stop at the sign.
8. Black sheep - an undesirable member of a group, a disliked person, somebody who causes shame or embarrassment due to deviation
- Don’t be surprised that he doesn’t want to take over father’s business, he’s always been theblack sheep of the family.
- They called me the black sheep as I didn’t want to go to the pub and play billiards with them.
