the shoe is on the other foot — the situation is now the opposite of what it was before [freedict]

I think it is a useful phrase. Here is an example: “For a long time my friend laughed at my problems at work. Now the shoe is on the other foot and he also has serious problems.”

cold turkey — quit a bad habit immediately [urbandict]

Phoebe started dating Malcolm. But very soon she was mad to find out that he still stalked her sister. Phoebe said sarcastically to Malcolm: “sorry, it is all my fault. I made you quit cold turkey.”

rip off someone — to steal from someone [dict]

A first ever virus for the Mac OS X was reported recently. However, some Apple Mac users have been paying anti-virus software providers for years before this first virus incidence. What are those expensive payments for? One Apple Mac user complained, “we have been ripped off for years.”

kick in — to become operative or take effect [dict]

In “Desperate Housewives”, Susan is very worried about the huge expense she has to pay for her wandering spleen surgery. Her divorced husband, Karl, agrees to remarry her so that his insurance will cover the cost of the surgery. Karl comforts Susan, “insurance kicks in the minute I say ‘I do’.”

a tough (bitter/hard) pill to swallow — something that is hard to accept [usingenglish.com]

In the “two and a half man” show, Charlie has the charms that make him forever popular among girls. But for one time once, his charms doesn’t work anymore don’t work. He meets a pretty dance teacher in a coffee shop, and tries to talk to her by saying “hello”. But the girl shows little interest and asks him to “go away”. He is a bit upset and says to the girl, “If you knew me at all and shut me down, it’s one thing, but to be dismissed with a simple hello, that is a tough pill to swallow.”

keep all the balls in the air — to do several things well at the same time

Yesterday, before the seminar started, the host introduced the visiting professor to the audience. The professor was quite occupied in his work and life — he wrote books, taught students, had several hobbies, and acted as the head of a computer science department. “However, he manages to keep all the balls in the air,” (put the comma inside the quotes) the host said with respect.

walk in someone’s shoes — think see things from other people’s perspective

I had been using an old-fashioned CRT monitor since two years ago when I first started my PhD study. But it made me feel uncomfortable in my eyes my eyes feel uncomfortable. Finally I couldn’t stand it anymore, and asked for an LCD replacement. However, the person in charge of this wasn’t willing to give me one. He required me to “prove” that I did feel uncomfortable with the old monitor. What requirement what kind of requirement is that? It reminds me of a Chinese saying, literally translated into this: “Only people themselves know whether they are comfortable with their shoes”. I wonder is there if there is an equivalent English one a similar saying in English that I can use to refute this unreasonable requirement. A friend suggested, “You can reply: walk in my shoes, and you will know”.

high roller — a popular person, a VIP [urban dict]

Recently, the traffic of the “fenglish” blog has been rising fast. After seeing so many people left comments on the blog, a friend joked to me, “Feng, you are a high roller now!” I hadn’t heard of this phrase before, but I felt it was a compliment. I looked up the dictionaries, but found that the connotation of this phrase seemed not positive (see dictionary.com, m-w.com). So I asked him to clarify, and he explained, “If a rich person spends a lot of money in a casino, he is called a high roller. People in the casino will treat him like a VIP and butter him up.” It seems not bad at all to be a high roller, if you picture what would be going on … I choose to believe him, not the dictionaries.

a tiger does not change its stripes — a person doesn’t change his nature

In “lost”, Sawyer is a character who makes a living by conning people. For one time, Loche locke trusted him and told Sawyer his plan of moving guns. But Sawyer played him by stealing all the guns, so that he became the chief-in-command. When he was confronted by Kate on why he did this, he said, “A tiger doesn’t change its strips stripes“.

turn over a new leaf — to change the attitude or behavior for the better [dict]

Early in the morning, I bumped into a guy, who usually got up very late. I asked him what made him change. “I am turning over a new leaf.” He said. Actually, he was catching an a morning lecture whose attendance was compulsory.

crack up — burst into laughing [dict]

In a quiet office, someone suddenly started laughing loudly. He explained to us, “look at this comic. It cracks me up. haha…” Others found it very amusing too. But I didn’t get it at start at first, until I was clued in on what is “comparative literature” (a subject of little usefulness use).

make someone’s day — to make someone happy

In one “CSI” show, a guy killed two people for revenge. However, the traces he left in at the crime scene finally led the police to search his house. Knowing what her husband had done and the and that the police would come to catch him, the wife forced him to leave the family in an act of protecting in order to protect him. Before boarding a long-distance coach, the murderer had a guilty conscience, as his wife would have to be jailed for him. He decided to surrender himself. Walking toward a traffic policeman, he said, “Man, I I’ll make your day“.