wild-goose chase	hopeless pursuit
to be caught red-handed	to be caught while doing sth wrong
crocodile tears	false tears
piece of cake	sth easily done
down the drain	wasted/ lost
down in the dumps	not cheerful
on the dole	receiving unemployment benefit or social security
to go to the dogs	to fail/ to deteriorate
red-letter day	a very important day
to let sleeping dogs lie	to avoid mentioning a subject or taking action which could cause trouble
to frolick about	to play about in a lively, happy way
wordage	a number of words one uses to produce a piece of writing
brevity	shortness, conciseness
uncanny	unnatural, extraordinary, strange
to startle	to perplex, to surprise
startling	surprising, astonishing
painstakingly	with great care and concentration, making great effort
to mesh	to interlock
discriminatory	being critical
disconcerting	making unable to concentrate, making confused, doubtful
to mock	to ridicule
to sample	to taste sth
prelude	introduction
to grant sb sth	to give
to usher	to show the way
to foster	to help the development or growth of sth
to extol	to praise greatly
to relish sth	to enjoy sth, to show happiness