act on sb's advice	do sth bc of sb's advice
dream sth up	to think of a new idea or plan
drop off to sleep	start to sleep
fiddle with sth	to move things with no purpose
get down to sth	to start doing sth seriously and with a lot of attention
go about doing sth	to start doing sth in a purposeful way
hit up sb for sth	toa sk sb for sth ex. money
lap sth up	to enjoy sth very much
live sth down	embarrassing experience that other people will not let you forget
settle into sth	to start to feel relaxed and comfortable
settle on sth	to make decision after spending a period of time thinking about the choices
settle up	to pay someone the money that you owe them
wind sb up	to annoy sb on purpose
challenge sb's preconceptions	change sb's basic knowledge
contentious issue	subject that people have very different opinions about
do/work long hours	to spend a lot of time working
feel like a fish out of water	to feel akward etc
for years on end	for many years
have a different take on sth	to have a different opinion on sth
jaunty	happy and confident
reversal of fortune	good things start to happen
place a strain on sth/sb	cause problems for someone or sth and make situation difficult