Idioms „Politics and Corruption”
Learn advanced English naturally with political and corruption idioms. Improve your C1–C2 vocabulary, speaking fluency, and exam performance with authentic expressions used in real-world situations.
„(to) Vote With Your Feet”
Meaning: Show your opinions or feeling by attending or not attending
- After weeks of boring lessons, the students voted with their feet and no-one came to the last lesson.
„Power Corrupts, and Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely”
Meaning: Power makes people do bad things. And A LOT OF POWER makes people do VERY BAD things.
- No matter how popular the President is, we must not give him more powers. Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
„A Puppet Government”
Meaning: A leader or government that is chosen, installed and controlled by a foreign power.
- In 2022, Putin wanted to invade Ukraine, remove Zelenskyy, and install a more sympathetic puppet government.
„(to) Throw him / her / me under the bus„
Meaning: To put all the blame on one person
- Under pressure from the media, the President threw his Deputy under the bus, blaming her for everything.
- You told the client that I decided to give him a smaller discount?! You’ve really thrown me under the bus!
„Throw a Dead Cat”
Meaning: To say something offensive, rude or provocative so people are distracted and stop talking about the „real” topic (that you don’t want to speak about)
- Under pressure in Parliament, the Minister decided to throw a dead cat, calling his opponent, a „Fat B*****d”. The newspapers and TV news spoke about it for days, forgetting about the real scandal.
„The Corridors of Power„
Meaning: Parliament and other „locations of power”
- After spending years in the corridors of power, the lobbyist knew all of the most important politicians.
„(to) Gerrymander„
Meaning: Reorganise the boundaries of a district to help you win elections.
- Since 2025, Republicans have used gerrymandering in Texas and Georgia to guarantee they win future elections.
„Pork-Barrel Politics„
Meaning: When politicians demand money and benefits for their home districts, in return for supporting a new Bill or law.
- As negotiations continued, the President used pork-barrel politics to encourage his colleagues and enemies to support him. He promised to build roads, bridges, and factories in specific towns and states.
„(to) Grease his / my / her Palms„
Meaning: Bribe someone to get their help.
- The developer had to grease numerous palms in order to build a new block in the centre of the city.
„(to) Line his / my / her Pockets„
Meaning: To use your position to get rich
- Dictators like Putin and Lukashenko have used their power and relationships to line their pockets and become ultra-rich.
„Gravy Train„
Meaning: A job or position in government that offers an easy way of making a lot of money, often unfairly or dishonestly.
- Some people think the European Parliament is a gravy train, where everyone is getting rich and no-one wants to leave.
- The huge new railway project became a gravy train for politicians, engineers, and big building companies. Everybody got rich!
„(to) Sweep (a scandal) Under The Rug„
Meaning: Hide an embarrassing scandal.
- US politicians wanted to sweep the Epstein Scandal under the rug, but the media and public forced them to take action.
