Практикум по лексикологии английского языка. Часть 2. Фразеология. Маковецкая Н.А - 31 стр.

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                              Reference Material

Achille’sheel (or heel of Achilles) – a single important weakness that can prevent
you from being successful. This phrase comes from the ancient Greek story about
Achilles, whose mother held him by his heel when she put him in the water of the
river Styx, so that his heel was the only part of his body that was not magically
protected against harm. Achilles was the greatest Creek warrior in the Trojan war,
and he killed the greatest of the Trojan warriors, Hector. But Hector’s brother,
Paris, then killed Achilles by wounding him in his heel. (Longman Dictionary of
English Language and Culture, Longman, 1998)

Blue blood – a term used to describe the Noble classes: “He has blue blood in his
veins.” The origin is Spain, and has reference to the fact that the veins showing
through the skin of the pure-blooded Spanish aristocrat were more blue than those
whose family tree showed a mixture of Moorish and other alien blood. (E.Radford.
Unusual Words and How They Came About. N.-Y., 1964)

Born with a silver spoon in his mouth – to be destined to have great wealth. The
allusion is to the silver Apostle spoon formerly presented to an infant by its
godfather at baptism. In the case of a child born to wealthy parents such a gift was
anticipated at the moment of entering life. (E.Radford. Unusual Words and How
They Came About. N.-Y., 1964)

Burn one’s boats – the Romans when they invaded a foreign country set fire to
their boats, thus forcing their soldiers either to conquer or die. The phrase has thus
come to mean to cut off all chance of retreat from any project embarked upon.
(E.Radford. Unusual Words and How They Came About. N.-Y., 1964)

Called on the carpet – to be held accountable for a mistake, offence, or a lie. In
military parlance, called on the carpet refers to having to present oneself to a
superior officer, report at attention and receive a disciplining for some offense.
Sometimes a defense is allowed, but often, the communication is quite simple,
clear, and unidirectional, with the recipient being forced to stand at attention while
the abuse takes place. (from the Internet)

To give the cold shoulder – when an unexpected visitor is a welcome one, the
hostess puts herself to some trouble to prepare a dainty meal for the guest who has
made a journey to visit her. But where the visitor is not particularly welcome and is
not to be encouraged to pay similar visits in the future, cold meat, for instance the
remains of the shoulder which formed the last meal, is usually brought out. To be
given the cold shoulder was a pretty plain hint that you were not encouraged by
your hostess. (E.Radford. Unusual Words and How They Came About. N.-Y., 1964)

To cross (pass) the Rubicon – to make an important decision that cannot be
reversed and that determines the course of future events. From the name of the