Do you want to use idioms like a native speaker? Here are four phrases that use food and drink to express something that has nothing to do with eating.
1. Smart cookie
A cookie is like a biscuit (remember the pronunciation is /biskit/, not /biscuit/). Do you know what smart means? As usual in English, it depends on the context. Smart can mean intelligent, elegant or just great.
Can a cookie be any of these things? Of course not!
When we talk about a smart cookie, we are talking about a person. The person is the “cookie”. So, what are we actually saying about this person – intelligent, elegant or just great?
The answer is that we are saying that the person is intelligent, clever. So, if someone says that you are a smart cookie, take it as a compliment. They are telling you that you are intelligent.
2. As good as apple pie
Is apple pie good? Of course it is. The vast majority of people like apple pie because it reminds them of their childhood days. So is someone is good as apple pie (or just pie), we are saying that the person is nice, friendly, approachable. Remember that this expression is used more often in America than in the UK
3. A piece of cake
Everyone likes a piece of cake from time to time, but what is a piece of cake? Again, it depends on the context. If you have a physical cake in front of you and you cut a piece, that is a piece of cake in its true form.
But when someone says that something (an exam, a job, a project) is a piece of cake, they are not going to give you anything to eat. They are telling you that something is easy.
How was the exam? A piece of cake, EASY.
4. Not my cup of tea
If you share a flat with someone and have tea, your flatmate’s cup of tea is not yours. But what do we mean when we say “that’s not my cup of tea” and there is no tea in the room?
We mean that something is not to our liking. We are not interested in that.
For example, if someone asks you if you want to watch a horror film and you say “that’s not my cup of tea”, you are saying that you don’t like horror films.
