<p>I don’t usually comment on non-math posts, but this is actually a very interesting thread. It reveals just how difficult our language can be and what a mighty effort is required to pick up all of these idioms when it is not your native language…</p>
<p>There are so many verbal scholars on this site who can help you to fine-tune your list, much of which is accurate (or nearly accurate) but some not so much…</p>
<p>I’ll help with two…</p>
<ol>
<li><p>I think you misheard: to have “clout” is to have power or at least influence.</p></li>
<li><p>When something “slips through your fingers” it means you lost an opportunity that you nearly had and could have had, but didn’t quite manage to hold on to.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>As a math person, I like to solve puzzles. So some of your items are like a game, where the goal is to figure out what was really said. But I am not making fun of you – it is a challenging task that you have set yourself. Good luck.</p>