100 Common English Idioms

• This details 100 common idioms, along with explanations and example usage
• An idiom is a phrase where the words together have a meaning that is different from the dictionary definitions of the individual words

A Blessing In Disguise

• This refers to something that seems bad or unlucky at first, but turns out to be good
• For example: Losing that job was a blessing in disguise because it pushed them to start their own business

A Dime A Dozen

• Refers to something that is very common and easy to find
• For example: Souvenir keychains are a dime a dozen at the tourist shops

All Ears

• Means fully listening and paying attention
• For example: When someone says "Go ahead, I'm all ears", they are indicating that they are ready to listen attentively

All In The Same Boat

• Means being in the same situation or predicament as others
• For example: When a company has to cut staff pay, everyone is in the same boat

Barking Up The Wrong Tree

• Means looking in the wrong place or taking a wrong path
• For example: If accused of taking a book someone didn't take, then they are barking up the wrong tree

Beat Around The Bush

• Means avoiding the main topic or being indirect
• For example: Avoid beating around the bush and say something directly

Bite The Bullet

• Means facing a difficult or unpleasant situation bravely
• For example: Decide to bite the bullet and tell someone the truth, even if it is hurtful

Bury The Hatchet

• Refers to reconciling or making peace after a conflict
• For example: After not speaking, decide to bury the hatchet and become friends again

By The Skin Of Your Teeth

• Means just barely or narrowly escaping a difficult situation
• For example: When an exam is passed by only the minimum required score, it was passed by the skin of teeth

Call It A Day

• Means to stop working or end an activity
• For example: When painting, end the day and call it a day, but continue tomorrow

Cold Feet

• Means feeling nervous or hesitant about doing something
• For example: To get cold feet moments before asking someone out

Cost An Arm And A Leg

• Refers to something that is very expensive
• For example: A luxury car costs an arm and a leg

Cry Over Spilled Milk

• Means to worry or complain about something that has already happened and cannot be changed
• For example: A mistake was made, but there's no use crying over spilled milk

Cut Corners

• Means to do something quickly or take shortcuts, often sacrificing quality
• For example: For projects that needs to be excellent it is important to not cut corners

Drive Someone Up The Wall

• Means to irritate or annoy someone greatly
• For example: Constant humming drives someone up the wall making it hard to concentrate

Silver Lining

• Refers to something positive in a difficult situation
• For example: Losing a job was tough, but the silver lining was that a new career opportunity was found

Face The Music

• Means confronting the consequences of one's actions
• For example: After a mistake, face the music and accept the criticism

Get A Taste Of Your Own Medicine

• Means experiencing the same negative treatment that has been given to others
• For example: After teasing people, finally getting a taste of own medicine when people start teasing you

Get The Ball Rolling

• Means starting a process or activity
• For example: Get the ball rolling with a project by assigning tasks to the team members

Give Someone The Benefit Of The Doubt

• Means believing someone's statement or excuse without being too suspicious
• For example: Without evidence, giving someone the benefit of the doubt and trust their explanation

Go The Extra Mile

• Means putting in extra effort or doing more than what is expected
• For example: To succeed in a competitive industry, you need to go the extra mile

Hit The Nail On The Head

• Means identifying or describing something accurately
• For example: Hit the nail on the head when explaining that the team needs better communication

In The Heat Of The Moment

• Means acting or speaking impulsively without thinking, in a moment of intense emotion
• For example: Saying hurtful things in the heat of the moment

It's A Piece Of Cake

• Means something is very easy or simple to do
• For example: Telling someone that a test is a piece of cake, in order to reassure them

Keep Your Chin Up

• Means to remain positive and optimistic during difficult times
• For example: Keep chin up and pursue dreams, even after facing many rejections

Kill Two Birds With One Stone

• Means you accomplish two things at the same time with a single action
• For example: Taking the train instead of driving kills two birds with one stone: it saves money and helps the environment

Let The Cat Out Of The Bag

• Means to unintentionally reveal a secret or confidential information
• For example: She accidentally let the cat out of the bag and spoiled the surprise party

Like A Fish Out Of Water

• Feeling uncomfortable or out of place in a particular situation
• For example: Feeling like a fish out of water when visiting rural areas

Make A Long Story Short

• Means providing a brief summary or conclusion
• For example: Rambling about a trip, but to make a long story short, it was an amazing time

Miss The Boat

• Means to miss an opportunity or chance
• For example: Missed deadline by not applying for a scholarship

Not My Cup Of Tea

• Means something that is not to the speaker's liking or preference
• For example: Skiing is not the speakers cup of tea because they don't like the cold

On Cloud Nine

• Means feeling extremely happy or joyful
• For example: When someone gets a job offer, they are on cloud nine

Once In A Blue Moon

• Means that something happens very rarely
• For example: Going to restaurants once in a blue moon for special occasions

Out Of The Blue

• Means that something happens unexpectedly or without any warning
• For example: Someone called out of the blue after many years

Over The Moon

• Means feeling delighted or extremely happy
• For example: She was over the moon when she received her acceptance letter from the university

Pull Someone's Leg

• Means to tease or joke with someone
• For example: When someone is pulling leg, they don't really mean what they said

Put The Cart Before The Horse

• Means doing things in the wrong order
• For example: Putting shopping for furniture before find a place to live

Raining Cats And Dogs

• Means raining heavily
• For example: Can't go outside since it's raining cats and dogs

Not Ring A Bell

• Means not sounding familiar or triggering a vague memory
• For example: Someone's names doesn't ring a bell after meeting

Rule Of Thumb

• Means it's a general principle or guideline
• For example: A good rule of thumb is that it's better to arrive early for meetings

Shoot Yourself In The Foot

• Means harming oneself unintentionally
• For example: Quitting your job without having another one lined up

On The Fence

• Means remaining neutral or undecided in a dispute or issue
• For example: Someone says he is on the fence because he can't pick which car to buy

Skeletons In The Closet

• Refers to hidden or embarrassing secrets from the past
• For example: A journalist investigates in hopes to find skeletons in a famous singers closet

Take A Rain Check

• Means postponing or rescheduling a plan or invitation
• For example: Postponing going to a concert, aka taking a rain check

The Ball Is In Your Court

• Means it is someone's turn to take action or make a decision
• For example: I've given you all the information; now the ball is in your court

The Best Of Both Worlds

• Means enjoying the benefits of two different things at the same time
• For example: Having a family while working part time makes the best of both worlds

Show Someone The Ropes

• Means teach someone the details of a task or procedure
• For example: Co-workers show someone the ropes during their first week on the job

The Whole Nine Yards

• Means everything, or the full extent of something
• For example: Make sure you have everything: equipment, resources, the whole nine yards

Through Thick And Thin

• Means supporting or being loyal to someone during good times and bad times
• For example: Staying friends with someone over 20 years

Throw In The Towel

• Means to give up or surrender
• For example: After a struggle, throw in the towel with a task

Turn A Blind Eye

• Means to ignore or pretend not to notice something
• For example: The teacher turned a blind eye to the students whispering during the exam

Under The Weather

• Means feeling sick
• For example: Can't come to work while feeling under the weather

Off The Hook

• Means being freed from an obligation
• For example: Not teaching a class because another teacher was found, meaning one is off the hook

Up In The Air

• Means uncertain or not confirmed
• For example: Date for something up in the air as it is not yet scheduled

When It Rains, It Pours

• Means bad things often happen in clusters or all at once
• For example: One after the other, events started happening like When it rains, it pours

Wrap Your Head Around Something

• Means to understand or comprehend something complex or difficult
• For example: It took a while to wrap my head around new software

Throw Someone For A Loop

• Means to distract, confuse, or surprise someone suddenly
• For example: Getting a random question from someone and it threw for a loop

At The Drop Of A Hat

• Means Immediately or without hesitation
• For example: Helping someone at the drop of a hat

At The End Of Your Rope

• Means completely annoyed, exhausted, or desperate, with no more patience or energy
• For example: Dealing with disobedient kids all day, reaching the end of the rope

Pipe Down!

• Means to be quiet
• For example: To tell loud kids to pipe down in a library

Cross That Bridge When You Come To It

• Means dealing with a problem or worry when it actually happens
• For example: Putting off worrying what to do if failing a test, deal with it once cross that bridge, when that happens

Drop The Ball

• Means to make a mistake or fail to do something properly
• For example: Forgetting to send an email is dropping the ball

Elephant In The Room

• Means an obvious problem or issue that no one wants to address
• For example: Not talking about budget cuts, which is the elephant in the room

Get Off On The Wrong Foot

• Means to start a relationship or situation poorly or with a misunderstanding
• For example: Getting off on the wrong foot, but still improve communication

Go Down In Flames

• Means to fail spectacularly or experience a significant defeat or failure
• For example: Their product launch went down in flames, and they lost a lot of money

Go With The Flow

• Means to adapt to a situation or accept things as they come
• For example: Not making plans and going with the flow

Hang In There

• Means to persevere or keep going despite difficulties or challenges
• For example: Knowing it's tough, but hang in there; things will get better

In Hot Water

• Means being in trouble or facing difficulties due to a mistake or wrongdoing
• For example: Missing a deadline puts one in hot water

Jump On The Bandwagon

• Means joining or supporting something that is currently popular or successful
• For example: Jumping on the bandwagon to join a new social media platform

Kick The Bucket

• Means to die (very informal)
• For example: Hoping to visit a location before to kick the bucket

Swallow Something Hook, Line, And Sinker

• Means to believe something completely – usually something that is not true
• For example: Swallowing the lie that someone was at a friend's house studying instead of at a party

Show Your True Colors

• Means to reveal the true nature of their character
• For example: Displaying true colors under stressful conditions

On Thin Ice

• Means in a dangerous situation
• For example: Being on thin ice with boss

Play It By Ear

• Means deciding or acting based on the situation as it develops, rather than having a fixed plan
• For example: Meeting up with someone and just play it by ear to see what do

Save Your Breath

• Means to stop wasting your time and effort saying things that won't have any effect
• For example: Stop trying to convince him to change his mind is pointless; save your breath

Steal The Show

• Means to attract the most attention or praise
• For example: Someone stole the show with her singing and dancing

Take It With A Grain Of Salt

• Means to receive/consider information with skepticism or doubt
• For example: Take an unconfirmed rumor with a grain of salt until confirming

Clear As Mud

• Means infomation or communication is not clear at all
• For example: Directions were clear as mud leading to someone getting lost

Jump The Gun

• Means to do something too early, before the appropriate time
• For example: Announcing a winner to early and jumping the gun

Get Your Wires Crossed

• Means having a miscommunication
• For example: Mixing up the time to show up

Throw Caution To The Wind

• Means to take a risk or act without considering the potential consequences
• For example: Quitting the 9-5 job and throwing caution to the wind

Lose Your Touch

• Means to lose their skill or ability that one once had
• For example: Not playing the piano for years and losing their touch

Off The Chain

• Means something that is exciting, exceptional, or out of control
• For example: The concert was off the chain with unbelievable energy in the crowd

Eyeball It

• Means estimating or measuring something by using one's judgement or visual assesment
• For example: Lacking a ruler, we had to eyeball it

Spice Things Up

• Means to add excitement or variety to a situation or relationship
• For example: Eating at a new restaurant to spice things up

Bring Home The Bacon

• Means to earn a living or provide financial support for one's family
• For example: Working 2 jobs to to bring home the bacon and support the children

Nip Something In The Bud

• Means stopping or preventing a problem or situation from developing further
• For example: Disciplining child to nip had habit in the bud

The Last Straw

• Means the final event or action that makes a situation unbearable or prompts a strong reaction
• For example: Forgetting a anniversary was the the last straw for the decision to end the relationship

A Whole New Ballgame

• Means a completely different situation or set of circumstances
• For example: Having kids changed everything as it was a whole new ballgame

Burn The Midnight Oil

• Means working or studying late into the night
• For example: Studying and burning the midnight oil

Between A Rock And A Hard Place

• Means being trapped in a difficult or impossible situation, having to choose between two unfavorable options
• For example: Being between a rock and a hard place when job offers require relocation

Play Devil's Advocate

• Means arguing an opposing perspective in order to generate critical thinking or debate
• For example: Everyone's in favor, so be devil's advocate by focusing on the what ifs

Put Your Foot In Your Mouth

• Means saying something embarrassing, inappropriate, or offensive by accident
• For example: Asking some if she is pregnant leading to putting your foot in your mouth

Get A Grip

• Means regaining control over one's emotions or behavior
• For example: Someone needing to get a grip

Piece Of Work

• Means describing someone who is difficult, eccentric, or challenging to deal with
• For example: Calling a cousin a piece of work because they are offensive

Put Someone On The Spot

• Means asking someone a difficult question or request an immediate response, often in a public or challenging situation
• For example: Directing someone to present their idea put them on the spot

A Night Owl

• Means someone who likes to stay up late
• For example: Someone's a night owl for not going to bed until 2 AM

Has Seen Better Days

• Means something is old and in not-so-great condition
• For example: The car has seen better days

Get Bent Out Of Shape

• Means becoming angry, upset or offended, especially about something the person thinks doesn't justify such a reaction
• For example: Cleaning freak getting bent out of shape about something

Play Your Cards Right

• Means using the persons resources in a way that leads to success
• For example: Supervisor likes who you are. Play your cards right and you could get promoted soon