Understanding Common Idioms

Idioms and Their Meanings

• To eat like a horse: To always eat a lot of food
• A leopard doesn't change its spots: It's impossible for one to change their character, even if they try very hard
• Butterflies in one's stomach: Feeling anxious and nervous in one's stomach
• Armchair critic: A person who makes comments and criticisms about a situation without actually doing anything to help fix it
• A fish out of water: A person away from their usual environment or activities
• A little bird told me: You are being told something but you do not know who told you
• Goody-goody: A person who always acts good, sweet, or nice, and follows the rules perfectly
• Cheapkate: A person who hates to spend much money, a stingy person
• Let the cat out of the bag: To reveal facts previously hidden
• Down-to-earth: A person who is practical, sensible, and realistic
• Behind the times: A person who is old-fashioned and has not adopted certain modern customs
• Man of his word: A person you can trust because they tell the truth and keep promises
• Couch potato: A lazy person who spends a lot of time sitting down or lying down
• Go-getter: A person who is active, energetic, and has the initiative to pursue the things they want
• To think on your feet: To give an answer quickly, without having time to prepare for it
• To think outside the box: To use your imagination to come up with original ideas
• Social butterfly: An extroverted person who loves to socialize

Phrasal Verbs and Expressions

• To be lost for words: To lose the ability to speak because of shock, surprise, etc.
• Off by heart: A way of learning information so that it can be repeated from memory easily
• To learn the hard way: Learn from one's own unpleasant experiences rather than from the advice of others
• To know sth like the back of one's hand: To be very familiar with something
• To learn to walk before you can run: To master a basic skill before doing something more difficult
• To teach sb a lesson: To experience the negative effects of your actions so that you are less likely to act in that way again
• At the back of my mind: To be aware of something, even though it is not what you are mainly thinking about.
• Passed with flying colors: To do very well
• To show the ropes: To teach someone how to do a specific job
• To slip my mind: To forget something, or to forget to do something
• To take a load off my mind: To relieve someone of a problem or worry
• To raise eyebrows.: To cause sb to experience shock, amazement, or surprise
• To put on brave face: To act as though a difficult situation does not bother you much.
• On the tip of my tongue: Almost remembered, but not quite
• To read between the lines: To understand what someone really means, or what is really happening in a situation
• To get out of hand: To no longer be in control
• To follow in sb's footsteps: To do the same thing that a family member, friend, etc., has done in the past.
• Time is money: Your time is valuable
• Waste of Time: Not a useful way to spend your time

More Idioms

• In the nick of time: To arrive or finish something just before it's too late
• To turn back the hands of time: To go back to the past
• Time heals all wounds: Feelings of emotional hurt will leave us as time passes by
• Spare Time: Free time
• To cross my mind: To come into your mind as an idea
• To make up one's mind: To make a decision
• To set one's mind on sth: To try very hard to achieve something
• To be out of one's mind: To be silly or crazy
• To be fired up about sth/doing sth: To be enthusiastic, thrilled
• To be scared to death: To be petrified
• To be a pain in the neck: To be annoying
• To be over the moon: To be delighted, pleased
• To jump out of one's skin: To be shocked.
• To pull someone's leg: To attempt to convince someone of something untrue as a joke
• To go as red as a beetroot: To be ashamed
• To speak one's mind: To honestly say what you think, even if it upsets someone