Idioms and Phrases
1. The wheels are turning: To become effective or lead to
success.
2. To put something to bed: To achieve something one hopes
to
3. Skate on thin ice: A bad situation or failure
4. Ace in your hand: Something works for your advantage
5. Bird In The Hand Is Worth Two In The Bush: Something
which is sure is better than risky options.
6. Blessing In Disguise: Something good that isn't
identified initially.
7. Dime A Dozen: Common and simple to get.
8. A Drop in the Bucket: small part of something huge or
whole.
9. Lick somebody’s boots: To praise someone
10. A hard act to follow: Seems to be effective but
difficult to follow
11. A Penny Saved Is A Penny Earned: Saving money penny by
penny in little amount.
12. A Picture Paints a Thousand Words: A picture is better
than words.
13. Turn A Blind Eye: Refuse to acknowledge something you
know is real or legit.
14. A Toss-Up: An uncertain result.
15. A Piece of Cake: A job which can be done easily.
16. Save someone’s bacon: Try to save someone from a danger
17. Against the Clock: Rushed and short on time.
18. Actions Speak Louder Than Words: It's better to actually
do something than just talk about it.
19. To add Fuel to the Fire: to make a bad situation even
worse.
20. All Bark and No Bite: When someone seems to be
aggressive but not ready to fight.
21. In The Same Boat: When everyone has common problems.
22. All Greek to me: Meaningless and incomprehensible like
someone who cannot read, speak, or understand any of the
Greek language would be.
23. An Arm and A Leg: Very expensive. A large amount of money.
24. On the ball: To be alert
25. Scapegoat: Someone else who takes the blame.
26. Back To The Drawing Board: When an attempt fails and
it's time to start all over.
27. Barking Up The Wrong Tree: A mistake made in something
you are trying to achieve.
28. Copy cat: Not original
29. Beat A Dead Horse: To force an issue that has already
ended.
30. Beating Around The Bush: Speaking indirectly about the
issue.
31. Not miss a bite: Able to use every opportunity
32. Bite Off More Than You Can Chew: To take on a task that
is way to big.
33. Bite Your Tongue: To avoid talking.
34. Break A Leg: A superstitious way to say 'good luck'
without saying 'good luck', but rather the opposite.
35. Buy A Lemon: To purchase a vehicle that constantly gives
problems or stops running after you drive it away.
36. Sweep the board: To grab all the prizes
37. To Chew someone out: Verbally scold someone.
38. Chip on his Shoulder: Being angry today for what was
happened in the past.
39. Pass The Buck: Avoid responsibility by giving it to
someone else.
40. Cock and Bull Story: An unbelievable tale.
41. To Cross Your Fingers: To hope that something happens
the way you want it to.
42. To Cry Over Spilt Milk:
When you complain about a loss from the past.
43. A Wolf Cry: Intentionally raise a false alarm.
44. A Cup Of Joe: A cup of coffee.
45. Curiosity Killed The Cat: Being Inquisitive can lead you
into a dangerous situation.
46. Cut to the Chase: Leave out all the unnecessary details
and just get to the point.
47. A Dark Horse: One who was previously unknown and is now
prominent.
48. Rock the boat: To create troubles
49. Don't count your chickens before they hatch: Don't rely
on it until your sure of it.
50. Down To The Wire: Something that ends at the last minute
or last few seconds.
51. Drastic Times Call For Drastic Measures: When you are
extremely desperate you need to take extremely desperate actions.
52. To Drink like a fish: To drink very heavily.
53. Drive someone up the wall: To irritate and/or annoy very
much.
54. Dropping Like Flies: A large number of people either
falling ill or dying.
55. A Body blow: Great difficulty and disappointment
56. Have a shot your bolt: To do everything to be successful
57. Ethnic Cleansing: Killing of a certain ethnic or
religious group on a massive scale.
58. Every Cloud Has A Silver Lining: Be optomistic, even
difficult times will lead to better days.
59. Dropping like flies : To give up something easily
60. Great Minds Think Alike: Intelligent people think like
each other.
61. Wear Your Heart On Your Sleeve: To openly and freely
express your emotions.
62. Everything But The Kitchen Sink: Almost everything and
anything has been included.
63. Excuse my French: Please forgive me for cussing.
64. Cock and Bull Story: An unbelievable tale.
65. In The Heat Of The Moment: Overwhelmed by what is
happening in the moment.
66. Cock and Bull Story: An unbelievable tale.
67. Fixed In Your Ways: Not willing or wanting to change
from your normal way of doing something.
68. Flesh and Blood: This idiom can mean living material of
which people are made of, or it can refer to someone's family.
69. Fools' Gold: Iron pyrites, a worthless rock that
resembles real gold.
70. From Rags To Riches: To go from being very poor to being
very wealthy.
71. Get Your Walking Papers: Get fired from a job.
72. Give Him The Slip: To get away from. To escape.
73. Funny Farm: A mental institutional facility.
74. Good Samaritan: Someone who helps others when they are
in need, with no discussion for compensation, and no thought of a reward.
75. Green Room: The waiting room, especially for those who
are about to go on a tv or radio show.
76. Keep body and soul together: To earn a sufficient amount
of money in order to keep yourself alive .
77. Gut Feeling: A personal intuition you get, especially
when feel something may not be right.
78. Haste Makes Waste: Quickly doing things results in a
poor ending.
79. Out Of The Blue: Something that suddenly and
unexpectedly occurs.
80. Have an Axe to Grind: To have a dispute with someone.
81. He Lost His Head: Angry and overcome by emotions.
82. Head Over Heels: Very excited and/or joyful, especially
when in love.
83. Hell in a Hand basket: Deteriorating and headed for
complete disaster.
84. High Five: Slapping palms above each others heads as
celebration gesture.
85. High on the Hog: Living in Luxury.
86. Hit The Books: To study, especially for a test or exam.
87. Hit The Hay: Go to bed or go to sleep.
88. Hold Your Horses: Be patient.
89. In Your Face: An aggressive and bold confrontation.
90. Wine and Dine: When somebody is treated to an expensive
meal.
91. It Takes Two To Tango: A two person conflict where both
people are at fault.
92. It's A Small World: You frequently see the same people
in different places.
93. Its Anyone's Call: A competition where the outcome is
difficult to judge or predict.
94. Keep An Eye On Him: You should carefully watch him.
95. Knock On Wood: Knuckle tapping on wood in order to avoid
some bad luck.
96. Know the Ropes: To understand the details.
97. Let Bygones Be Bygones: To forget about a disagreement
or arguement.
98. Let Sleeping Dogs Lie: To avoid restarting a conflict.
99. Let The Cat Out Of The Bag: To share a secret that
wasn't suppose to be shared.
100. The Ball Is In Your Court: It is your decision this
time.
