Building Blocks of English: Idioms
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We’ve launched a series of blog posts, wherein we take up one component of language at a time, and unveil its various nitty-gritties. Today, we’re talking about English Idioms! Read on to learn more.
P.S. don’t forget to update yourself with what we’ve already covered! You can check out blog posts on Adjectives in our blog Top Vocabulary Tips for 2020, How to Use Articles in English Speaking and Writing, Prepositions and How to Use them and Common Collocations in English.
Idioms: What are They?
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Idioms are phrases that use words in unusual ways in order to convey a simple meaning. |
Idioms are an integral part of everyday spoken and written English – they’re used to ‘dress up’ your language, and are quite integral to the repertoire of a fluent speaker of English.
Why should you learn them? Simple – being able to incorporate such phrases into your speech and writing indicates your mastery over the language.
Types of Idioms
Not all idioms are created the same way.
1. Some may be whole sentences by themselves – the meaning is complete in itself, where the listener will know exactly why you’re saying it.
2. Some should be used as a part of a sentence – only once it is in combination with other words, will the listener know why this is being used.
Besides this, the context of the conversation also determines which idioms can and can’t be used.
Idioms in casual conversation
You can easily use such phrases when among your friends, or with peers and colleagues in an informal setting – but you wouldn’t typically bring these into play when speaking to someone in a senior position, or in a big meeting!
How do you identify a casual idiom? It will usually be rather flippant in its tone, or even just a little bit crude – but perfectly fine to use in the right context.
Examples:
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Idiom |
Meaning |
Usage |
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Barking up the wrong tree |
Looking in the wrong place or to the wrong person for something |
As part of a sentence: “If she’s asking him for money, she’s barking up the wrong tree.” |
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Cost an arm and a leg |
Describing something that’s absurdly expensive |
As part of a sentence: “That small bowl would cost me an arm and a leg!” |
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Hit the sack or Hit the hay |
Go to bed/sleep |
On its own: “I’m going to hit the hay.” |
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Speak of the devil! |
Uttered upon seeing someone who was just being spoken about |
On its own: “Speak of the devil! There he is.” |
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Steal one’s thunder |
Take away attention from someone else |
As part of a sentence: “She stole my thunder at my wedding!” |
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Off one’s rocker |
To have gone crazy, or behaving in a way that’s seen as strange/mad |
On its own: “He must be off his rocker.” |
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Wouldn’t be caught dead (doing something) |
Do not want to be seen doing something |
As part of a sentence: “I wouldn’t be caught dead driving that beat-up old van.” |
Idioms for regular use
This is typically a rather exhaustive list – there are so many idioms that are used in an everyday context, from the classroom to the conference room! We can’t cover them all here – but we can show you the most common, which you can start to use right away!
Examples:
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Idiom |
Meaning |
Usage |
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Add insult to injury |
When someone is already hurt/embarrassed/upset etc., to say something that makes it worse. |
On its own: “Don’t add insult to injury. She’s already upset.” |
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Bite off more than one can chew |
To take on more than one can handle |
As part of a sentence: “She’s bitten off more than she can chew with that new project.” |
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Cross that bridge when one comes to it |
To deal with something at the right time. |
On its own: “Let’s cross that bridge when it comes to it.” |
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Feel under the weather |
To feel unwell, not up to doing something |
On its own: “He’s feeling rather under the weather today.” |
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Give one the benefit of the doubt |
To not accuse/suspect someone of something, until there’s proof |
On its own: “We have to give her the benefit of the doubt. We don’t know that she broke it.” |
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Hear it on the grapevine |
To hear a rumour |
As part of a sentence: “I heard on the grapevine that they’re getting a divorce.” |
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Hit the nail on the head |
To figure something out or say something perfectly. |
As part of a sentence: “She’s hit the nail on the head with that presentation!” |
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Keep (something) at bay |
To keep something from coming close to or affecting you |
As part of sentence: “She keeps everyone at bay, ever since she was betrayed.” |
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Let the cat out of the bag/the cat’s out of the bag |
To reveal a secret accidentally |
On its own: “The cat’s out of the bag now!” |
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Make/Cut a long story short |
To summarise a lot of information into a few/single sentence(s) |
As part of a sentence: “To cut a long story short, we got married over the holidays!” |
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Pull the wool over one’s eyes |
To deceive someone |
On its own: “He’s pulling the wool over her eyes.” |
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Sit/be on the fence |
To be undecided |
As part of a sentence: “He’s on the fence about which college to pick.” |
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Straight from the horse’s mouth |
To hear something from the correct source |
As part of a sentence: “I got the news straight from the horse’s mouth.” |
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Take with a grain of salt |
To have a reasonable amount of doubt regarding the factuality of something |
As part of a sentence: “Take what she tells you with a grain of salt.” |
Idioms as Aphorisms
An aphorism is a ‘truth-saying’ – something someone says when conveying a simple truth about life. Several idioms serve as aphorisms, and they are all typically in the form of a single whole sentence, used independently.
Examples:
|
Idiom |
Meaning |
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A bird in hand is worth two in a bush. |
What you already have is better than what you think you might get from somewhere else. |
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A stitch in time saves nine. |
Taking care of a problem as soon as it arises, is better than waiting for it to get worse. |
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Actions speak louder than words. |
Doing something is more valuable or trustworthy than merely saying you will do it. |
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Don’t judge a book by its cover. |
Don’t judge anything or anyone by appearance alone, as they may be better/worse than you think in reality. |
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Every dog has his day. |
Every person is able to get success or achieve something at some point. |
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Every cloud has a silver lining. |
Even if things are problematic, there is always a solution. |
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Give him an inch and he’ll take a mile. |
If you allow someone to take a little bit of advantage of you, he will take a lot more. |
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It’s always darkest before the dawn. |
When a problem feels that it is at its worst, it’s soon going to be better. |
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Never look a gift horse in the mouth. |
When you receive a gift or something for free, do not look for flaws in it. |
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You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink. |
You can help or encourage people, but you can’t force them to do the right thing. |
Tips to learn
The list of idioms can go on endlessly – but how you learn them, and start using them?
Unfortunately, it’s impossible to sit and memorise them all in one go – and would be quite senseless too!
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Rather, you’d do better by increasing your reading or any exposure to English in use, in movies or on television. When you hear an idiom, keep note of it and how it’s being used.
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You can also look up some of the most common ones – the list we’ve included here is the best place to start!
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Begin using them in your daily conversations – the more you use them, the more natural they’ll start to feel.
Soon enough, you’ll be a pro.
Tips for usage
Of course, there are a few more tips worth noting – not only should you know idioms but also be able to use them effectively!
1. Avoid clichés
Some idioms, like “An apple a day keeps the doctor away” or “Don’t count your chickens before they hatch”, have become extremely common and boring to hear – using them too frequently may not help you much.
On the other hand, some other idioms such as “Take with a grain of salt” and “Straight from the horse’s mouth” can help put your message across in a very sharp and polished way – these are the ones you should aim to increase using!
2. Pay attention to context
Using an idiom in the wrong context, particularly if you have misunderstood the meaning, can make quite a negative impression. That is why it is so essential to pay attention to or study how they should be used!
This is particularly significant in the case where a few idioms sound rather similar but have completely different meanings.
For example: To “bite the bullet”, means to tackle a difficult situation – while to “bite the dust”, means to die! You can surely imagine the confusion and even offence that may arise if you use the wrong one at the wrong time!
What next?
It must feel quite useful to have all the information in one place like this.
Well, imagine how useful you would find an English training course – where you’d have weeks’ worth of access to expert and experienced trainers, full of several such techniques, and plenty of opportunities to put them into practice.
At Hurray, we have some of the best trainers in Bangalore to provide you with assistance. Whether you need training for IELTS or PTE, or Spoken English training, we are at your service. And best of all, we offer our services online. We can help you reach your full potential!
You can reach out to us at info@hurrayedutech.com 8971357938, to learn more!
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