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Understanding Idioms: Definition and Examples

Rumman Ansari July 28, 2024 672 views

Why are idioms useful?

Idioms are very common in spoken English and informal written English, so it is important - and fun - to learn some of them.

In spoken English, they are used in most situations, from friendly conversations to business meetings.

In written English, they are especially common in newspapers because the writers want to make the headlines and articles interesting and lively.

You will not learn old-fashioned idioms like raining cats and dogs! You will learn idioms that are frequently used in modern everyday English.

atnyla concentrates on about 130 of the most commonly used idioms.

The idioms are all contained in short, entertaining texts, so that you can easily see the meaning of each idiom and how it is used.

Idioms	Meaning	Examples
no rocket scientist	not very intelligent person	Does it matter if someone says you’re no rocket scientist? Yes, it does! This phrase means not very intelligent.
dark horse	secretive person	What if a newspaper describes a politician as a dark horse? This means nobody knows much about him.
party pooper	person who spoils fun	And a party pooper? This means a person who spoils enjoyable activities by refusing to join in. This idiom is also useful in apologies: ‘I’m sorry to be a party pooper, but I have to go home now.’

Idioms	Meaning	Examples
turn heads	attract a lot of attention	A Hollywood actress once met the British philosopher, Bertrand Russell. Whereas he was quite ugly, she turned heads wherever she went.
full of yourself	too pleased with yourself	She was rather full of herself and said to Russell, ‘they say I’m the most beautiful woman in the world, and I hear you’re the smartest man. Imagine if we had a child with your brains and my beauty.’
lost for words	not knowing what to say	Russell, who was never lost for words, replied, ‘Imagine if it had my beauty and your brains.’

Idioms	Meaning	Examples
the man in the street	an average person	Say ‘Sean Connery’ to the man in the street and he’ll probably say ‘James Bond’. The famous British secret agent, 007, has been played by six actors in the last forty years, but Connery was the original and probably the best.
larger than life	more exciting than normal	He was larger than life both on the screen and in the flesh. Even in his 60s, he was chosen by the readers of an international women’s magazine as The World’s Most Attractive Man.
in the flesh	as a real person

Idioms	Meaning	Examples
couch potato	a lazy person	Some twins are identical, but my brother and I are definitely not. He’s a couch potato who watches television all weekend and thinks exercise is a dirty word, whereas I’m always on the go, playing sport, socialising, working and so on.
dirty word	something unpleasant
on the go	active
pain in the neck	a nuisance	He says I’m a pain in the neck because I never stop doing things and making a noise while he’s trying to watch the TV or sleep.

Anger, happiness, love, hate, fear, boredom - whatever you feel, there’s an idiom to put it into words.

Idioms	Meaning	Examples
leaves me cold	has no effect on me	if something doesn’t excite you at all, you can say, it leaves me cold.
on edge	anxious	You can express moderate feelings such as I’m on edge. (Which is how you might feel before making a speech or having a tooth out)
(-ed) to death	extremely (-ed)	Strong feelings, such as I was bored to death. I was worried to death. I was scared to death.

English Grammar