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The50mostusefulIdiomsandtheirMeaningAliston1page

FamousIdioms|Meaning
CommonlyusedIdioms
IDIOM:AMA
ALANGUAGE

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H A T

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TU R A L

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Every language has its own collection of wise sayings. They offer advice about how to live and also transfer some underlying ideas, principles and
valuesofagivenculture/society.Thesesayingsarecalled"idioms"orproverbsiftheyarelonger.Thesecombinationsofwordshave(rarelycomplete
sentences)a"figurativemeaning"meaning,theybasicallyworkwith"pictures".
This List of commonly used idioms and sayings (in everyday conversational English), can help to speak English by learning English idiomatic
expressions.Thisisalist,whichcontainsexactly66ofthemostcommonlyusedidiomsandtheirmeaning.

SmartIdioms
Ahotpotato
Speakofanissue(mostlycurrent)whichmanypeoplearetalkingaboutandwhichisusuallydisputed

Apennyforyourthoughts
Awayofaskingwhatsomeoneisthinking
Actionsspeaklouderthanwords

People'sintentionscanbejudgedbetterbywhattheydothanwhattheysay.

Add insult to injury

Tofurtheralosswithmockeryorindignitytoworsenanunfavorablesituation.

Anarmandaleg
Veryexpensiveorcostly.Alargeamountofmoney.
Atthedropofahat
Meaning:withoutanyhesitationinstantly.

Backtothedrawingboard
Whenanattemptfailsandit'stimetostartallover.

Ballisinyourcourt
Itisuptoyoutomakethenextdecisionorstep

Barking up the wrong tree

Lookinginthewrongplace.Accusingthewrongperson

Begladtoseethebackof
Behappywhenapersonleaves.

Beat around the bush

Avoidingthemaintopic.Notspeakingdirectlyabouttheissue.

Bestofbothworlds
Meaning:Alltheadvantages.
Bestthingsinceslicedbread

Agoodinventionorinnovation.Agoodideaorplan.

Biteoffmorethanyoucanchew
Totakeonataskthatiswaytobig.

Blessingindisguise
Somethinggoodthatisn'trecognizedatfirst.
Burnthemidnightoil
Toworklateintothenight,alludingtothetimebeforeelectriclighting.
Can'tjudgeabookbyitscover

Cannotjudgesomethingprimarilyonappearance.
Caughtbetweentwostools
Whensomeonefindsitdifficulttochoosebetweentwoalternatives.
Costsanarmandaleg
Thisidiomisusedwhensomethingisveryexpensive.

Crossthatbridgewhenyoucometoit
Dealwithaproblemifandwhenitbecomesnecessary,notbefore.

Cry over spilt milk

Whenyoucomplainaboutalossfromthepast.

Curiositykilledthecat

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The50mostusefulIdiomsandtheirMeaningAliston1page
BeingInquisitivecanleadyouintoanunpleasantsituation.

Cutcorners
Whensomethingisdonebadlytosavemoney.

Cutthemustard[possiblyderivedfrom"cutthemuster"]
Tosucceedtocomeuptoexpectationsadequateenoughtocompeteorparticipate

Devil's Advocate
Topresentacounterargument

Don't count your chickens before the eggs have hatched

Thisidiomisusedtoexpress"Don'tmakeplansforsomethingthatmightnothappen".

Don't give up the day job

Youarenotverygoodatsomething.Youcoulddefinitelynotdoitprofessionally.

Don'tputallyoureggsinonebasket
Donotputallyourresourcesinonepossibility.

Drastictimescallfordrasticmeasures
Whenyouareextremelydesperateyouneedtotakedrasticactions.

Elvishasleftthebuilding
Theshowhascometoanend.It'sallover.

Everycloudhasasilverlining
Beoptimistic,evendifficulttimeswillleadtobetterdays.

Farcryfrom
Verydifferentfrom.

Feelabitundertheweather
Meaning:Feelingslightlyill.
Give the benefit of the doubt

Believesomeone'sstatement,withoutproof.

Hearitonthegrapevine
Thisidiommeans'tohearrumors'aboutsomethingorsomeone.

Hit the nail on the head

Doorsaysomethingexactlyright
Hitthesack/sheets/hay

Togotobed.

Intheheatofthemoment
Overwhelmedbywhatishappeninginthemoment.

Ittakestwototango
Actionsorcommunicationsneedmorethanoneperson
Jump on the bandwagon

Joinapopulartrendoractivity.

Keep something at bay

Keepsomethingaway.

Killtwobirdswithonestone
Thisidiommeans,toaccomplishtwodifferentthingsatthesametime.

Laststraw
Thefinalprobleminaseriesofproblems.

Let sleeping dogs lie

Meaningdonotdisturbasituationasitissinceitwouldresultintroubleorcomplications.

Let the cat out of the bag

Toshareinformationthatwaspreviouslyconcealed

Makealongstoryshort
Cometothepointleaveoutdetails

Methodtomymadness
Anassertionthat,despiteone'sapproachseemingrandom,thereactuallyisstructuretoit.

Misstheboat
Thisidiomisusedtosaythatsomeonemissedhisorherchance

Notasparkofdecency
Meaning:Nomanners
Notplayingwithafulldeck
Someonewholacksintelligence.

http://www.smartwords.org/quotessayings/idiomsmeaning.html

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The50mostusefulIdiomsandtheirMeaningAliston1page
Offone'srocker
Crazy,demented,outofone'smind,inaconfusedorbefuddledstateofmind,senile.

Ontheball
Whensomeoneunderstandsthesituationwell.

Onceinabluemoon
Meaning:Happensveryrarely.
Picturepaintsathousandwords

Avisualpresentationisfarmoredescriptivethanwords.

Pieceofcake
Ajob,taskorotheractivitythatiseasyorsimple.

Putwooloverotherpeople'seyes
Thismeanstodeceivesomeoneintothinkingwellofthem.

Seeeyetoeye
Thisidiomisusedtosaythattwo(ormorepeople)agreeonsomething.
Sit on the fence

Thisisusedwhensomeonedoesnotwanttochooseormakeadecision.

Speakofthedevil!
Thisexpressionisusedwhenthepersonyouhavejustbeentalkingaboutarrives.
Stealsomeone'sthunder
Totakethecreditforsomethingsomeoneelsedid.

Take with a grain of salt

Thismeansnottotakewhatsomeonesaystooseriously.

Tasteofyourownmedicine
Meansthatsomethinghappenstoyou,orisdonetoyou,thatyouhavedonetosomeoneelse

Tohearsomethingstraightfromthehorse'smouth
Tohearsomethingfromtheauthoritativesource.

Wholenineyards
Everything.Allofit.

Wouldn'tbecaughtdead
Wouldneverliketodosomething
Your guess is as good as mine

Tohavenoidea,donotknowtheanswertoaquestion

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