Everyday English Idioms

Everyday English Idioms

Idioms are an essential part of spoken English. Native speakers use them all the time in casual conversation, movies, TV shows, and even in texts. If you want to sound more natural, fluent, and confident, learning everyday English idioms is a must.

What Are Idioms?

Idioms are expressions whose meanings aren’t obvious from the individual words. They often have figurative meanings, which can confuse English learners. For example, “It’s raining cats and dogs” doesn’t mean animals are falling from the sky—it means it’s raining heavily.

List of Common Everyday English Idioms

Here’s a carefully selected list of idioms that you’ll hear all the time in real-life English conversations:

Idiom	Meaning	Example Sentence
A piece of cake	Something very easy	This quiz was a piece of cake!
Break the ice	Make people feel comfortable	He told a funny story to break the ice.
Hit the sack	Go to bed	I’m so tired. I need to hit the sack.
Let the cat out of the bag	Reveal a secret	She let the cat out of the bag about the party.
Under the weather	Feeling sick	I’m feeling under the weather today.
Once in a blue moon	Very rarely	We go hiking once in a blue moon.
Spill the beans	Reveal secret information	Tell us! Spill the beans!
Bite the bullet	Accept a difficult situation	I hate the dentist, but I had to bite the bullet.
Hit the nail on the head	Say exactly the right thing	You hit the nail on the head with that answer.
The ball is in your court	It’s your decision now	I’ve done my part; the ball is in your court.
Costs an arm and a leg	Very expensive	That car costs an arm and a leg!
Burn the midnight oil	Work late into the night	I burned the midnight oil finishing the report.
Let someone off the hook	Avoid punishment	She forgot her homework but the teacher let her off the hook.
On cloud nine	Extremely happy	I was on cloud nine after getting the job.
Pull someone’s leg	Joke or tease	Don’t worry—I’m just pulling your leg!
When pigs fly	Something that will never happen	He’ll clean his room when pigs fly!
Break a leg	Good luck	Break a leg in your audition today!
See eye to eye	Agree completely	We finally see eye to eye on that topic.
Add fuel to the fire	Make a situation worse	Yelling just added fuel to the fire.
Jump on the bandwagon	Join a trend	Everyone’s jumping on the bandwagon with that new app.
Cry over spilled milk	Worry about past mistakes	Don’t cry over spilled milk—it’s done.
Kick the bucket	Die	Sadly, the old man kicked the bucket.
Go the extra mile	Do more than expected	She always goes the extra mile for her team.
Hit the road	Leave or begin a journey	Let’s hit the road before traffic gets bad.
In hot water	In trouble	He’s in hot water for missing class.
The tip of the iceberg	A small part of something bigger	The late payment was just the tip of the iceberg.
Throw in the towel	Give up	After failing again, he threw in the towel.
Be all ears	Listening carefully	I’m all ears—go on with your story!
Cold feet	Nervous before a big decision	She got cold feet before her big speech.
Bend over backwards	Try hard to help	He bent over backwards to meet the deadline.
Cut to the chase	Get to the point	Let’s cut to the chase—what’s the issue?
Give someone a hand	Help someone	Can you give me a hand with this box?
Back to square one	Start again	That didn’t work—back to square one.
Keep your fingers crossed	Hope for the best	Keep your fingers crossed for the results.
Don’t judge a book by its cover	Don’t judge by appearance	She seems rude, but she’s very kind—don’t judge a book by its cover.
Go down in flames	Fail dramatically	His startup went down in flames.
It’s not rocket science	It’s not difficult	Just follow the steps—it’s not rocket science.
Get your act together	Organize yourself	You need to get your act together before the meeting.
Keep an eye on	Watch carefully	Please keep an eye on my phone.
Miss the boat	Miss an opportunity	I missed the boat on those concert tickets.
Burn bridges	Damage relationships permanently	Don’t burn bridges with your former boss.

Learning idioms doesn’t just make your English better it makes it real. Whether you’re chatting with friends or watching Netflix, these idioms will help you understand and speak like a native speaker.

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