{"id":13872,"date":"2023-01-27T01:59:38","date_gmt":"2023-01-27T08:59:38","guid":{"rendered":"<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Native English speakers love to use them in conversation, and you'll often find them popping up in books, TV shows, and movies as well. To perfect your English, you really need to be confident in using idioms and know the differen"},"modified":"2023-01-27T01:59:41","modified_gmt":"2023-01-27T08:59:41","slug":"20-english-idioms-that-everyone-should-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wordscoach.com\/blog\/20-english-idioms-that-everyone-should-know\/","title":{"rendered":"20 English idioms that everyone should know"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"words-head\" id=\"words-767956071\"><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-5017566440575750\" crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display:block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-5017566440575750\" \ndata-ad-slot=\"3340569236\" \ndata-ad-format=\"auto\"><\/ins>\n<script> \n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); \n<\/script>\n<\/div>\n<p>Native English speakers love to use them in conversation, and you&#8217;ll often find them popping up in books, TV shows, and movies as well. To perfect your English, you really need to be confident in using idioms and know the difference between breaking a leg and pulling someone&#8217;s leg.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-luminous-vivid-orange-color\">Here are 20 English idioms that everyone should know:<\/mark><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-red-color\"><strong>1. Under the weather<\/strong><\/mark><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Meaning:<\/strong> Not very well<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Example: <\/strong>Your wife&#8217;s under the weather, but you didn&#8217;t want to miss it.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-red-color\">2. The ball is in your court<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Meaning:<\/strong> it is up to you<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Example: <\/strong>The ball is in your court. What you do now is up to you.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-red-color\">3. Spill the beans<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Meaning:<\/strong> To give away a secret<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Example: <\/strong>I&#8217;m not telling you the details because I know you&#8217;ll spill the beans.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-red-color\">4. Break a leg<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Meaning:<\/strong> good luck!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Example: <\/strong>Someone&#8217;s going to break a leg in this.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-red-color\">5. Pull someone\u2019s leg<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Meaning:<\/strong> deceive someone playfully<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Example: <\/strong>I panicked when he said the test was tomorrow, but then I realized he was just pulling my leg.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-red-color\">6. Sat on the fence<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Meaning:<\/strong> avoid making a decision or choice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Example: <\/strong>They are sitting on the fence and refusing to commit themselves.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-red-color\">7. Through thick and thin<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Meaning:<\/strong> through difficult times and situations<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Example: <\/strong>Through thick and thin, no matter what happens at my trial.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-red-color\">8. Once in a blue moon<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Meaning:<\/strong> very rarely; almost never<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Example: <\/strong>The love that transforms in magic, Once in a blue moon.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-red-color\">9. It\u2019s the best thing since sliced bread<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Meaning:<\/strong> It\u2019s really, really good<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Example: <\/strong>I&#8217;ve bought a new touchscreen computer, it&#8217;s the greatest thing since sliced bread, I can&#8217;t believe I ever worked without it.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-red-color\">10. Take it with a pinch of salt<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Meaning:<\/strong> regard something as exaggerated<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Example: <\/strong>You have to take everything she says with a pinch of salt, because she tends to exaggerate.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-red-color\">11. Come rain or shine<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Meaning:<\/strong> No matter what<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Example: <\/strong>I don&#8217;t know about you, but I plan to go out with my friends tomorrow come rain or shine.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-red-color\">12. Go down in flames<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Meaning:<\/strong> be destroyed by fire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Example: <\/strong>As your best friend, I cannot, in good conscience, watch you go down in flames anymore.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-red-color\">13. You can say that again<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Meaning:<\/strong> That\u2019s true<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Example: <\/strong>A: &#8220;The weather is so hot and humid today.&#8221; B: &#8220;You can say that again.&#8221;<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-red-color\"><strong>14. See eye to eye<\/strong><\/mark><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Meaning:<\/strong> be in full agreement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Example: <\/strong>My sisters don&#8217;t see eye to eye with me about the arrangements.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-red-color\">15. Jump on the bandwagon<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Meaning:<\/strong> Following a trend<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Example: <\/strong>Which is why so many politicians and union bureaucrats are trying to jump on the bandwagon.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-red-color\">16. As right as rain<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Meaning:<\/strong> completely healthy and normal<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Example: <\/strong>Couldn&#8217;t wake him up for a week, but now he&#8217;s as right as rain.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-red-color\">17. Beat around the bush<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Meaning:<\/strong> discuss a matter without coming to the point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Example: <\/strong>I shan&#8217;t beat around the bush, and I shall thank you to be absolutely blunt with me.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-red-color\">18. Hit the sack<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Meaning:<\/strong> go to bed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Example: <\/strong>Oh, actually, I&#8217;d love to, but I gotta hit the sack early tonight.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-red-color\">19. Miss the boat<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Meaning:<\/strong> be too slow to take advantage of an opportunity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Example: <\/strong>You can either get on board now, or you can miss the boat.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-red-color\">20. By the skin of your teeth<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Meaning:<\/strong> only just<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Example: <\/strong>You got away with that by the skin of your teeth.<br><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Native English speakers love to use them in conversation, and you&#8217;ll often find them popping up in books, TV shows, and movies as well. To perfect your English, you really need to be confident in using idioms and know the difference between breaking a leg and pulling someone&#8217;s leg.<\/p>\n<p>Here are 20 English idioms that everyone should know:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13875,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[81,26],"tags":[956,950,7147,5697,8935,955],"class_list":["post-13872","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-idioms","category-english","tag-common-english-idioms","tag-english-idioms","tag-english-idioms-and-phrases","tag-idioms-and-phrases","tag-idioms-you-need-to-know","tag-learn-english-idioms"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wordscoach.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13872","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wordscoach.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wordscoach.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wordscoach.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wordscoach.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13872"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.wordscoach.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13872\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wordscoach.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13875"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wordscoach.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13872"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wordscoach.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13872"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wordscoach.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13872"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}