by Kate Woodford
A reader of this blog recently asked for a post on idioms that are used in everyday English. This seemed like a reasonable request. After all, if you are going to make the effort to learn a set of English idioms, you want those idioms to be useful. The question, then, was how to decide which idioms to write about. There are a great number of idioms in the English language, but some are rarely used. In the end, I decided to keep an idioms diary for a week, and make a note of any idioms that I heard people use in conversation. From this set of idioms, I chose a few that I considered to be common in contemporary, conversational English and have presented them here.
Early in the week, a radio presenter told his colleague that she was ‘opening up a can of worms’ when she said something that many people would disagree with. A can of worms (informal) is a situation or subject that causes a lot of problems or arguments when you start to deal with it or discuss it. The verb ‘open (up)’ is often used with this phrase. The same presenter later talked about occasions when he really wanted to say what he thought, but instead ‘bit his tongue’. To bite your tongue is to stop yourself from saying something that might upset someone or make them angry.
A friend commented that her husband was a ‘glass-half-full person’. This idiom (which has a number of variations) is heard so often, it has become a cliché. A ‘glass-half-full person’ is an optimist, someone who always thinks that good things will happen. Meanwhile, as you might imagine, a ‘glass-half-empty person’ is a pessimist, someone who always thinks that bad things will happen. (The idea here is that two people can look at the same glass and see completely different things. The optimist sees only the drink that is still there and the pessimist only the drink that has gone.) To express the same idea, people sometimes remark that a particular person’s ‘glass is always half full/empty’.
Another friend, speaking about her plans, said that she would ‘kill two birds with one stone’ by leaving her car at a garage and then visiting a friend who lived near the garage to return a book that she had borrowed. To kill two birds with one stone is to succeed in achieving two things at the same time.
On the same day, a woman sitting near me on the train told her friend that she didn’t ‘see eye to eye’ with her sister-in-law. If you don’t see eye to eye with someone, you have different opinions. She also complained about her brother, saying that she was ‘tired of waiting for him to get his act together’. If you get your act together (informal), you start to do things in an organised and effective way. The idiom can refer either to a particular piece of work or to someone’s whole life.
At the end of the week, my sister reported that she had ‘bitten off more than’ she ‘could chew’ with a project at work. To bite off more than you can chew (informal) is to try to do something that is too difficult for you or involves too much work. This idiom reminded me of something that I frequently say to my food-loving 8-year-old son: Your eyes are bigger than your stomach! This is said to a person who has put too much food on their plate and cannot eat it all.
It’s an informative article for aspirants who want to develop their english. thank you.
Good and informative more credit.
I adore English;please could send me some on my facebook daily?yours faithfulness
Send me any infomation l need to improve my English level.
Thanks for sharing. It is a great article that i have read this week. 😊
Educative,informative keep it up and give us more articles on phonetic,oral english and use of past tense,past pati…le,1st, 2n,and 3rd person singular etc.thank you.
past tense vs. past participle
This is a tough one, as there are many occasions in which they are the same word. The general definition is that past tense is just the verb, and the participle is used with “has” in front.
Past Tense: John ran a race.
Past Participle: John has run a race.
I think learning, understanding and applying idioms in everyday conversation and in writing by categorising them into objects, things and other ways is an effective way to foster interest and better use of idioms besides improving our memory of them for recall.
interesting 🤗
Pingback: Figures of speech | ELT Infodump
sb’s eyes are bigger than their belly/stomach
There is an exact wording in Guangdong, one southern province of China, namely, eyesight is wide but belly is narrow
Great article ,can you send me on my facebook ,god bless you abonduntly
Hi, you can keep informed on all news, blog posts and Word of the Day by joining us at https://www.facebook.com/CambridgeDictionariesOnline
This is an excellent resource. I teach 8th grade English, and this will be something great to refer back to because students have difficulty with idioms!
Reblogged this on ifidienowwhowillfeedmycats and commented:
Teaching Resource!!
very useful for students:: thank u so muchn can’t wait for the next article, cheers
That’s lovely to hear – thank you! We regularly post blogs on idioms so keep checking in! All the best!
interesting fact – “to kill two birds with one stone ” this very idiom is also commonly used in Chinese and Japanese !!
Pingback: Are you a glass-half-full person? (Everyday Idioms) – Cambridge Dictionary About words blog | Editorial Words
Reblogged this on egilbi.
Pingback: Guide my Essay M'sia
Hahaha love Ronnie want interpretation from China that was hilarious
Reblogged this on TRADUÇÃO TÉCNICA E JURAMENTADA.
Reblogged this on premkumar131's Blog.
Pingback: HALF FULL OR HALF EMPTY | It's All in Finding the Right Words
We the non native speakers also learn from your sentences you use in your blog apart from the idioms. So after seeing sentences like “the English language” or “This idiom reminded me of something that I frequently say to my food-loving 8-year-old son.” Is it right to use “the” before the name of a language. And should you not use “reminds” here. I request you to explain.
Hello the first time i was asked are you a glass-half-full person? I said it depends on if the glass was full and i drank half of it or the glass was filled halfway and i didnt drink anything from it yet. Would a therapist consider me as confused and unsure about what i wanted?
Do you have any app? it is convenient to use app ergo if you have, please share.
Kate Woodford’s article on everyday idioms is very interesting and educative indeed.
i meant interesting
is it bad to say i disagree.
cause one can say its half full which yeah they are positive. and half empty you may be a negative person.
yet if you think bout it a realistic person can maybe also say half empty. one is because i see it as the first thing you see when you look at it. its empty on the top. like if you told someone can i have water and they come back with it half way made. what are you gonna ask? your gonna ask why is it half empty.
yet that is just my opinion. yet i am telling it straight on how it is.
by taking a quiz on the different websites and all saying i am a realistic person i also said glass half empty.
Wow! Interesting! I am a glass half-full person that you’ll post more idioms.
Good information! I would like to see more of them. Thank you!
Thank u for sharing valuable knowledge and please intimate me while any update
You’re welcome! We publish a new post every Wednesday, so keep checking in! Best wishes from Cambridge.
I wonder why I have not known about this rich Cambridge Dictionary. I love it and will share it as far as I can.
Isaac, that’s lovely to hear – thank you! We publish a new post every week so keep checking in. Best wishes from Cambridge.