view from under a piece of furniture draped with white cloth - through a gap in the cloth, a girl's face is visible upside-down, as well as her hand holding a torch, as she searches for something that has fallen underneath the furniture - illustrating the concept of finding and discovering things

Searching out and tracking down: talking about finding or discovering things

On May 15, 2024May 10, 2024 By Liz WalterIn Idioms, the English language, Vocabulary8 Comments

Listen to the author reading this blog post:

My last post was about hiding things, and today I am writing about finding or discovering them.

Find is a very general word, used both for when you look for something deliberately or when you find it by accident. It is usually used to talk about an object or something you can see. For information, we are more likely to use the phrasal verb find out. Discover is used for objects and information, and tends to be used more when we find something by accident or for the first time:

I found my keys under a cushion.

How did you find out my address?

We discovered a secret door that led to a tunnel. Continue reading “Searching out and tracking down: talking about finding or discovering things” →

photograph of a green pea pod that has been split open to show two peas inside, illustrating the idiom "like two peas in a pod" used when talking about similarities

Dead ringers and peas in pods (Talking about similarities, Part 2)

On April 24, 2024April 16, 2024 By Kate WoodfordIn Idioms, the English language7 Comments

Listen to the author reading this blog post:

by Kate Woodford

Two weeks ago, I published a blog post on the language of describing similarities, including words such as identikit and analogous. This week I’m looking at idioms and phrases in this area. Continue reading “Dead ringers and peas in pods (Talking about similarities, Part 2)” →

close-up of a smartly-dressed person holding a folded broadsheet newspaper and leaning against the railing of a fence

Sitting on the fence (Newspaper idioms)

On March 27, 2024October 7, 2024 By Kate WoodfordIn Idioms, Idioms and phrases in newspapers, the English language21 Comments

Listen to the author reading this blog post:

by Kate Woodford

Today we’re looking at idioms from a range of national newspapers that were published on the same day. We do this every couple of months in order to provide you with up-to-date, frequently used idioms. Continue reading “Sitting on the fence (Newspaper idioms)” →

a crowd of paparazzi holding microphones and cameras, all looking at the viewer as though interviewing a celebrity, illustrating the concept of fame and being famous

World-famous and newfound fame (Collocations of ‘famous’ and ‘fame’)

On February 28, 2024April 2, 2024 By Kate WoodfordIn Idioms, the English language, Vocabulary6 Comments

Listen to the author reading this blog post:

by Kate Woodford

It’s said that the artist Andy Warhol once predicted that in the future, everyone would be world-famous for 15 minutes. We can’t say for certain what he meant by this. Perhaps he was reflecting on the desire that so many people have to be famous. Given this desire and the great level of interest in the lives of famous people, it is not surprising that there is a lot of vocabulary in this area. Continue reading “World-famous and newfound fame (Collocations of ‘famous’ and ‘fame’)” →

a young girl using a magnifying glass to look at a globe, illustrating the idiom "watch the world go by"

Watching the world go by (Idioms with ‘world’, Part 2)

On January 31, 2024January 29, 2024 By Kate WoodfordIn Idioms, the English language16 Comments

Listen to the author reading this blog post:

by Kate Woodford

In Part 1 of my ‘Idioms with the word “world”’ post, I looked at a variety of frequent and contemporary expressions, including ‘out of this world’ and ‘the best of both worlds’. Today’s post continues the ‘world idiom’ theme and includes an expression for discussing how to fix the world’s problems and another for relaxing by watching other people. Continue reading “Watching the world go by (Idioms with ‘world’, Part 2)” →

close-up of an oyster shell on a sandy beach, with a small globe inside it representing the Earth, on which Europe, Africa and the Americas are visible - illustrating the idiom "the world is your oyster"

The world is your oyster! (Idioms with the word ‘world’, Part 1)

On January 24, 2024January 18, 2024 By Kate WoodfordIn Idioms, the English language15 Comments

Listen to the author reading this blog post:

by Kate Woodford

If someone told you they were on top of the world you might well guess that they were very happy, but there are a great many ‘world’ idioms whose meaning isn’t quite so clear. In this post, I’ll be looking at the most common and useful of these and, because there are so many, the post will be in two parts. Continue reading “The world is your oyster! (Idioms with the word ‘world’, Part 1)” →

a group of exhausted hikers reaching the top of a steep mountain in the snow and mist, illustrating the concept of making an effort

Going the extra mile and elbow grease (Idioms for making an effort)

On January 10, 2024January 8, 2024 By Kate WoodfordIn Idioms, the English language, Vocabulary22 Comments

Listen to the author reading this blog post:

by Kate Woodford

If you’ve resolved to achieve something that requires a lot of effort in 2024, then this post is for you! Today I’m looking at idioms and phrases that we use to talk about making an effort. If you didn’t already know this, ‘make an effort‘ (= try hard) is a phrase itself, for example:

Can we all, please, make an effort to keep the kitchen a bit cleaner? Continue reading “Going the extra mile and elbow grease (Idioms for making an effort)” →

two businessmen in an office, with one holding out a sheet of paper to the other, who leans over to point something out as he offers advice

Hints, hacks and pointers (Words meaning ‘advice’)

On December 13, 2023December 5, 2023 By Kate WoodfordIn Idioms, Synonyms, the English language, Vocabulary11 Comments

Listen to the author reading this blog post:

by Kate Woodford

This week, we’re looking at alternatives to the word advice, including single word near-synonyms and phrases. We’ll start by considering the noun ‘advice’ itself because it has some nice collocations. You give advice and you get advice. If you do what someone advises you to do, you take or follow their advice: Continue reading “Hints, hacks and pointers (Words meaning ‘advice’)” →

a group of people standing around a man who is reading a newspaper under an umbrella, illustrating a post on the meaning of "the calm before the storm" and other idioms in newspapers

The calm before the storm (Newspaper idioms)

On October 25, 2023October 19, 2023 By Kate WoodfordIn Idioms, Idioms and phrases in newspapers, the English language28 Comments

Listen to the author reading this blog post:

by Kate Woodford

Readers of our About Words blog often ask us for posts on currently used English idioms. One way that we make sure we give you up-to-date idioms is by looking at expressions used in current newspapers. This week, the idioms come from a range of national newspapers that were published on 5 October 2023. Continue reading “The calm before the storm (Newspaper idioms)” →

a smiling woman reading a newspaper on the bus

A flash in the pan (Newspaper idioms)

On August 30, 2023August 24, 2023 By Kate WoodfordIn Idioms, Idioms and phrases in newspapers, the English language14 Comments

Listen to the author reading this blog post:

by Kate Woodford

Today’s post is the latest in my ‘newspaper idioms and phrases’ series. The aim of this series is to keep you supplied with up-to-date, frequent English idioms. As with previous ‘newspaper idioms’ posts, these expressions all come from a range of national newspapers published on the same day. Continue reading “A flash in the pan (Newspaper idioms)” →