!Most Common Idioms in English...and what they mean
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!Most Common Idioms in English...and what they mean
The English language is one of the vastest and most vivid languages in the world. It is made up of over 1.5 million words. Over and above that, the same word can have a variety of different meanings depending on the context it is put in; two (or more) words can have the exact same spelling but are pronounced differently, depending on their meanings.
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Today's article will mainly focus on those combinations of words which
are commonly referred to as idioms or idiomatic expressions. It is important to point out that idioms use language in a non-literal (and sometimes metaphorical) way.
This implies that ‘the meaning of the idiomatic expression cannot be deduced by looking at the meaning of the individual words that it is made up of' (Cambridge Encyclopaedia of the English Language, David Crystal). Another important feature to point out is that idioms are fixed, which means that people cannot just decide to make up their own.
The following is a list of some of the most widely-used idioms in everyday English and their meanings. This will hopefully help to illustrate Crystal's point in the previous paragraph clearly
Idioms, can you guess their meanings?
A penny for your thoughts
This idiom is used as a way of asking someone what they are thinking about.
Add insult to injury
When people add insult to injury, they make a bad situation even worse.
A hot potato
This idiom is used to speak of an issue (especially in current affairs) which many people are talking about.
Once in a blue moon
This is used when something happens very rarely.
Caught between two stools
When someone finds it difficult to choose between two alternatives.
See eye to eye
This idiom is used to say that two (or more people) agree on something.
Hear it on the grapevine
This means ‘to hear a rumour' about something or someone.
Miss the boat
This idiom is used to say that someone missed his or her chance at something.
Kill two birds with one stone
This means ‘to do two things at the same time'.
On the ball
When someone understands the situation well.
Cut corners
When something is done badly to save money. For example, when someone buys products that are cheap but not of good quality.
To hear something straight from the horse's mouth
To hear something from the authoritative source.
Costs an arm and a leg
When something is very expensive.
The last straw
The final problem in a series of problems.
Take what someone says with a pinch of salt
This means not to take what someone says too seriously. There is a big possibility that what he/she says is only partly true.
Sit on the fence
This is used when someone does not want to choose or make a decision.
The best of both worlds
All the advantages.
Put wool over other people's eyes
This means to deceive someone into thinking well of them.
Feeling a bit under the weather
Feeling slightly ill.
Speak of the devil!
This expression is used when the person you have just been talking about arrives.
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