American Idioms - List One Flashcards
Piece of cake
Very easy
Break the ice
To initiate conversation or friendship
Hit the hay
To go to bed
Kick the bucket
To die
A dime a dozen
Very common, inexpensive
Under the weather
Feeling ill or sick
Let the cat out of the bag
To reveal a secret
Bite the bullet
To endure a painful situation or task
Cost an arm and a leg
Very expensive
Jump on the bandwagon
To join a popular trend or activity
Burn the midnight oil
To work late into the night
On cloud nine
Feeling extreme happiness or euphoria
Call it a day
To stop working or stop what one is doing
All ears
Fully attentive and listening closely
Cut to the chase
To get to the point quickly
Hold your horses
To wait patiently
Break a leg
Good luck (especially in a performance)
Spill the beans
To disclose a secret
Catch someone red-handed
To catch someone in the act
Hit the nail on the head
To describe something accurately
Get cold feet
To become afraid or hesitant
Barking up the wrong tree
To pursue the wrong course of action
Butter someone up
To flatter someone in order to gain favor
When pigs fly
Something that will never happen
A taste of your own medicine
Experiencing what you inflict
Break a sweat
To exert physical effort
Beating around the bush
Avoiding the main topic
Don’t cry over spilled milk
Don’t worry about past mistakes
Hit the road
To leave, to start a journey
It’s a small world
Phrase used to express coincidence
Let sleeping dogs lie
To leave things as they are
Miss the boat
To miss an opportunity
On the ball
Alert and competent
Take with a grain of salt
To be skeptical about information
Out of the blue
Unexpectedly
Saved by the bell
Rescued from an unwanted situation
To steal someone’s thunder
To take credit for someone else’s achievement
Throw in the towel
To give up or surrender
Up in the air
Uncertain or undecided
A penny for your thoughts
Asking someone what they are thinking
Back to the drawing board
To start over after a failure
Break the bank
To spend a lot of money
Don’t put all your eggs in one basket
To not risk everything on a single opportunity
Drive someone up the wall
To irritate or annoy someone
Face the music
To confront the consequences of one’s actions
Have a blast
To have a great time
Keep an eye on
To watch or monitor closely
Make a long story short
To summarize briefly
On the same page
In agreement or understanding
