Idiom Meaning

A blessing in disguise a good thing that seemed

bad at first

A dime a dozen Something common

Beat around the bush Avoid saying what you

mean, usually because it
is uncomfortable

Better late than never Better to arrive late than

not to come at all

Bite the bullet To get something over

with because it is
inevitable

Break a leg Good luck

Call it a day Stop working on
something

Cut somebody some slack Don't be so critical

Cutting corners Doing something poorly

in order to save time or
money

Easy does it Slow down

Get out of hand Get out of control

Get something out of your Do the thing you've been

system wanting to do so you can
move on

Get your act together Work better or leave

Give someone the benefit Trust what someone says

of the doubt
Go back to the drawing Start over
board

Hang in there Don't give up

Hit the sack Go to sleep

It's not rocket science It's not complicated

Let someone off the hook To not hold someone

responsible for something

Make a long story short Tell something briefly

Miss the boat It's too late

No pain, no gain You have to work for what

you want

On the ball Doing a good job

Pull someone's leg To joke with someone

Pull yourself together Calm down

So far so good Things are going well so

far

Speak of the devil The person we were just

talking about showed up!

That's the last straw My patience has run out

The best of both worlds An ideal situation

Time flies when you're You don't notice how long

having fun something lasts when it's
fun

To get bent out of shape To get upset

To make matters worse Make a problem worse

Under the weather Sick

We'll cross that bridge Let's not talk about that

when we come to it problem right now

Wrap your head around Understand something

something complicated

You can say that again That's true, I agree

Your guess is as good as I have no idea

mine
Idiom Meaning

A bird in the hand is worth What you have is worth

two in the bush more than what you
might have later

A penny for your thoughts Tell me what you're

thinking

A penny saved is a penny Money you save today

earned you can spend later

A perfect storm the worst possible

situation

A picture is worth 1000 Better to show than tell

words

Actions speak louder than Believe what people do

words and not what they say
Add insult to injury To make a bad situation
worse

Barking up the wrong tree To be mistaken, to be

looking for solutions in
the wrong place

Birds of a feather flock People who are alike are

together often friends (usually
used negatively)

Bite off more than you can Take on a project that

chew you cannot finish

Break the ice Make people feel more

comfortable

By the skin of your teeth Just barely

Comparing apples to Comparing two things

oranges that cannot be compared
Costs an arm and a leg Very expensive

Do something at the drop Do something without

of a hat having planned
beforehand

Do unto others as you Treat people fairly. Also

would have them do unto known as "The Golden
you Rule"

Don't count your chickens Don't count on

before they hatch something good
happening until it's
happened.

Don't cry over spilt milk There's no reason to

complain about
something that can't be
fixed

Don't give up your day job You're not very good at

this
Don't put all your eggs in What you're doing is too
one basket risky

Every cloud has a silver Good things come after

lining bad things

Get a taste of your own Get treated the way

medicine you've been treating
others (negative)

Give someone the cold Ignore someone

shoulder

Go on a wild goose chase To do something

pointless

Good things come to those Be patient

who wait

He has bigger fish to fry He has bigger things to

take care of than what
we are talking about now
He's a chip off the old The son is like the father
block

Hit the nail on the head Get something exactly

right

Ignorance is bliss You're better off not

knowing

It ain't over till the fat lady This isn't over yet
sings

It takes one to know one You're just as bad as I

am

It's a piece of cake It's easy

It's raining cats and dogs It's raining hard

Kill two birds with one Get two things done with
stone a single action
Let the cat out of the bag Give away a secret

Live and learn I made a mistake

Look before you leap Take only calculated

risks

On thin ice On probation. If you

make another mistake,
there will be trouble.

Once in a blue moon Rarely

Play devil's advocate To argue the opposite,

just for the sake of
argument

Put something on ice Put a projet on hold

Rain on someone's parade To spoil something

Saving for a rainy day Saving money for later

Slow and steady wins the Reliability is more

race important than speed

Spill the beans Give away a secret

Take a rain check Postpone a plan

Take it with a grain of salt Don’t take it too seriously

The ball is in your court It's your decision

The best thing since sliced A really good invention

bread

The devil is in the details It looks good from a

distance, but when you
look closer, there are
problems
The early bird gets the The first people who
worm arrive will get the best
stuff

The elephant in the room The big issue, the

problem people are
avoiding

The whole nine yards Everything, all the way.

There are other fish in the It's ok to miss this

sea opportunity. Others will
arise.

There's a method to his He seems crazy but

madness actually he's clever

There's no such thing as a Nothing is entirely free

free lunch

Throw caution to the wind Take a risk

You can't have your cake You can't have
and eat it too everything

You can't judge a book by This person or thing may

its cover look bad, but it's good
inside
Idiom Meaning

A little learning is a People who don't

dangerous thing understand something
fully are dangerous

A snowball effect Events have momentum

and build upon each
other

A snowball's chance in hell No chance at all

A stitch in time saves nine Fix the problem now

because it will get worse
later

A storm in a teacup A big fuss about a small

problem

An apple a day keeps the Apples are good for you

doctor away
An ounce of prevention is You can prevent a
worth a pound of cure problem with little effort.
Fixing it later is harder.

As right as rain Perfect

Bolt from the blue Something that

happened without
warning

Burn bridges Destroy relationships

Calm before the storm Something bad is

coming, but right now it's
calm

Come rain or shine No matter what

Curiosity killed the cat Stop asking questions

Cut the mustard Do a good job

Don't beat a dead horse Move on, this subject is
over

Every dog has his day Everyone gets a chance

at least once

Familiarity breeds The better you know

contempt someone the less you
like him

Fit as a fiddle In good health

Fortune favours the bold Take risks

Get a second wind Have more energy after

having been tired

Get wind of something Hear news of something

secret

Go down in flames Fail spectacularly

Haste makes waste You'll make mistakes if
you rush through
something

Have your head in the Not be concentrating

clouds

He who laughs last laughs I'll get you back for what
loudest you did

Hear something straight Hear something from

from the horse's mouth the person involved

He's not playing with a full He's dumb

deck

He's off his rocker He's crazy

He's sitting on the fence He can't make up his

mind
It is a poor workman who If you can't do the job,
blames his tools don't blame it on others

It is always darkest before Things are going to get

the dawn better

It takes two to tango One person alone isn't

responsible. Both
people are involved.

Jump on the bandwagon Follow a trend, do what

everyone else is doing

Know which way the wind Understand the situation

is blowing (usually negative)

Leave no stone unturned Look everywhere

Let sleeping dogs lie Stop discussing an

issue
Like riding a bicycle Something you never
forget how to do

Like two peas in a pod They're always together

Make hay while the sun Take advantage of a

shines good situation

On cloud nine Very happy

Once bitten, twice shy You're more cautious

when you've been hurt
before

Out of the frying pan and Things are going from

into the fire bad to worse

Run like the wind Run fast

Shape up or ship out Work better or leave

Snowed under Busy

That ship has sailed It's too late

The pot calling the kettle Someone criticizing

black someone else he is just
as bad

There are clouds on the Trouble is coming

horizon

Those who live in glass People who are morally

houses shouldn't throw questionable shouldn't
stones criticize others

Through thick and thin In good times and in bad

times

Time is money Work quickly

Waste not, want not Don't waste things and
you'll always have
enough

We see eye to eye We agree

Weather the storm Go through something

difficult

Well begun is half done Getting a good start is

important

When it rains it pours Everything is going

wrong at once

You can catch more flies You'll get what you want
with honey than you can by being nice
with vinegar

You can lead a horse to You can't force someone

water, but you can't make to make the right
him drink decision
You can't make an omelet There's always a cost to
without breaking some doing something
eggs