Do You Want to Learn to Speak in English and Have an Interesting Conversation?
IDIOMS AND PHRASES CAN HELP YOU TO LEARN ENGLISH LANGUAGE AT A MUCH FASTER PACE
What is an IDIOM?
A saying or a group of words when you look at it in isolation it has no exact meaning to it. What this means is that idioms don’t mean exactly what they say in literal terms.
Idioms are also called idiomatic expressions. These idioms have been accepted in day-to-day conversations and even in writings.
Look at the idiom ‘It’s raining cats and dogs.’
Now, by reading this idiom you may not be able to understand the meaning behind it. What does it mean by saying ‘It’s raining cats and dogs? Are cats and dogs falling from the sky?
Of course not!
So, in order to understand the implied meaning behind any idiom what we need to do is get familiar with these idioms.
How to Get Familiar With Idioms?
1. Read a lot of idioms and learn the meaning behind them.
2. Understand how these idioms are used in a sentence to say something very common in a different, interesting, sometimes humorous, and colorful manner.
3. Practice creating your very own sentences using the same idioms and go ahead and use them in your daily conversation.
The Benefit of Learning Idiomatic Expressions:
If you Want to learn to speak in English in the next 60 Days start learning Idiomatic Expressions.
One of the biggest advantages of learning English idiomatic expressions is that you will pick up the English language very fast. While using these expressions in your day-to-day conversation most of the time you need not worry about grammar. You can directly use these expressions in your sentence to say something and you will be grammatically correct.
So, learning Idioms can facilitate an individual to gain mastery over the language.
Idioms and phrases are also an integral part of Competitive Exams conducted across India. Questions based on Idioms and Phrases are used to test the Verbal Ability of the candidate.
Therefore in the long run it pays to have knowledge of Idioms.
20 IDIOMS WITH THEIR MEANING
AND EXAMPLE SENTENCES
Here I share with you 20 Idioms or Idiomatic expressions that will give you a hang of using these idioms to learn to express your thoughts in a simple, easy, and colorful way thereby coming out as a good speaker of the English language.
So, let’s dive right into it and learn to have a conversation in English.
IDIOMS WITH EXAMPLES:
1. To get one’s feet wet:
To start doing a new activity or learning to do something new in usually a gentle and mild way so that it doesn’t appear too difficult.
SENTENCE EXAMPLE:
I want to become a coder, so I thought of getting my feet wet by joining this introductory course on coding.
2. It’s all Latin and Greek to me:
Something very difficult to understand by a person.
SENTENCE EXAMPLE:
I don’t understand all those hardware technicalities of a Smartphone. It’s all Latin and Greek to me.
3. Sow the seeds for success :
To take positive actions today that will lead to or bear the fruits of success in the future.
SENTENCE EXAMPLE:
If today you focus on doing the Right things and not the Good things then you are sowing the seeds for success.
4. Pull your socks up :
To consciously make an effort to improve present behavior or actions as it is not good enough to achieve one’s goals.
SENTENCE EXAMPLE:
You have been wasting all these months but now you will have to pull your socks up if you want to get good marks in your exams.
5. Hungry for success :
An individual or a team who is ambitious.
SENTENCE EXAMPLE:
Rohan has topped the class but he is still hungry for success and wants to be the college topper.
6. To play with fire :
To do something that is very risky or extremely dangerous that can cause trouble or result in harming you.
SENTENCE EXAMPLE:
Participating in some get-rich-quick scheme is like playing with fire, you could lose a big amount of your hard earned money in the process.
7. Over the moon :
In a state of being extremely happy or delighted.
SENTENCE EXAMPLE:
Hey, did you hear? Seema has topped the class. I am sure right now she must be over the moon.
8. The ball is in your court :
Now you have to make a decision. It’s up to you now.
SENTENCE EXAMPLE:
I’ve given everything that you needed to complete the project, now the ball is in your court.
9. Cock and Bull story :
Telling a story or an excuse that is not likely to be true.
SENTENCE EXAMPLE:
Some students daily come late to college and are ready with the same old cock and bull story of the bus tire (tyre) getting punctured.
10. Under the weather :
Not feeling well or feeling slightly unwell.
SENTENCE EXAMPLE:
Hey Ravi, it feels like you are under the weather. Why don’t you skip college today and take rest at home?
11. Raining cats and dogs :
When it rains heavily.
SENTENCE EXAMPLE:
Look at the rain. It’s raining cats and dogs. Its better to cancel our shopping trip and stay at home.
12. Piece of Cake :
Something that is very easy to do or simple to carry out.
SENTENCE EXAMPLE:
Don’t be under the impression that clearing the job interview will be a piece of cake - you will have to practice hard to be able to answer the questions.
13. Head in the clouds :
Having unrealistic ideas. Daydreaming and being unaware of what's going on. Thinking illogically or in a manner that suits one’s agenda.
SENTENCE EXAMPLE:
He is roaming with his head in the clouds thinking that he can easily pass the competitive exam.
14. Hold your horses :
Suggesting someone slow down, hold on or stop for a moment.
SENTENCE EXAMPLE:
My friends suggested I hold my horses and not rush in to start my business as I didn’t know the ABC of starting a business.
15. Cool as a cucumber :
Be calm and composed in a given situation and not getting emotional or hyper. A person who is not affected by external pressure.
SENTENCE EXAMPLE:
Even though the interviewer tried to instigate the candidate by asking stressful questions, the candidate remained as cool as a cucumber and answered all the questions to the satisfaction of the interviewer.
16. Hit the nail on the head :
To do or say something that is exactly correct and on the dot. To be precisely straight about something.
SENTENCE EXAMPLE:
Hey Shyam, you really hit the nail on the head when you said that repetition makes a man perfect in his skills.
17. Back to the drawing board :
To start working on something again because the first plan or effort failed. To start all over again.
SENTENCE EXAMPLE:
The only way to correct our mistakes is to go back to the drawing board and rework our designs.
18. Get a taste of your own medicine :
When an individual gets the same bad treatment that he has been giving others.
To treat someone in the same unpleasant manner as they have treated you.
SENTENCE EXAMPLE:
People who are behaving rudely with others should understand that one day someone will give them the taste of their own medicine.
19. All talk and no trousers :
Someone who only talks about taking big actions but in reality does nothing.
Boastful and shallow talk that never sees the light of the day.
SENTENCE EXAMPLE:
Have you heard about this guy? He keeps on talking about the million-dollar idea he has and how one day he will take the world by storm. But I have never seen him working on his plans. I think he is all talk and no trousers.
20. Storm in a teacup :
When a situation arises where people are upset and angry about something that is trivial, petty, or unimportant.
Something that is insignificant or not so serious still people making a fuss about it or blowing it out of proportion.
SENTENCE EXAMPLE:
The quarrel between Tina and Meena is just a storm in a teacup. They will get over it soon.
The kids quarrel a lot but it usually turns out to be a storm in a teacup.
With enough practice, these idioms will help you learn to speak English fluently sitting at home. Treat these idioms as a part of a course in English speaking and give your best shot at learning to speak good English.
In Conclusion
These were some important idioms that you can learn and start using it starting today!
There is an ocean of idioms out there and it is not possible to know about and learn all the idioms.
What I suggest is to seek out idioms that are relevant to the kind of conversations you have on a daily basis. This way you can narrow down how many idioms you should be learning.
As you progress in your English conversation and start having discussions at different levels you can search for new and relevant idioms that can add value to your conversation.
Remember, in order to master any language we need to continuously use it. The more we use English idioms in our day-to-day conversation the more confident we can become while conversing in the English Language.
Use the above idioms as English speaking practice exercise and see the magic happen.
ALL THE VERY BEST!
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