Here are 20 English idioms that everyone should know:

An idiom is an expression that takes on a figurative meaning when certain words are combined, which is different from the literal definition of the individual words. For example, let’s say I said: ‘Don’t worry, driving out to your house is a piece of cake. But in this context, it’s a well-known idiom.

Common English idioms & expressions

• Under the weather. What does it mean?
• The ball is in your court. What does it mean?
• Spill the beans. What does it mean?
• Break a leg. What does it mean?
• Pull someone’s leg. What does it mean?
• Sat on the fence. What does it mean?
• Through thick and thin.
• Once in a blue moon.

An idiom is an expression or phrase whose meaning does not relate to the literal meaning of its words. In other words “Idioms mean something different than the individual words.” Students often confuse idioms with proverbs. For example, ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’ is a proverb – a general truth.

Here are 10 of the most common idioms that are easy to use in daily conversation:

1. “Hit the hay.” “Sorry, guys, I have to hit the hay now!”
2. “Up in the air”
3. “Stabbed in the back”
4. “Takes two to tango”
5. “Kill two birds with one stone.”
6. “Piece of cake”
7. “Costs an arm and a leg”
8. “Break a leg”

The most common English idioms

To “bite the bullet” is to “accept the inevitable impending hardship and endure the resulting pain with fortitude”. The phrase was first recorded by Rudyard Kipling in his 1891 novel The Light that Failed.

do one’s best Also, do one’s level best or one’s damnedest . Perform as well as one can, do the utmost possible, as in I’m doing my best to balance this statement, or She did her level best to pass the course, or He did his damnedest to get done in time.

an expression that uses words to mean something different than what they usually mean: You usually use the figure of speech “break a leg” to wish actors good luck.

I always say Thanks! Okay. Now I’ll say what it means. It’s an idiom & basically means Good Luck / Best of Luck/ Do Well / Knock ’em Dead.

An ironic or non-literal saying of uncertain origin (a dead metaphor), “break a leg” is commonly said to actors and musicians before they go on stage to perform, likely first used in this context in the United States in the 1930s or possibly 1920s, originally documented without specifically theatrical associations.

“More or less the same as telling actors to “break a leg”. If wishing people good fortune is tempting fate, then, logically, wishing them ill is likely to also bring about the contrarian result. Since telling dancers to “break a leg” is, well, kind of creepy, we say, “Merde”.

According to Wikipedia, the term: reflects a theatrical superstition in which wishing a person “good luck” is considered bad luck. People in theatre consider it bad luck to wish an actor good luck, so instead they wish the opposite, by saying “break a leg!”.

good luck

“Toi toi toi” (English: /ˈtɔɪ ˈtɔɪ ˈtɔɪ/) is an expression used in the performing arts to wish an artist success in an imminent performance. It is similar to “break a leg” and reflects a superstition that wishing someone “good luck” is in fact bad luck.

TOI