{"id":36,"date":"2024-05-21T08:24:50","date_gmt":"2024-05-21T08:24:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/learntospeakenglishwell.com\/?p=36"},"modified":"2024-06-03T15:33:48","modified_gmt":"2024-06-03T15:33:48","slug":"what-are-some-common-english-idioms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/learntospeakenglishwell.com\/?p=36","title":{"rendered":"What are some common English idioms?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

One of the most fun parts of learning a new language is learning the expressions and idioms that native speakers use, but that can sound like nonsense when you first learn the language. An idiom is a phrase that\u2019s used to show an idea or an example<\/strong>, using words that often don\u2019t seem like they fit.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last week, I was at a picnic, and I was watching my friends playing volleyball. They were having a hard time, because there were so many people on each team. Each person thought, \u201cThe person next to me will hit the ball,\u201d but because everyone thought that, no one actually hit the ball! In this situation, you could use the idiom \u2018Too many cooks spoil the broth.\u2019 It actually has nothing to do with cooking, but it means that too many people are trying to do the same thing at the same time and it won\u2019t work very well because of that.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another common idiom you might hear is \u2018Don\u2019t count your chickens before they hatch.\u2019 People often use this one when someone is planning on something good but they don\u2019t know if it will actually happen yet. Maybe your friend says, \u201cIf I get this new job, I\u2019ll be able to go on vacation to California! I think I\u2019ll visit the Golden Gate Bridge, and the beach of course!\u201d You might say to them, \u201cDon\u2019t count your chickens before they hatch, you haven\u2019t actually got the job yet! Maybe you should wait for that before making vacation plans.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Have you ever heard someone say they\u2019re feeling \u2018under the weather\u2019? It sounds strange, because the weather is in the sky, so wouldn\u2019t everyone be under it? Well, it actually means the person is feeling a little sick or otherwise unwell. It can be quite strange when an expression actually has a completely different meaning to what you\u2019d guess!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of them, however, mean exactly what you\u2019d guess! \u2018Pie in the sky\u2019 and \u2018when pigs fly\u2019 can both be used to describe something that\u2019s impossible or unrealistic. \u201cPeople will be able to travel to other stars and solar systems in our lifetimes!\u201d \u201cCome on, that\u2019s pie in the sky! It\u2019s not possible. It\u2019ll happen when pigs fly!\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hopefully you\u2019ve never told someone a secret they weren\u2019t supposed to know, but if you did, you \u2018spilled the beans\u2019. You also \u2018let the cat out of the bag\u2019, since those two mean the same thing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the most surprising expressions when you first hear it is \u2018break a leg!\u2019 This is not a threat, or even a dislike of the person you say it to. It\u2019s actually a strange way of saying \u2018good luck!\u2019 This one has a controversial origin story, as there are several possible explanations and no one\u2019s sure which is true. One theory is that people used to believe saying \u2018good luck\u2019 was unlucky (isn\u2019t that crazy!), so they wished misfortune on the person instead to bring good luck. Alternatively, some people say that in Ancient Greece, people would bang their chair legs after a good performance as a kind of applause. The most likely explanation is that it came from a German-Yiddish pun, where the German phrase meaning \u2018break a leg\u2019 sounds a lot like the Yiddish phrase meaning \u2018success and blessings.\u2019 Wherever you think it came from, just remember that when someone says this, they are hoping things go well for you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Idioms can be really fun to learn, and there are hundreds I haven’t mentioned here. Why don\u2019t you do a little research and find your favourites?  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of the most fun parts of learning a new language is learning the expressions and idioms that native speakers use, but that can sound like nonsense when you first learn the language. An idiom is a phrase that\u2019s used to show an idea or an example, using words that often don\u2019t seem like they<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fun-stuff-about-english"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/learntospeakenglishwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/learntospeakenglishwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/learntospeakenglishwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/learntospeakenglishwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/learntospeakenglishwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=36"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/learntospeakenglishwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49,"href":"https:\/\/learntospeakenglishwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36\/revisions\/49"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/learntospeakenglishwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=36"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/learntospeakenglishwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=36"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/learntospeakenglishwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=36"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}