The Most Common English Idioms
English idioms, proverbs, and expressions are an important part of everyday English. They come up all the time in both written and spoken English. Because idioms don’t always make sense literally, you’ll need to familiarize yourself with the meaning and usage of each idiom. That may seem like a lot of work, but learning idioms is fun, especially when you compare English idioms to the idioms in your own language.
List of Most Common English Idioms
- A blessing in disguise
- A dime a dozen
- Beat around the bush
- Better late than never
- Bite the bullet
- Break a leg
- Call it a day
- Cut somebody some slack
- Cutting corners
- Easy does it
- Get out of hand
- Get something out of your system
- Get your act together
- Give someone the benefit of the doubt
- Go back to the drawing board
- Hang in there
- Hit the sack
- It’s not rocket science
- Let someone off the hook
- Make a long story short
- Miss the boat
- No pain, no gain
- On the ball
- Pull someone’s leg
- Pull yourself together
- So far so good
- Speak of the devil
- That’s the last straw
- The best of both worlds
- Time flies when you’re having fun
- To get bent out of shape
- To make matters worse
- Under the weather
- We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it
- Wrap your head around something
- You can say that again
- Your guess is as good as mine
Most Common English Idioms with Meaning
Here’s a list of The Most Common English Idioms in English:
-
A blessing in disguise
Meaning: a good thing that seemed bad at first
-
A dime a dozen
Meaning: Something common
-
Beat around the bush
Meaning: Avoid saying what you mean, usually because it is uncomfortable
-
Better late than never
Meaning: Better to arrive late than not to come at all
-
Bite the bullet
Meaning: To get something over with because it is inevitable
-
Break a leg
Meaning: Good luck
-
Call it a day
Meaning: Stop working on something
-
Cut somebody some slack
Meaning: Don’t be so critical
-
Cutting corners
Meaning: Doing something poorly in order to save time or money
-
Easy does it
Meaning: Slow down
-
Get out of hand
Meaning: Get out of control
-
Get something out of your system
Meaning: Do the thing you’ve been wanting to do so you can move on
-
Get your act together
Meaning: Work better or leave
-
Give someone the benefit of the doubt
Meaning: Trust what someone says
-
Go back to the drawing board
Meaning: Start over
-
Hang in there
Meaning: Don’t give up
-
Hit the sack
Meaning: Go to sleep
-
It’s not rocket science
Meaning: It’s not complicated
-
Let someone off the hook
Meaning: To not hold someone responsible for something
-
Make a long story short
Meaning: Tell something briefly
-
Miss the boat
Meaning: It’s too late
-
No pain, no gain
Meaning: You have to work for what you want
-
On the ball
Meaning: Doing a good job
-
Pull someone’s leg
Meaning: To joke with someone
-
Pull yourself together
Meaning: Calm down
-
So far so good
Meaning: Things are going well so far
-
Speak of the devil
Meaning: The person we were just talking about showed up!
-
That’s the last straw
Meaning: My patience has run out
-
The best of both worlds
Meaning: An ideal situation
-
Time flies when you’re having fun
Meaning: You don’t notice how long something lasts when it’s fun
-
To get bent out of shape
Meaning: To get upset
-
To make matters worse
Meaning: Make a problem worse
-
Under the weather
Meaning: Sick
-
We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it
Meaning: Let’s not talk about that problem right now
-
Wrap your head around something
Meaning: Understand something complicated
-
You can say that again
Meaning: That’s true, I agree
-
Your guess is as good as mine
Meaning: I have no idea