Common Idioms

​16 American common idioms

Listen carefully and attentively

eg:

She had expected him to be all ears when she told him about her wedding plans.

​​All ears

Regardless of the price to be paid or the effort needed.

eg:

Security during the president's visit must be maintained at all costs.

At all cost/at any cost

Be in the same bad situation as

someone else

eg:

We both are sick, we are in the

same boat

Be in the same boat

Seem so unlucky but it will be beautiful at last.

eg:

Losing that job was a blessing in disguise for me, now I have my own business.

Blessing in disguise

A nervous, fluttery feeling in the stomach

eg:

I always get butterflies in my stomach before a big game.

Butterfly in my stomach

Have good luck

eg:

Right before I walked out on stage, my mother told me to break a leg.

Break a leg

Be extremely expensive

eg:

Tina's new dress cost an arm and a leg!

Cost an arm and a leg

Study

eg:

We’re having a test tomorrow, so I’m going to hit the books tonight.

Hit the books

Go to bed

eg:

I have a busy day tomorrow, so I think I'll hit the sack.

Hit the hay/sack

Remain cheerful in a difficult

situation

eg:

It’s hard to keep your chin up when everything is going wrong.

Keep your chin up

Know something completely

eg:

I know this town like the back of my hand.

Like the back of my hand

Very easy

eg:

Learning to dive is a piece of cake.

Piece of cake

Sleep very well

eg:

I slept like a log - I didn't even hear the thunderstorm.

Sleep like a log

Tell a secret

eg:

Don’t spill the beans to Dan about his surprise birthday party!

Spill the beans

Pay too much attention to unimportant things.

eg:

Let's stop splitting hairs and get back to the main issue.

Split hairs

Search everywhere.

eg:

Angie turned the house upside down, but she still couldn’t find her library book.

Turn the house upside down

​Thank you