English Idioms

Idioms and idiomatic expressions in English

An idiom is a group of words in current usage having a meaning that is
not deducible from those of the individual words.

For example,- "to rain cats and dogs" - which means "to rain very heavily"
                     -"over the moon" - which means "extremely happy"

*In both cases, you would have a hard time understanding the real meaning
  if you did not already know these idioms!*

 

Idioms

above board

If something is above board, it's been done in a legal and honest way. 

 

above the law

If someone is above the law, they are not subject to the laws of a society. 

 

Achilles' heel

An Achilles' heel is a weakness that could result in failure. 

 

across the board

If something is across the board, it relates to all without exception. 

 

add fuel to the fire

If you add fuel to the fire, you do something to make a bad situation even worse. 

 

add insult to injury

Someone adds insult to injury if they say or do something to upset you a second time,

after you've already been upset somehow. 

 

against all odds | against all the odds

If you do something against all odds, or against all the odds, you do it even though 

there were many problems and it didn't seem possible to do. 

 

agree to differ | agree to disagree

If two people agree to differ, or agree to disagree, they accept that they have 

different opinions about something and stop trying to change each other's opinion. 

 

ahead of the game

You are ahead of the game if you have an advantage over your competitors in any 

activity in which you try to do better than others, such as in business, academia, sports, etc. 

 

beside the point

You can say something is beside the point if it has nothing to do with what's being

talked about or with the reason something is being done. 

 

beyond a shadow of a doubt

Something is true "beyond a shadow of a doubt" if there is no possibility at all that it isn't true. 

 

bite your tongue | hold your tongue

If you bite your tongue, or hold your tongue, you force yourself not to say something you

really want to to say. 

 

day to day

If something happens day to day, it's part of the usual daily routine. 

 

  

do you the world of good

If something does you the world of good, it makes you feel a lot better. 

 

do your best

If you do your best, you do something as well as you possibly can, or to the best of your ability.