Casual English: 100 Common Idioms
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Casual English: 100 Common Idioms |
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Learn everyday expressions and speak casually. | Sign in |
| Idiom |
Definition |
Sense |
Example |
| all bark
and no bite |
the person might say mean or scary things, but
will not do anything bad |
neutral, humorous |
Don't worry about our corporate manager. He's all bark and no bite. |
| beauty is in the eye
of the beholder |
a phrase that means everyone sees beauty
differently |
neutral, humorous |
He loves that dog, but I think it's
strange-looking. I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder. |
| carve out a niche |
to create a particular point of expertise |
positive |
I think you have a great
business idea, but many people are doing similar things.
You will have
to carve out a niche
of your own. |
| clean up well |
to look good when well-dressed (used for people
who are often in casual clothes or uniforms) |
positive |
My professor always wears jeans to class, but
when I saw him at the annual gala, I was impressed. He cleans up well! |
| dream on! |
keep dreaming--your ideas are not real, only
dreams, so you can only continue with dreams/fantasies |
neutral |
You scored a 980 on the SAT, and you still plan
to go to Harvard. Dream
on! |
| fall guy |
the person who takes the punishment when
something goes wrong with a group or organization |
negative |
I think that man did a few
unethical things, but I feel sorry for him. If the company
had not
needed a fall guy,
he probably wouldn't be in jail. |
| get one's foot in
the door |
to get started in an industry by getting a first
job or meeting an influential person |
neutral to positive |
She wants to publish a
book, but she doesn't know how to get her foot in the door of the
publishing world. It's very competitive right now. |
| have a heart |
have sympathy |
neutral to positive |
I know you don't like sports, but have a heart! This
is the World Cup, and I want to watch it. |
| hit the ground
running |
to have a great start, to be successful at the
beginning |
positive |
We hit the
ground running with that advertising campaign. We
got 20,000 new subscribers in the first month! |
| it's a snap |
it's easy (from the idea of snapping your
fingers) |
positive |
I can fix the log-in issue on the website. It's a snap! It
will only take ten minutes. |
100 Common Idioms Class |
Idioms 21-40 Main Page |