English idioms

Idiom Meaning
Kill two birds with one stone Produce two useful results by just doing
one action
In the blink of an eye In an extremely shot time
To cut a long story short To tell the main points, but not all the fine
details
Get a (real) kick out of something Very much enjoy doing something
Jump for joy Be very happy and excited about something
that has happened
Be walking on air Be very happy about something good that
has happened
Drive someone up the wall Make someone very angry
Rub someone up the wrong way Make someone annoyed
Give someone a piece of your mind Tell someone how angry you are with them
Works like magic Works immediately and very well indeed
Does the trick Solves a problem very well
Goes from strenght to strenght Gets better and better
I am in dire straits In a very difficult or dangerous situation
Get your own way Persuade other people to let do what you
want
Go round in circles Make no progress in an argument or
discussion
Thanks a million! Thank you very much indeed
There is nothing to it! You think something is easy
You name it Anything you say or choose
Drives someone to distraction Make someone very angry or very bored
If all else fails! If all other plans do not work
Go all out Use a lot of energy and effort to do
something
Pull your weight Work as hard as other people in a group
At a push Probably possible, but it will be difficult
Child‘s play Extremely easy
As easy as falling off a log; a piece of cake; Extremely easy (informal)
a dobble
As easy as taking candy from a baby Extremely easy
Heavy-going Diffcult and needed a lot of effort
On top of the world Very happy indeed
Thrilled to bits Very happy and excited
Down in the dumps Depressed / in low spirits
On edge Nervous
Be at loggerheads Disagree strongly with each other
Make it big Succeed; become famous
Be on the breadline Be very poor
Spend money like water Spend too much, often without thinking
about it
By/in leaps and bounds Very quickly
Step by step Slowly; gradually
Get off to a flying start Start well
All over the place In or to many places
Slip your mind Forget about something
Your mind goes blank You can‘t think of anything to say
Rack your brains Think very hard
For the time being Temporary; instead of
Do something in no time at all Do it very quickly
Salt of the earth A very good and honest person
Have egg on your face Be left felling stupid or embarrassed
because of something you did
Bear fruit Produce a positive result
I hope our paths cross again soon. I hope we meet again soon.
Be over the moon You are extremely happy
Push the boat out Spend a lot of money, usually because you
are celebrating
Be plain sailling Be very easy
Be all at sea Be confused
Try my hand at Try it for the first time
Give me a hand Help me
I am rushed off my feet Extremely busy
Couldn‘t believe my ears Couldn‘t believe what I was hearing
Bare your heart/soul Share secret feelings with someone else
Break someone‘s heart Make someone very sad
Have a change of heart Change your opinion or the way you feel
Take something to heart Take something (usually criticism)
seriously
Make up your mind Decide
In your mind‘s eye In your imagination or memory
There is a fine/thin line between one thign Two thigns are very similar, although the
and another second thing is bad while the first is not
The bottom line The most important fact
If the worst comes to the worst If the situation becomes very difficult or
serious
As blind as a bat Can‘t see
As busy as a bee Very busy
As free as a bird Very free
Have eyes like a hawk See everything, never miss anything
No rocket scientist Not very intellingent person
See eye to eye agree
I am in hot water I am in trouble
Fallen on the radar Been forgotten
I am cool with that I‘m happy with a suggestion
Is flying high Is very successful
Come to a standstill Stopped
I really thing you are on thin ice Taking a risk
Don‘t bite off more than you can chew Try to do more than you are able to
A hard nut to crack A difficult problem to solve
Error of judgement Bad decision