American Idioms

As with any language, American English is full of idioms, especially when spoken. Idioms add color and
texture to language by creating images that convey meanings beyond those of the individual words that
make them up. Idioms are culturally bound, providing insight into the history, culture, and outlook of
their users. This is because most idioms have developed over time from practices, beliefs, and other
aspects of different cultures. As a culture changes, the words used to describe it also change: some
idioms fall out of use and others develop to replace them. With idioms in particular, the beliefs or
practices leading to their use may disappear while the idiom itself continues to be used. Idioms can be
so overused that they become clichés; or they can become slang or jargon, expressions used mainly by
specific groups or professions.

Idioms can be complimentary or insulting. They can express a wide range of emotions from excitement
to depression, love to hate, heroism to cowardice, and anything in between. Idioms are also used to
express a sense of time, place, or size. The range of uses for idioms is complex and widespread.

The complexity of idioms is what makes them so difficult for non-native speakers to learn. However, this
complexity is also what can make idioms so interesting to study and learn; they are rarely boring.
Learning about idioms, in this case those used in the United States, provides a way to learn not only the
language, but a little about the people who use it.

Exercise

Find the meaning of the idiom in italics.

1. What happened to your grandmother (grandfather/mother/aunt/etc.) when she was knee high to a
grasshopper?

- To be very small or very young

- I haven’t done this since I was knee-high to a grasshopper

2. Discuss the characteristics of someone you know who is the salt of the earth.

- If you say that someone is the salt of the earth, you mean that they are a very good
and honest person.

- Your mom is the salt of the earth.

3. Describe someone you know who is a stuffed shirt.

-someone who behaves in a very formal and old-fashioned way and thinks that they are

very important

-She thinks she is stuffed shirt.

4. What work would someone do if he were a white-collar worker / a blue-collar worker?

- White-collar workers are known as suit-and-tie workers who work in service industries and often

avoid physical labor. The blue-collar stereotype refers to any worker who engages in hard
manual labor, such as construction, mining, or maintenance.

- My father was a blue-collar worker all his life.

5. Who would you rather marry, a good egg or a Jack of all trades? Why?

- Good egg- a good or reliable person

- Jack of all trades- someone who can do many types of work

- I’ve known Eva for years ,he is a good egg.

- My brother is a jack of all trades.

6. Tell us about people who don’t let you get a word in edgewise.

- to have an opportunity to speak

- I couldn’t get a word in edgewise.

7. Talk about a time when you had a heart to heart talk with a parent.

- a serious conversation between two people, usually close friends, in which

they talk honestly about their feelings

- We had a heart to hear last night.

8. Do you know someone who sticks his/her nose in other people’s business? What does he or she
do?

- interfere in the affairs or business of other people

- She's always sticking her nose into other people's affairs. It's really annoying.

9. What is the best thing to say to pop the question?

- propose marriage.

- Did he pop the question yet?

10. What would a woman wear if she is dressed to kill? What would a man wear?

- intentionally wearing clothes that attract sexual attention and admiration

- That young woman is dressed to kill.

11. Does your family keep up with the Joneses? How?

- to always want to own the same expensive objects and do the same things

as your friends or neighbours, because you are worried about seeming less important socially than
they are.

- I'm surprised that you worry about keeping up with the Joneses.

12. What makes you feel tickled pink?

- very happy or amused

- I was tickled pink to see my brother.

13. What makes you hopping mad?

- very angry

- I was hopping mad that I forgot to take the keys.

14. When were you at the end of your rope? How did you help yourself feel better?

- having no strength or patience left

- I'm at the end of my rope.

15. Talk about a time when someone was on the warpath/rampage.

- angry and ready to fight with, criticize, or punish someone 

- Noah was on the warpath after hearing rumors about him.

16. What might happen to make you chew someone out?

- to criticize someone angrily
- The teacher chewed me out for being late.

17. When was the last time that you were black and blue? What happened?
- with dark marks on your skin caused by being hit or having an accident

- His face was black and blue.

18. What makes you feel burned out?

- to become too tired or unable to work, because of working too hard

- I was too burned out from work.

19. Have you every felt down and out? What was the situation?

- having no luck, no money, and no opportunities

- Nobody loves you when you're down and out.

20. Have you ever felt like just letting yourself go to pot? When? Why?

- to become worse or be spoiled because of lack of care or effort

- Our old neighborhood has gone to pot.

21. Have you ever been in a jam? What got you there? What got you out?

- in trouble or in a difficult situation

- I’m in a real jam, can you help me

22. Tell your friends about a time when you were in hot water with your teacher/boss.

- to be in or get into a difficult situation in which you are in danger of being criticized or punished

- He found himself in hot water .

23. If you are in a rut, what do you do to get yourself out of it? What about your friends?

- to not have changed what you do or how you do it for a very long time so that it is

not interesting any longer

- I was in a rut and couldn’t get out of it.

24. When you were a kid, were you ever in the doghouse? How did your parents punish you?

- If you are in the doghouse, someone is annoyed with you and shows their disapproval

- I'm in the doghouse - I broke grandma’s favourite vase.

25. Is there something you would do at the drop of a hat?

- without hesitation or good reason.

- We can come at the drop of a hat.

26. Tell us about times when you had to burn the midnight oil.

- To stay awake late at night to work or study

- My sister has been burning the midnight oil lately.

27. What have you done in the nick of time?

- at the last possible moment

- I got there just in the nick of time.

28. What have you done on the spur of the moment?

- used to say that a decision, action, etc. is sudden and done without any planning

- On the spur of the moment, we decided to go to the beach.

29. Who brings home the bacon in your family?

- to earn money for a family to live on

- He worked hard all week to bring home the bacon for his family.

30. Tell us about something that cost your family a mint.

- A large amount of money.

- That house is worth a mint.

31. What you would do with money to burn?

- to spend a lot of money on things that are not necessary

- She must have money to burn.

32. Talk about something you bought for a song.

- very cheaply

- She bought the bed for a song.
33. Do you know a penny pincher? What do they do?

- a person who is unwilling to spend money

- He penny pincher because he grew up in a poor family.