Avenida Buenos Aires, 21 28018 Madrid tlf 91 778 85 17 – avillalba@varonas.

com CIF:B84560994
Avenida Buenos Aires, 21 28018 Madrid tlf 91 778 85 17 – avillalba@varonas.com CIF:B84560994
Academic Idioms List: Written
The list below gives written academic idioms from the OCAE (Oxford Corpus of
Academic English) corpus, listed in order of frequency. There are 38 idioms in
total. Definitions are included for all idioms. [Note: Sp freq pmw means spoken
frequency per million words while Wr freq pmw refers to written frequency per
million words.]

Spoken idioms

Written idioms

Sp freq Wr freq
No. Idiom Definition pmw pmw
(BASE) (OCAE)

on the other adv (contrastive) from another point of view. [Syn: then
1 64.11 88.12
hand again, but then]

in (the) light
2 adv in view of, because of, considering. 5.39 34.99
of

3 on one hand adv from one point of view. [Syn: on the one hand] 37.74 31.87

on the other adv (contrastive) from another point of view. [Syn: then
4 10.19 20.34
[hand] again, but then]

in the hands
5 adv controlled or owned by someone. 6.59 12.54
of

verb (1) keep in mind. [Syn: mind] (2) think of something,

6 bear in mind 46.73 10.17
especially as a warning.

in its own
7 adv because of its own special qualities. 5.99 9.27
right

along the
8 adv in a similar way or of a similar type. 6.59 9.24
lines of

9 in the long adv after a very lengthy period of time. [Syn: in the end] 5.39 7.84
Avenida Buenos Aires, 21 28018 Madrid tlf 91 778 85 17 – avillalba@varonas.com CIF:B84560994
 run

noun (1) a monetary standard under which the basic unit of

gold
10 currency is defined by a stated quantity of gold. (2) a paragon of 5.39 6.66
standard
excellence.

a step
11 noun action that will be helpful/harmful to a situation. 7.19 6.21
further/back

driving
12 noun someone or something that makes something happen. 5.39 6.21
force

the balance
13 noun an equilibrium of power between nations. 10.78 6.20
of power

come into
14 verb begin to be used or begin to have an effect. 5.39 4.26
play

in the short adv over a relatively brief period of time (often used in contrast
15 3.00 4.19
run with the long run) .

noun (1) French for `worst going'. [Syn: pis aller] (2) the only
16 last resort 3.00 4.05
choice that remains after all others hand been tried.

rule of noun a rule or principle that provides guidance to appropriate

17 1.20 2.98
thumb behavior. [Syn: guidepost, guideline]

noun (1) a time period when some activity or skill was at its
peak. (2) any period (sometimes imaginary) of great peace and
prosperity and happiness. (3) (classical mythology) the first and
18 golden age 3.00 2.96
best age of the world, a time of ideal happiness, prosperity, and
innocence; by extension, any flourishing and outstanding
period. [Syn: Golden Age]

19 bad news noun someone or something that is undesirable or dangerous. 5.39 2.75

go hand in
20 verb be closely related to or happening at the same tim. 3.59 2.68
hand with

on the one
21 adv from one point of view. [Syn: on the one hand] 1.80 2.58
hand

on the face adv from appearances alone.

22 5.39 2.57
of it [Syn: apparently, seemingly, ostensibly]

the bottom
23 noun the main or essential point. 8.39 2.50
line

24 in the early noun an early period of development. [Syn: youth] 3.59 2.33
Avenida Buenos Aires, 21 28018 Madrid tlf 91 778 85 17 – avillalba@varonas.com CIF:B84560994
 days

verb (1) to cause someone to ask a particular question. (2) to

beg the
25 talk about something as if it were true, even though it may not 2.40 2.18
question
be.

26 from scratch adv from the beginning. 3.59 1.86

go without
27 verb to be so obvious that it does not need explanation. 4.79 1.85
saying

trial and
28 noun experimenting until a solution is found. 4.79 1.85
error

bridge the verb to connect two things or make the difference between them
29 3.59 1.85
gap smaller.

get to grips
30 verb deal with (a problem or a subject). [Syn: come to grips] 3.59 1.78
with

31 a fair share noun a reasonable amount. 1.20 1.55

the high
32 noun the best or most enjoyable part of a given experience. 2.40 1.52
point

the whole
33 noun all the facts. 2.40 1.41
story

at the end of
34 adv taking everything into consideration. 14.98 1.36
the day

state of the noun the highest degree of development of an art or technique at

35 4.19 1.36
art a particular time.

behind the adv happening without people knowing it, especially when
36 2.40 1.36
scenes something else is happening publicly.

the big
37 noun the whole story or idea. 3.59 1.30
picture

across the
38 adv including or applying to all. 5.99 1.21
board

Avenida Buenos Aires, 21 28018 Madrid tlf 91 778 85 17 – avillalba@varonas.com CIF:B84560994

Answers to exercises:

Avenida Buenos Aires, 21 28018 Madrid tlf 91 778 85 17 – avillalba@varonas.com CIF:B84560994