50 Common English Idioms

50 flashcards

Got a minute?: "Do you have time right now?"
Give someone a hand: "help someone"
Grab a bite to eat: quickly go get something to eat
Drive someone up a wall: drive someone crazy
To hang on: "to wait"
Hard headed: "stubborn" or "unwilling to change an opinion or idea
Have a change of heart: "change a previous decision"
Have mixed feelings about something: "to be uncertain"
Head out for: "to start on a long trip" (but it could be within a big city)
How come?: Why
keep in touch: (or "stay in touch") means "do not stop communicating - send letters or call sometimes"
Be kidding: "to joke or tease someone in a playful way"
Look down on: "think someone or something is not good enough"
Make ends meet: (often used negatively) means "to have enough money to buy everything we need"
Miss the boat: "to miss an opportunity"
next to nothing: "to cost very little"
As easy as pie: very easy, "piece of cake"
be sick and tired of: "I hate" (also "can't stand")
Bend over backwards: try very hard to please someone
Bite off more than one can chew: To try to do or eat more than you can manage.
Broke: "to have no money
Change one's mind: "decide to do something different from what had been decided earlier"
Cut it out: "stop doing something bad"
Drop someone a line: to mail a letter to someone or give them a call
Figure something out: "come to understand a problem"
Fill in for someone: "do their works while they are away"
In ages: "for a very long time"
Give someone a hand: helps
Hit the hay: go to bed or go to sleep
In the black: "the business is making money, it is profitable"
In the red: "the business is losing money, it is unprofitable"
In the nick of time: "not too late, but very close!"
Keep one's chin up: "remain brave and keep on trying"
Know something like the back of your hand: "know something very, very well"
Once in a while: "sometimes, not very often"
Sharp: "exactly at a that time"
sleep on it: "think about something before making a decision"
take it easy: relax
to get the ball rolling: "start something, especially something big"
up to the minute: "the most recent information"
twenty-four/seven: "every minute of every day, all the time"
All of a sudden: "unexpectedly"
all ears: "eager and ready to listen"
Be fed up with: to hate something now, even though I may have liked it before
to bug: "to bother someone"
a cinch: something that is very easy to do
Cost an arm and a leg: "very expensive"
To cram: "to study hard a few days before a test"
Fresh out of something: "to have no more of something"
To get it: "to understand"