Hit the hay On the same page Bury the hatchet Cover your bases Piece of cake Cost an arm and a leg Break a leg See eye to eye Miss the boat On the ball Cut corners Kill two birds with one stone Once in a blue moon Hit the books Let the cat out of the bag Hit the nail on the head When pigs fly Don’t judge a book by its cover Bit off more than you can chew Scratch someone’s back Best of both worlds To feel under the weather To hear something from the horse’s mouth Hear something through the grapevine

Idioms

An idiom is a type of figurative language that has a meaning that is different from the meanings of the individual words. A phrase which does not always follow the normal rules of meaning and grammar. Example: –The politician sat on the fence and would not clearly state his opinion about the tax issue. –The idiomatic meaning of to sit on the fence is to not clearly choose a side regarding some issue. –I sat on the fence and watched the game. –To sit on the fence can literally mean that one is sitting on a fence. What is an idiom?

Many English idioms are similar to expressions in other languages and can be easy for a learner to understand. Other idioms come from older phrases which have changed over time. –Example: "Hold your horses," the man said when his friend started to leave the store. –To hold one's horses means to stop and wait patiently for someone or something. It comes from a time when people rode horses and would have to hold their horses while waiting for someone or something. Other idioms come from such things as sports and may require some special cultural knowledge to understand them. –Example: I tried to cover all of my bases as I prepared for the job interview. –To cover all of one's bases means to thoroughly prepare for or deal with a situation. It comes from the game of baseball where you must cover, or protect, the bases. Idiom Challenges

Use an idiom as a complete phrase and do not change the word order or the words used. –Note: In some cases, you may need to change verb tenses. Visualize the idiom and ask yourself, “In what situation today might a person need to perform a similar action.” Memorize the meaning of the idiom Use our classroom Dictionary of Idioms Idiom Helpers

Joey was getting ready for the soccer game. He was nervous because he was new on the team but the coach told him that is was time for him to get his feet wet. Joey knew that there were four other brand new players on the team but he had been practicing very hard so that he would have a leg up over some of the other new players. He was so nervous that his coach asked him if he was getting cold feet. He had made certain that he got to the game very early and had just been kicking around killing time waiting for the game to start. Joey said he could kick myself because his mom forget to bring his new team jacket to the game. He was so proud of his new jacket. He decided not to kick up a fuss over the missing jacket as he wanted to concentrate on being the best of the new players. He had wanted to kick start his soccer skills and get a leg up on the other players so he had just finished taking part in an all summer soccer camp, and none of the other new players had attended. The game had started badly and they were already down 2 points when the coach told him it was time for him to get on the field because he said they needed fresh legs. As he ran out onto the field the coach told him to break a leg. He said this with an encouraging smile on his face but Joey didn't think it was very nice of the coach to want him to break his leg. He also told him to kick butt, The first leg of getting onto the field was to report to the team manager and ask him who he was replacing. After he reported he started to run out onto the field too soon and he almost jumped the gun. He saw that the soccer ball was moving down the field at a good clip so he took up his position by dropping back into a supporting position. Another player said to him "I can run circles around you." He ran back onto the field and played brilliantly. He scored two goals to tie up the game. The said, "Joey, you sure landed on your feet. You sweep me off my feet when I see you pass." The final score of the game was 3 to 2 for them and Joey had been the main reason the team won the game. He was thrilled and on the ride home his mom told him that she was making a special dinner for him and that he and his dad could go surfing and hang ten while she got dinner ready. Joining a new soccer team, saving the game and to boot getting to go surfing with his dad while his mom made him his favorite dinner. Wow! He hoped his mom would have a lead foot for the trip home because he couldn't wait to get to the beach and get out on his surfboard. What a day!get his feet weta leg upcold feetkicking aroundkilling timekick myselfkick up a fusskick startleg upfresh legsbreak a legkick buttfirst legjumped the gunat a good clipdropping backrun circles around youlanded on your feetsweep me off my feethang tento bootlead foot

Our visit to the farm was great! There was so much to see it felt like we were only there for two shakes of a lamb’s tail. As we were touring the farm we made the teacher mad as a wet hen because we were running around like chickens with our heads cut off. We made a beeline to the bus and buttered her up with everything we learned on our trip. Let’s talk turkey. Often students think teachers are a wolf in sheep’s clothing. We are just trying to beef up your skills and also bring home the bacon. We won’t butter you up just to get you to do your homework. Most students think that homework is small potatoes anyway. But remember, it is 10% of your six week’s grade and that is nothing to beef about.

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