| IDIOM | Meaning |
| A day late and a dollar short | (USA) If something is a day late and a dollar short, it is too little, too late. |
| A fool and his money are soon parted | This idiom means that people who aren’t careful with their money spend it quickly. ‘A fool and his money are easily parted’ is an alternative form of the idiom. |
| A fool at 40 is a fool forever | If someone hasn’t matured by the time they reach forty, they never will. |
| A long row to hoe | Something that is a long row to hoe is a difficult task that takes a long time. |
| A lost ball in the high weeds | A lost ball in the high weeds is someone who does not know what they are doing, where they are or how to do something. |
| A month of Sundays | A month of Sundays is a long period of time: I haven’t seen her in a month of Sundays. |
| A penny for your thoughts | This idiom is used as a way of asking someone what they are thinking about. |
| A penny saved is a penny earned | This means that we shouldn’t spend or waste money, but try to save it. |
| A picture is worth a thousand words | A picture can often get a message across much better than the best verbal description. |
| A pretty penny | If something costs a pretty penny, it is very expensive. |
| A problem shared is a problem halved | If you talk about your problems, it will make you feel better. |
| A rising tide lifts all boats | This idiom, coined by John F Kennedy, describes the idea that when an economy is performing well, all people will benefit from it. |
| A still tongue keeps a wise head | Wise people don’t talk much. |
| A watched pot never boils | Some things work out in their own time, so being impatient and constantly checking will just make things seem longer. |
| A1 | If something is A1, it is the very best or finest. |
| Above board | If things are done above board, they are carried out in a legal and proper manner. |
| Ace up your sleeve | If you have an ace up your sleeve, you have something that will give you an advantage that other people don’t know about. |
| Acid test | An acid test is something that proves whether something is good, effective, etc, or not. |
| Across the board | If something applies to everybody, it applies across the board. |
| Act of war | An act of war is a action that is either intended to start a war or that is interpreted as being sufficient cause for a war. |
| Add fuel to the fire | If people add fuel to the fire, they make a bad situation worse. |
| Act of God | An act of God is something like an earthquake or floods that human beings cannot prevent or control. | After your own heart | A person after your own heart thinks the same way as you. |
| Against the clock | If you do something against the clock, you are rushed and have very little time to do it. |
| Age before beauty | When this idiom is used, it is a way of allowing an older person to do something first, though often in a slightly sarcastic way. |
| All over the map | (USA) If something like a discussion is all over the map, it doesn’t stick to the main topic and goes off on tangents. |
| As a rule | If you do something as a rule, then you usually do it. |
| As cold as ice | This idiom can be used to describe a person who does not show any emotion. |
| As cool as a cucumber | If someone is as cool as a cucumber, they don’t get worried by anything. |
| At loose ends | If you are at a loose end, you have spare time but don’t know what to do with it. |
| Axe to grind | (USA) If you have an axe to grind with someone or about something, you have a grievance, a resentment and you want to get revenge or sort it out. In American English, it is ‘ax’. |
| Back to the salt mine | If someone says they have to go back to the salt mine, they have to return to work. |
| Barking up the wrong tree | If you are barking up the wrong tree, it means that you have completely misunderstood something or are totally wrong. |
| Barrel of laughs | If someone’s a barrel of laughs, they are always joking and you find them funny. |
| Be that as it may | Be that as it may is an expression which means that, while you are prepared to accept that there is some truth in what the other person has just said, it’s not going to change your opinions in any significant manner. |
| Beating a dead horse | (USA) If someone is trying to convince people to do or feel something without any hope of succeeding, they’re beating a dead horse. This is used when someone is trying to raise interest in an issue that no-one supports anymore; beating a dead horse will not make it do any more work. |
| Bee in your bonnet | If someone is very excited about something, they have a bee in their bonnet. |
| Bee’s Knees | If something is the bee’s knees, it’s outstanding or the best in its class. |
| Head is in the clouds | If a person has their head in the clouds, they have unrealistic, impractical ideas. |
| Heart of glass | When someone has a heart of glass, they are easily affected emotionally. |
| Heart of steel | When someone has a heart of steel, they do not show emotion or are not affected emotionally. |
| Heaven knows | If you ask someone a question and they say this, they have no idea. |
| Hit the books | If you hit the books, you study or read hard. |
| In your element | If you are in your element, you feel happy and relaxed because you are doing something that you like doing and are good at. “You should have seen her when they asked her to sing; she was in her element.” |
| It cost the earth | If something costs the earth, it is very expensive indeed. |
| Mad as a hornet | (USA) If someone is as mad as a hornet, they are very angry indeed. |
| Make a better fist | If someone makes a better fist of doing something, they do a better job. |
| Make hay | If you make hay, or make hay while the sun shines, you take advantage of an opportunity as soon as it arises and do not waste time.” |
| Man upstairs | When people refer to the man upstairs, they are referring to God. |
| Man of letters | A man of letters is someone who is an expert in the arts and literature, and often a writer too. |
| Man of parts | A man of parts is a person who is talented in a number of different areas or ways. |
| Man’s man | A man’s man is a man who does things enjoyed by men and is respected by other men. |
| Many hands make light work | This idiom means that when everyone gets involved in something, the work gets done quickly. |
| Many happy returns | This expression is used to wish someone a happy birthday. |
| Meet your Maker | If someone has gone to meet their Maker, they have died. The “maker” is God. |
| Memory like an elephant | ‘An elephant never forgets’ is a saying, so if a person has a memory like an elephant, he or she has a very good memory indeed. |
| Mince words | If people mince words, or mince their words, they don’t say what they really mean clearly. |
| Mind your own beeswax | (USA) Or “Mind your beeswax”. This idiom means that people should mind their own business and not interfere in other people’s affairs. |
| Miss the boat | If you miss the boat, you are too late to take advantage of an opportunity. |
| Monday morning quarterback | (USA) A Monday morning quarterback is someone who, with the benefit of hindsight (looking back at what has already happened), knows what should have been done in a situation. |
| New kid on the block | A new kid on the block is a person who has recently joined a company, organization, team, etc, and does not know how things work yet. |
| New lease on life | If someone finds new enthusiasm and energy for something, they have a new lease on life. |
| New York minute | (USA) If something happens in a New York minute, it happens very fast. |
| Nick of time | If you do something in the nick of time, you do it at the very last minute or second. |
| No bed of roses | If something isn’t a bed of roses, it is difficult. |
| No great shakes | If someone is no great shakes at something, they are not very good at it. |
| No quarter | This means without mercy. We can say no quarter given or asked. |
| No strings attached | If something has no strings attached, there are no obligations or requirements involved. | Not to be sneezed at | If something is not to be sneezed at, it should be taken seriously. |
| Old flames die hard | It’s very difficult to forget old things, especially the first romantic love. |
| On good terms | If people are on good terms, they have a good relationship. |
| Open book | If a person is an open book, it is easy to know what they think or how they feel about things. |
| Over the hill | If someone is over the hill they have reached an age at which they can longer perform as well as they used to. Also, young people think older people are “over the hill” before older people do. Also, if a person thinks he is “over the hill”, he is. |
| Over the top | If something is over the top, it is excessive or unnecessary. It refers to the moment a soldier leaves the trenches. |
| Paint yourself into a corner | (USA) If someone paints themselves into a corner, they get themselves into a mess. If you really are painting a floor and finish painting in a corner with no way out of the room without walking on wet paint, you are in a mess because you will have to wait in the corner until the paint dries. |
| Peanut gallery | An audience that interrupts, boos or heckles a performer, speaker, etc, is a peanut gallery. |