20 Most Common Idioms in English and what they mean

The English language is one of the vastest and most vivid languages in the world. It is made up of over 1.5 million words. Over and above that, the same word can have a variety of different meanings depending on the context it is put in; two (or more) words can have the exact same spelling but are pronounced differently, depending on their meanings.


Today's article will mainly focus on those combinations of words which are commonly referred to as idioms or idiomatic expressions. It is important to point out that idioms use language in a non-literal (and sometimes metaphorical) way.


One of the most famous idioms, yet quite easy to understand!
Image credit.
This implies that ‘the meaning of the idiomatic expression cannot be deduced by looking at the meaning of the individual words that it is made up of' (Cambridge Encyclopaedia of the English Language, David Crystal). Another important feature to point out is that idioms are fixed, which means that people cannot just decide to make up their own.


The following is a list of some of the most widely-used idioms in everyday English and their meanings.


Idioms, can you guess their meanings? (Answers below)


A penny for your thoughts
Add insult to injury
A hot potato
Once in a blue moon
Caught between two stools
See eye to eye
Hear it on the grapevine
Miss the boat
Kill two birds with one stone
On the ball
Cut corners
To hear something straight from the horse's mouth
Costs an arm and a leg
The last straw
Take what someone says with a pinch of salt
Sit on the fence
The best of both worlds
Put wool over other people's eyes
Feeling a bit under the weather
Speak of the devil!


Meanings

This idiom is used as a way of asking someone what they are thinking about.
When people add insult to injury, they make a bad situation even worse.
This idiom is used to speak of an issue (especially in current affairs) which many people are talking about.
This is used when something happens very rarely.
When someone finds it difficult to choose between two alternatives.
This idiom is used to say that two (or more people) agree on something.
This means ‘to hear a rumour' about something or someone.
This idiom is used to say that someone missed his or her chance at something.
This means ‘to do two things at the same time'.
When someone understands the situation well.
When something is done badly to save money. For example, when someone buys products that are cheap but not of good quality.
To hear something from the authoritative source.
When something is very expensive.
The final problem in a series of problems.
This means not to take what someone says too seriously. There is a big possibility that what he/she says is only partly true.
This is used when someone does not want to choose or make a decision.
All the advantages.
This means to deceive someone into thinking well of them.
Feeling slightly ill.
This expression is used when the person you have just been talking about arrives.