Phrases and Idioms List - My English Grammar

Welcome to your ultimate guide to English phrases and idioms—a handy vault of expressions that bring everyday language to life. Inside, you’ll find clear meanings, natural example sentences, and usage tips that help you sound fluent, confident, and concise. We’ve grouped entries so you can scan quickly or dig deeper, whether you’re polishing essays, preparing for exams, or simply curious about colorful turns of phrase. From timeless sayings to modern slang, this list shows what people actually say—and how to say it right. Bookmark it, explore freely, and let these expressions sharpen your voice, style, and understanding every single day.

A blessing in disguise — “Losing that job was a blessing in disguise; it pushed me to start my own business.”
A dime a dozen — “Good ideas are a dime a dozen; execution is rare.”
A drop in the bucket — “Our donation felt like a drop in the bucket compared to what’s needed.”
A breath of fresh air — “Her positive attitude is a breath of fresh air in the office.”
A far cry — “This prototype is a far cry from the final product we envisioned.”
A feather in your cap — “Publishing that paper is a real feather in your cap.”
A fine line — “There’s a fine line between confidence and arrogance.”
A flash in the pan — “The app’s early hype was just a flash in the pan.”
A good call — “Switching vendors was a good call.”
A hard pill to swallow — “The budget cuts were a hard pill to swallow.”
A long shot — “Getting funding this late is a long shot.”
A penny for your thoughts — “You’ve been quiet—penny for your thoughts?”
A perfect storm — “Delays, shortages, and high demand created a perfect storm.”
A quick study — “She picked up the new software fast—she’s a quick study.”
A shot in the arm — “The new hires were a shot in the arm for the team.”
A silver lining — “The silver lining was the lessons we learned.”
A skeleton in the closet — “The audit uncovered a few skeletons in the closet.”
A snowball effect — “Small savings created a snowball effect over time.”
A stitch in time — “Fix that leak now; a stitch in time saves nine.”
A tall order — “Finishing by Friday is a tall order.”
All ears — “I’m all ears—tell me what happened.”
All in — “We’re all in on the new strategy.”
All over the map — “The feedback was all over the map.”
All the rage — “Minimalist sneakers are all the rage this season.”
Apple of someone’s eye — “Their grandson is the apple of their eye.”
At cross purposes — “We were talking at cross purposes in the meeting.”
At the drop of a hat — “She’ll help at the drop of a hat.”
Back to square one — “The client’s pivot sent us back to square one.”
Back to the drawing board — “The prototype failed; back to the drawing board.”
Backseat driver — “I don’t need a backseat driver during the demo.”
Ballpark figure — “Can you give me a ballpark figure for costs?”
Bark up the wrong tree — “If you think I leaked it, you’re barking up the wrong tree.”
Beat around the bush — “Stop beating around the bush and say it plainly.”
Been there, done that — “Weekend hackathon? Been there, done that.”
Bend over backwards — “They bent over backwards to meet our deadline.”
Best of both worlds — “Hybrid work gives us the best of both worlds.”
Bite off more than you can chew — “We bit off more than we could chew by adding three features.”
Bite the bullet — “We finally bit the bullet and raised prices.”
Bite your tongue — “I wanted to respond, but I bit my tongue.”
Black and white — “The policy isn’t black and white.”
Bless your heart — “You tried to fix it—bless your heart.”
Blind leading the blind — “Without training, it was the blind leading the blind.”
Blow off steam — “We played soccer to blow off steam after work.”
Blow out of proportion — “Don’t blow the typo out of proportion.”
Break a leg — “Break a leg on stage tonight!”
Break the ice — “A quick game helped break the ice.”
Bring to the table — “What can this vendor bring to the table?”
Brush up on — “I need to brush up on statistics.”
Burn the midnight oil — “We burned the midnight oil to hit release.”
Burn bridges — “Don’t burn bridges when you resign.”
Bury the hatchet — “They buried the hatchet after the dispute.”
By the book — “The inspection requires us to do it by the book.”
By the skin of your teeth — “We caught the train by the skin of our teeth.”
Call it a day — “We’ve made good progress—let’s call it a day.”
Call the shots — “In this partnership, they call the shots.”
Calm before the storm — “The quiet morning felt like the calm before the storm.”
Can’t see the forest for the trees — “He’s so focused on details he can’t see the forest for the trees.”
Catch-22 — “Needing experience to get experience is a Catch‑22.”
Caught red-handed — “The intern was caught red-handed copying files.”
Change of heart — “She had a change of heart and stayed.”
Chase rainbows — “Stop chasing rainbows and focus on achievable goals.”
Chew the fat — “Let’s grab coffee and chew the fat.”
Close but no cigar — “Your answer was close, but no cigar.”
Cold feet — “He got cold feet before the pitch.”
Cold turkey — “She quit social media cold turkey.”
Come clean — “It’s time to come clean about the error.”
Come rain or shine — “We’ll launch on the 15th, come rain or shine.”
Cook the books — “The company was fined for cooking the books.”
Couldn’t care less — “I couldn’t care less about office gossip.”
Cut corners — “They cut corners and it showed.”
Cut to the chase — “Let’s cut to the chase—will you invest?”
Dark horse — “He’s a dark horse in the competition.”
Devil’s advocate — “I’ll play devil’s advocate for a minute.”
Down to the wire — “The project went down to the wire.”
Draw a blank — “I drew a blank on her name.”
Drop the ball — “We dropped the ball on follow‑ups.”
Elephant in the room — “Let’s address the elephant in the room: budget.”
End of the day — “At the end of the day, trust matters most.”
Every cloud has a silver lining — “We were delayed, but every cloud has a silver lining.”
Face the music — “We had to face the music after the outage.”
Fair and square — “They won fair and square.”
Fall through the cracks — “Some requests fell through the cracks.”
Feather one’s nest — “He was accused of feathering his nest.”
Feel under the weather — “I’m feeling under the weather today.”
Fifth wheel — “I felt like a fifth wheel at the couples’ dinner.”
Fish out of water — “On my first day, I felt like a fish out of water.”
Fly off the handle — “He flew off the handle over a minor bug.”
Fly under the radar — “We kept the feature under the radar.”
Food for thought — “Your comment is food for thought.”
For good measure — “Add a few more tests for good measure.”
From the ground up — “We rebuilt the system from the ground up.”
From the horse’s mouth — “I heard it from the horse’s mouth.”
Full steam ahead — “With approval, it’s full steam ahead.”
Gain ground — “Our app is gaining ground with students.”
Get a taste of your own medicine — “The critic got a taste of his own medicine.”
Get cold feet — “She got cold feet before signing.”
Get in hot water — “He got in hot water for the tweet.”
Get your act together — “We need to get our act together before Q4.”
Give someone the benefit of the doubt — “I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt.”
Give the green light — “The board gave the green light to expand.”
Go against the grain — “Her style goes against the grain here.”
Go back to square one — “If testing fails, we go back to square one.”
Go the extra mile — “Support went the extra mile for us.”
Golden opportunity — “This partnership is a golden opportunity.”
Grass is always greener — “He quits often; the grass is always greener.”
Hang in there — “Hang in there; results are coming.”
Hard and fast rule — “There’s no hard and fast rule for pricing.”
Hat trick — “She pulled a hat trick of wins this week.”
Have a lot on your plate — “I’ve got a lot on my plate today.”
Have skin in the game — “Investors want founders with skin in the game.”
Head in the clouds — “He’s creative but has his head in the clouds.”
Hit it off — “The new teammates hit it off immediately.”
Hit the ground running — “We hit the ground running on Monday.”
Hit the nail on the head — “Your diagnosis hit the nail on the head.”
Hit the sack — “I’m exhausted—time to hit the sack.”
Hold your horses — “Hold your horses; we need approvals first.”
In a nutshell — “In a nutshell, we need more time.”
In hot water — “They’re in hot water over compliance.”
In over your head — “I was in over my head at first.”
In the long run — “In the long run, quality pays off.”
In the nick of time — “They arrived in the nick of time.”
In the same boat — “We’re all in the same boat during layoffs.”
It rings a bell — “That username rings a bell.”
It takes two to tango — “Don’t blame just him; it takes two to tango.”
Jump on the bandwagon — “Brands jumped on the bandwagon fast.”
Jump the gun — “We jumped the gun announcing it.”
Keep an eye on — “Keep an eye on the metrics.”
Keep at bay — “We kept costs at bay with planning.”
Keep your chin up — “Keep your chin up; interviews take time.”
Keep your cool — “She kept her cool under pressure.”
Kick the can down the road — “We can’t keep kicking the can down the road.”
Kill two birds with one stone — “This workshop kills two birds with one stone.”
Know the ropes — “She knows the ropes around here.”
Last straw — “The missed deadline was the last straw.”
Learn the hard way — “We learned the hard way about backups.”
Leave no stone unturned — “We’ll leave no stone unturned in the search.”
Let bygones be bygones — “Let’s let bygones be bygones and move on.”
Let the cat out of the bag — “The teaser let the cat out of the bag.”
Let sleeping dogs lie — “Better to let sleeping dogs lie.”
Level playing field — “We need a level playing field for vendors.”
Light at the end of the tunnel — “I finally see light at the end of the tunnel.”
Like clockwork — “The nightly backups run like clockwork.”
Low-hanging fruit — “Let’s tackle the low-hanging fruit first.”
Make a long story short — “Long story short, we shipped on time.”
Make ends meet — “They took a second job to make ends meet.”
Make waves — “Her article made waves in the industry.”
Mix signals — “The memo sent mixed signals.”
Move the goalposts — “Don’t move the goalposts mid‑project.”
My two cents — “Here are my two cents on hiring.”
Nail-biter — “The vote was a nail-biter.”
No-brainer — “Automating backups is a no-brainer.”
No strings attached — “We offered help with no strings attached.”
Not by a long shot — “That estimate isn’t accurate, not by a long shot.”
Not out of the woods — “We’re not out of the woods yet.”
Off the cuff — “He gave an off‑the‑cuff answer.”
Off the hook — “You’re off the hook for today’s report.”
Off the record — “Off the record, the launch is delayed.”
On cloud nine — “She’s on cloud nine after the promotion.”
On the ball — “Our new analyst is really on the ball.”
On the fence — “I’m on the fence about the redesign.”
On thin ice — “He’s on thin ice after the complaint.”
Once in a blue moon — “We go hiking once in a blue moon.”
Out of left field — “That suggestion came out of left field.”
Out of the blue — “The offer came out of the blue.”
Out of the frying pan — “We jumped out of the frying pan into the fire.”
Out of your depth — “I was out of my depth in that meeting.”
Pass the buck — “Stop passing the buck and own it.”
Pay through the nose — “We paid through the nose for tickets.”
Penny pincher — “He’s a penny pincher with expenses.”
Piece of cake — “That assignment was a piece of cake.”
Play it by ear — “Let’s play it by ear after lunch.”
Play with fire — “Ignoring security patches is playing with fire.”
Pull a rabbit out of a hat — “She pulled a rabbit out of a hat during Q&A.”
Pull punches — “The review didn’t pull any punches.”
Pull strings — “He pulled strings to get us access.”
Pull the plug — “We pulled the plug on the beta.”
Push the envelope — “This design pushes the envelope.”
Put all your eggs in one basket — “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.”
Put in a good word — “Can you put in a good word for me?”
Put your foot down — “She put her foot down on scope creep.”
Put your money where your mouth is — “Invest if you believe—put your money where your mouth is.”
Rain on someone’s parade — “I hate to rain on your parade, but the data’s wrong.”
Read between the lines — “Reading between the lines, they’re not interested.”
Red tape — “We’re stuck in red tape again.”
Rest on your laurels — “We can’t rest on our laurels after one win.”
Rock the boat — “He didn’t want to rock the boat.”
Roll with the punches — “We rolled with the punches during the outage.”
Rub salt in the wound — “Bragging now would rub salt in the wound.”
Run a tight ship — “Our manager runs a tight ship.”
Save face — “He apologized to save face.”
See eye to eye — “We finally see eye to eye on scope.”
Set the bar — “That campaign set the bar for others.”
Shoot from the hip — “She tends to shoot from the hip in meetings.”
Six of one, half a dozen of the other — “Either route is six of one, half a dozen of the other.”
Skeleton crew — “A skeleton crew kept operations going.”
Sleep on it — “Let’s sleep on it before deciding.”
Slip through the cracks — “The bug slipped through the cracks.”
Smoke and mirrors — “The demo was mostly smoke and mirrors.”
Smooth sailing — “After the patch, it was smooth sailing.”
Speak of the devil — “Speak of the devil—there she is!”
Spill the beans — “Who spilled the beans about the merger?”
Split hairs — “We’re splitting hairs over tiny details.”
Square the circle — “They tried to square the circle on pricing.”
Stand your ground — “Stand your ground on your boundaries.”
Step up to the plate — “It’s time to step up to the plate.”
Stick to your guns — “She stuck to her guns about quality.”
Stick out like a sore thumb — “The typo stuck out like a sore thumb.”
Stir the pot — “His comments stirred the pot online.”
Take a rain check — “Can I take a rain check on dinner?”
Take it with a grain of salt — “Take that rumor with a grain of salt.”
Take the bull by the horns — “We took the bull by the horns and escalated.”
Take the cake — “That excuse takes the cake.”
Take the plunge — “We took the plunge and launched abroad.”
The ball is in your court — “The ball’s in your court to approve.”
The best of both worlds — “Remote‑first gives the best of both worlds.”
The elephant in the room — “Cost overruns are the elephant in the room.”
The icing on the cake — “Great reviews were the icing on the cake.”
The last straw — “The outage was the last straw.”
The lion’s share — “Marketing took the lion’s share of the budget.”
The tip of the iceberg — “These bugs are just the tip of the iceberg.”
There’s no love lost — “There’s no love lost between those teams.”
Third time’s the charm — “Third time’s the charm for this test.”
Throw in the towel — “After three tries, we threw in the towel.”
Throw someone under the bus — “Don’t throw your teammates under the bus.”
Tie up loose ends — “We’re tying up loose ends before launch.”
Time flies — “Time flies when you’re prototyping.”
Time is of the essence — “Ship now; time is of the essence.”
To add insult to injury — “He was late, and to add insult to injury, he left early.”
Toe the line — “Contractors must toe the line on safety.”
Turn a blind eye — “They turned a blind eye to minor breaches.”
Turn the tables — “We turned the tables with a bold campaign.”
Under one’s belt — “Get a few wins under your belt first.”
Under the weather — “I’m a bit under the weather today.”
Up in the air — “The schedule is still up in the air.”
Upset the apple cart — “Don’t upset the apple cart right before launch.”
Walk a fine line — “We walk a fine line with pricing.”
Walk on eggshells — “Everyone’s walking on eggshells around him.”
Water under the bridge — “It’s water under the bridge now.”
Wear many hats — “At a startup, you wear many hats.”
When pigs fly — “He’ll apologize when pigs fly.”
Wild goose chase — “The rumor sent us on a wild goose chase.”
Word of mouth — “Most sales came from word of mouth.”
Work like a charm — “That workaround worked like a charm.”
You can’t have your cake and eat it too — “They want speed and perfection—you can’t have your cake and eat it too.”
You can’t judge a book by its cover — “The dated website fooled me—you can’t judge a book by its cover.”
Your guess is as good as mine — “As for the timeline, your guess is as good as mine.”

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