This document provides definitions and examples of common English idioms. Some idioms defined include "status quo", "over-the-top", "to miss out on", "to steal someone's thunder", and "a tall tale". Examples of usage are provided for each idiom to illustrate its meaning in context.

1. Idioms
Made Easy 1
Easy way to remember idioms
examples are from college students’ lives

2. The status quo
The existing order of things; present customs,
practices, and power relations:
“Old-school teachers are often content with the
status quo.”

3. Over-the-top
Too much, excessive
Having a go at him would have been enough; suing
him was going over-the-top.

4. To miss out on
To miss the opportunity of doing something
enjoyable or beneficial.
If you do not show up to class on time, you will
miss out on all the fun!

5. To steal someone’s thunder
To upstage someone; to destroy the effect of what someone
does or says by doing or saying the same thing first.
My sister stole my thunder when she- on my wedding day-
announced she was pregnant.

6. A tall tale
An exaggerated, unreliable story
“My uncle claims that he was raised in a drainage ditch, but it’s
just another of his tall tales.”

7. To throw in the towel
To quit in defeat. The phrase comes from boxing, in
which a fighter indicates surrender by throwing a towel
into the ring:
After losing the election, he threw in the towel on his
political career.

8. To be under the weather
Indisposed, unwell:
John could not come to school saying he was feeling
under the weather, but then some students saw him at
a nearby beach and reported him to the manager.

9. under the wire
Just in time
Tom mailed off her application, and it got in just under the
wire.
From horse racing, in which the wire marks the finish
line.

10. wear one’s heart on one’s sleeve
To express affection or sentiment too openly or
ostentatiously
You have to play it cool with a girl like Heidi; you mustn’t
wear your heart on your sleeve

11. To do something at the drop of a hat
Do it quickly and without planning or hesitation
If you need my help, I can come at the drop of a hat.
Just call my name!

12. A wet blanket
Someone who dampens enthusiasm
We were all having a good time until Tom walked in and
started acting like a wet blanket

13. To have a blast
What a great party! I’m having a blast!
“having a blast” means:
terribly bored
having a great time
to explode

14. A gray area
an area that is subject to many interpretations and there is
no clear cut method of determining what is right or
wrong.
I’m not sure how to answer that question because it’s a
gray area.

15. rock-bottom adj.
(said of a price) extremely inexpensive.
example: I’m going to buy a new car today. The dealer is selling
selling them at rock-bottom prices!

16. To catch someone red-handed
To discover someone in the process of committing a
sneaky and wrong act.
I caught John red-handed stealing money.
The teacher caught Tom red-handed trying to copy answers
off the internet.

17. A white lie
a small lie which is used to get someone out of a difficult
situation or to spare someone’s feelings.
I didn’t want to go to Tom’s party, so I told him a white lie. I
said that I wasn’t feeling well.

18. To black out
to faint
My fever got so high that I blacked out.
Also: black out n. an interruption in electric power causing the lights to
to go out
Everyone was concerned that on January 1, 2000, there would
be a blackout.

19. kiss up to someone
to flatter someone in order to get something.
Tom always kisses up to the boss. The only reason he does that is
because he wants a raise.
Synonym 1: butter someone up (to) exp.
Synonym 3: sweet talk someone (to) exp.

20. To hit the nail on the head
to reach a correct conclusion
I think Tom is insecure about his height.
– You hit the nail on the head!

21. To keep someone in the dark
to be unaware or uninformed.
How is Tom after his operation? His family has been keeping me
in the dark!
Synonym: keep someone guessing

22. To be one-in-a-million
to be rare.
Tom is always there if I need her. She’s one-in-a-million.

23. Can’t stand a person
I’m not inviting Diane to my party. I can’t stand her.
“I can’t stand her” means:
I really like her
I can’t tolerate her
I am jealous of her

24. To call the shots
to make the decisions
The boss told Janet to call the shots while he was away.
= Take matters into your own hands
. to deal with a problem yourself because
the people who should have dealt with it
have failed to do so:
When the police failed to catch her

25. Take matters into your own hands
to deal with a problem yourself because the people who should
have dealt with it have failed to do so
When the police failed to catch her, he took matters into his
own hands.

26. for all I know
One has little or no knowledge of something.
She may have already accepted another job, for all we
know.

27. To get cold feet
To become timid and afraid to do or try something risky
Tom was going to ask Kim for a date but he got cold feet.

28. To put someone up to something
to encourage someone to do something stupid or
dangerous
- Thanks for trying, Julia (upon making Monk feel good by
staging a lost camera, so Monk can demonstrate his
investigative skills).
- Did you your mom put me up to this?
- No, it was my own idea.

29. eye-rolling
A gesture in which a person briefly turns their eyes
upward, often in an arcing motion from one side
to the other. ... to disagree or dismiss the targeted
person without physical contact. Rude
Mila would always roll her eyes when Chris asked
her to be on task, saying that it is boring.

30. To click with someone
To get along well quickly
These are people that you just click with
immediately, you know?

31. tough love
promotion of a person's welfare, especially that of an addict, child, or
or criminal, by enforcing certain constraints on them, or requiring
them to take responsibility for their actions.
The tough love model uses physical violence, emotional abuse,
humiliation, and other harms. Not only do these approaches not
work to correct behavior, but they're also proven to put people,
especially children, at even greater risk of health problems later in
life, including substance use disorder.

32. To drop the ball
On working with others. You have a task at hand. You
decide to drop the ball is to intentionally stop working on
a task.
I needed Tim to send me those files for my presentation
today, but he didn’t. He’s really dropped the ball on this
one.

33. To give someone a head start
When you are talking about self made men in business
and give your children a head start by sending them to a
good nursery school. I mean you give them an
advantage which helps them to be successful. Or ten
more minutes before the test starts you can start
answering so you have a head start.
The teacher let Tom start the test 10 minutes earlier,
giving him a head start.

34. To be low-key
In discussing parties/ events, a low-key event is quiet and
without a great show of excitement.
The wedding was a low-key affair, with fewer than 30 people
attending. We're having a party at my place but keeping
it low-key so the neighbors don't complain. An example of
a low key party is one where people sit around and quietly
talk.

35. to go off
To speak angrily to.
Todd’s mom would go off on him every time he came home late.

36. To do something in style
Fashionable
I was hiking once and I saw this lady all dressed up.
She was hiking in style.

37. play it by ear
to improvise; to not make a plan but decide what to
do as you do it
- A: How long will you stay in Australia?
- B: I’m not sure. I’m just going to play it by ear.

38. To be up in the air
To be uncertain or unsettled
- A. How’s your trip to Mexico coming along?
- Everything’s up in the air at the moment.

39. on and off
In relationships
We’ve been together on and off for years.

40. To see eye to eye
to agree on something; to have the same views on
something
Tom and his father don’t see eye to eye on the issue of
abortion.

41. To jog someone’s memory
to make sb remember something
Tom said he couldn’t remember the song’s lyrics, but hearing the
first few words jogged his memory.

42. To Have (a few) hiccups
initial temporary problems