Common English Idioms

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush
What you have is worth more than what you might have later (by itself)
A penny for your thoughts
Tell me what you're thinking (by itself)
A penny saved is a penny earned
Money you save today you can spend later (by itself)
A perfect storm
the worst possible situation (in sentence)
A picture is worth 1000 words
Better to show than tell (by itself)
Actions speak louder than words
Believe what people do and not what they say (by itself)
Add insult to injury
To make a bad situation worse (in sentence)
Barking up the wrong tree
To be mistaken, to be looking for solutions in the wrong place (in sentence)
Birds of a feather flock together
People who are alike are often friends (usually used negatively) (by itself)
Bite off more than you can chew
Take on a project that you cannot finish (in sentence)
Break the ice
Make people feel more comfortable (in sentence)
By the skin of your teeth
Just barely (in sentence)
Comparing apples to oranges
Comparing two things that cannot be compared (in sentence)
Costs an arm and a leg
Very expensive (in sentence)
Do something at the drop of a hat
Do something without having planned beforehand (in sentence)
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you
Treat people fairly. Also known as "The Golden Rule" (by itself)
Don't count your chickens before they hatch
Don't count on something good happening until it's happened. (by itself)
Don't cry over spilt milk
There's no reason to complain about something that can't be fixed (by itself)
Don't give up your day job
You're not very good at this (by itself)
Don't put all your eggs in one basket
What you're doing is too risky (by itself)
Every cloud has a silver lining
Good things come after bad things (by itself)
Get a taste of your own medicine
Get treated the way you've been treating others (negative) (in sentence)
Give someone the cold shoulder
Ignore someone (in sentence)
Go on a wild goose chase
To do something pointless (in sentence)
Good things come to those who wait
Be patient (by itself)
He has bigger fish to fry
He has bigger things to take care of than what we are talking about now (by itself)
He's a chip off the old block
The son is like the father (by itself)
Hit the nail on the head
Get something exactly right (by itself)
Ignorance is bliss
You're better off not knowing (by itself)
It ain't over till the fat lady sings
This isn't over yet (by itself)
It takes one to know one
You're just as bad as I am (by itself)
It's a piece of cake
It's easy (by itself)
It's raining cats and dogs
It's raining hard (by itself)
Kill two birds with one stone
Get two things done with a single action (by itself)
Let the cat out of the bag
Give away a secret (in sentence)
Live and learn
I made a mistake (by itself)
Look before you leap
Take only calculated risks (by itself)
On thin ice
On probation. If you make another mistake, there will be trouble. (in sentence)
Once in a blue moon
Rarely (in sentence)
Play devil's advocate
To argue the opposite, just for the sake of argument (in sentence)
Put something on ice
Put a projet on hold (in sentence)
Rain on someone's parade
To spoil something (in sentence)
Saving for a rainy day
Saving money for later (in sentence)
Slow and steady wins the race
Reliability is more important than speed (by itself)
Spill the beans
Give away a secret (in sentence)
Take a rain check
Postpone a plan (in sentence)
Take it with a grain of salt
Don't take it too seriously (in sentence)
The ball is in your court
It's your decision (by itself)
The best thing since sliced bread
A really good invention (in sentence)
The devil is in the details
It looks good from a distance, but when you look closer, there are problems (by itself)
The early bird gets the worm
The first people who arrive will get the best stuff (by itself)
The elephant in the room
The big issue, the problem people are avoiding (in sentence)
The whole nine yards
Everything, all the way. (in sentence)
There are other fish in the sea
It's ok to miss this opportunity. Others will arise. (by itself)
There's a method to his madness
He seems crazy but actually he's clever (by itself)
There's no such thing as a free lunch
Nothing is entirely free (by itself)
Throw caution to the wind
Take a risk (in sentence)
You can't have your cake and eat it too
You can't have everything (by itself)
You can't judge a book by its cover
This person or thing may look bad, but it's good inside (by itself)