Idioms

'She's got a short fuse'

As February is the shortest month of the year we thought we'd give you some idioms that use the word 'short':

to be caught short

To have a sudden need to go to the toilet:

'I went to the toilet before we left because I didn't want to be caught short on the journey.'

to be a bit short

To not have enough money:

"You can't teach an old dog new tricks"

Here are some idioms that all use the word new. Read them through and then complete the exercise below them:

Turn over a new leaf

To start behaving in a better way:

'I heard that's she's turned over a new leaf and stopped drinking alcohol.'

'The test was a piece of cake.'

A lemon

A lemon is something that you buy which turns out to have problems - it is defective / it doesn't work well.

'That second-hand car I bought was a real lemon. It broke down a week after I bought it.'

11 number idioms

Take a look at these idioms; they all use numbers. Read through the 11 idioms ranging from 1 to 11 and then try the quiz:

Money: we never seem to have enough of it. Here are some common idioms that English speakers use which are related to it.

To Make a Quick Buck

To make money quickly and easily. It is often used for making money in a dishonest way. A buck is a slang word for a US dollar.

'People today would rather make a quick buck than work hard and save.'

'Paul is always late for work. He is in danger of losing his job.'

Imagine that you have a friend called Paul. Paul is being lazy in work - he is often late and is in danger of losing his job. The following idioms can all be used when we want to warn Paul that he is in danger.

Here we look at six idioms which are linked to the topic of crime. These idioms are not necessarily about crime; they just use the language of crime to describe other situations. Find out what they mean, how you can use them and then do the quiz:

Here are some common colour idioms and expressions. Are any of these similar in your language?

black idioms

black and white

When something is black and white it is very clear to understand and decide if you think it is good or bad.

'This is a black and white situation. You are either with us or against us.'

Here are ten common idioms which are related to body parts:

foot in mouth

To put your foot in your mouth means that you say or do something that accidentally embarrasses or offends another person

'I put my foot in my mouth when I called by brother's new wife by his ex-wife's name.'