English · Idioms & Phrases

Idioms & Phrases

Common expressions and what they actually mean

Idioms are expressions whose meaning isn't obvious from the individual words — you either know them or you don't, which is exactly why exams test them. Here are the ones that come up most often, with their meaning and a usage example.

25 Frequently Asked Idioms

Idiom	Meaning
A blessing in disguise	Something that seems bad at first but turns out good
Beat around the bush	To avoid saying something directly
Break the ice	To initiate conversation in a social setting
Call it a day	To stop working on something for the day
Cut corners	To do something in the cheapest or easiest way
Once in a blue moon	Very rarely
Piece of cake	Something very easy to do
Under the weather	Feeling slightly ill
Hit the nail on the head	To describe exactly what is causing a situation
Let the cat out of the bag	To reveal a secret accidentally
Bite the bullet	To face a difficult situation bravely
Burn the midnight oil	To work late into the night
Costs an arm and a leg	Very expensive
Get the ball rolling	To start something moving or happening
Hit the sack	To go to bed
In the same boat	Facing the same difficult situation as someone else
Jump on the bandwagon	To join something because it's popular
Kill two birds with one stone	To achieve two goals with a single action
Miss the boat	To miss an opportunity
On the ball	Alert and quick to understand things
Speak of the devil	Said when a person appears just after being talked about
Take it with a grain of salt	To not take something too seriously
The last straw	The final problem that makes a situation unbearable
Throw in the towel	To give up on something
Wrap your head around something	To fully understand something complex

How exams typically ask this: You'll usually see a sentence with the idiom underlined, and you have to pick the correct meaning from four options — so it's about recognizing meaning, not producing the idiom yourself. Reading the full sentence context still helps confirm the right answer.

Practice Questions

1. "After the long meeting, everyone decided to call it a day." What does the underlined idiom mean?

A. Celebrate the day    B. Stop working for the day    C. Start a new project    D. Argue about the schedule

Answer: B. Stop working for the day

2. "He decided to bite the bullet and accept the difficult job." What does this mean?

A. To refuse an offer    B. To face something bravely despite difficulty    C. To celebrate a success    D. To delay a decision

Answer: B. To face something bravely despite difficulty

3. "She accidentally let the cat out of the bag about the surprise party." What does this mean?

A. She lost a pet    B. She revealed a secret    C. She planned the party    D. She forgot the date

Answer: B. She revealed a secret

4. "This new phone costs an arm and a leg." What does this mean?

A. It is broken    B. It is very cheap    C. It is very expensive    D. It is hard to find

Answer: C. It is very expensive

5. "We can kill two birds with one stone by combining these two errands." What does this mean?

A. To harm two things at once    B. To achieve two goals with one action    C. To waste time    D. To avoid responsibility

Answer: B. To achieve two goals with one action

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