Notable English Idioms: Part 02

Fit as a fiddle - In good physical health.

Cheap as chips - Inexpensive or good value

Ball is in your court - It is up to you to make the next decision or step.

Jump ship - Leave a job, organization, or activity suddenly.

Ignorance is bliss - Life is good when you're naive to the hardships happening all around

All ears - Listening intently; fully focused or awaiting an explanation.

Barking up the wrong tree - Looking in the wrong place.

Drop a dime - Make a telephone call; to be an informant.

From scratch / to make from scratch - Make from original ingredients; start from the beginning with no prior preparation

By the skin of one's teeth - Narrowly; barely. Usually used in regard to a narrow escape from a disaster.

Right as rain - Needed, appropriate, essential, or hoped-for and has come to mean perfect, well, absolutely right.

No horse in this race - No vested interest in the outcome of a particular contest or debate

Basket case - One made powerless or ineffective, as by nerves, panic, or stress.

Actions speak louder than words - People's intentions can be judged better by what they do than by what they say.

Raining cats and dogs - Raining really strong or hard.

Spill the beans - Reveal someone's secret.

Have eyes in the back of one's head - Someone can perceive things and events that are outside of their field of vision.

Once in a blue moon - Something that occurs very rarely.

You can say that again - That is very true; expression of wholehearted agreement

Kill two birds with one stone - To accomplish two different tasks at the same time and/or with a single action.

By the seat of one's pants - To achieve through instinct or do something without advance preparation.

Piss in one's cornflakes - To annoy, upset, or disappoint through spiteful or irresponsible behavior.

Split the whistle - To arrive just on time.

Chalk up - To attribute something to a particular cause.

Take the cake (US) - To be especially good or outstanding.

Take the biscuit (UK) - To be particularly bad, objectionable, or egregious.

Clam up - To become silent; to stop talking.

Throw under the bus - To betray or sacrifice someone for selfish reasons.

Chew the fat - To chat idly or generally waste time talking.

Shoot the breeze - To chat idly or generally waste time talking.

Put the cat among the pigeons - To create a disturbance and cause trouble.

Cut a rug" - To dance

Trip the light fantastic - To dance

Call it a day - To declare the end of a task.

Cold shoulder - To display aloofness and disdain.

Bite the bullet - To endure a painful or unpleasant situation that is unavoidable.

Off the hook - To escape a situation of responsibility, obligation, or (less frequently) danger.

Thumb one's nose -To express scorn or to disregard.

Cut the cheese -To fart. Also cut the mustard

Add insult to injury - To further a loss with sarcasm or indignity; to worsen an unfavorable situation.

Tie one on - To get drunk.

Hit the sack/sheets/hay - To go to bed to sleep.

Have a blast - To have a good time or to enjoy oneself.

Hit the road - To leave.

Take with a grain of salt - To not take what someone says too seriously; to treat someone's words with a degree of skepticism.

Cut the mustard - To perform well; to meet expectations. Or to fart.

Preaching to the choir - To present a side of a discussion or argument to someone who already agrees with it; essentially, wasting your time.

Let the cat out of the bag - To reveal a secret.

Bust one's chops - To say things intended to harass.

Screw the pooch - To screw up; to fail in dramatic and ignominious fashion.

Champ at the bit or Chomp at the bit - To show impatience or frustration when delayed.

Grasp the nettle - To tackle a difficulty boldly.

To steal someone's thunder - To take credit for something someone else did.

Get bent out of shape - To take offense; to get worked up, aggravated, or annoyed

Bite off more than one can chew - To take on more responsibility than one can manage.

Pull somebody's leg - To tease or to joke by telling a lie.

Beat around the bush - To treat a topic, but omit its main points, often intentionally or to delay or avoid talking about something difficult or unpleasant.

Beat a dead horse - To uselessly dwell on a subject far beyond its point of resolution.

Burn the midnight oil - To work late into the night, alluding to the time before electric lighting.

Under my thumb - under my control

An arm and a leg - Very expensive or costly. A large amount of money.

Sunny smile - Very happy.

Back to the drawing board - When an attempt fails, and it's time to start planning all over again.

X Marks the spot - When someone finds something they have been looking for.

I bet - When you understand why someone has a particular opinion or feels a particular way; "of course", "indeed". May also be used sarcastically.

At the drop of a hat - Without any hesitation; instantly.

Heard it through the grapevine  - You learned something through means of a rumor.

➤ Read more idioms and phrases, English grammar and vocabulary at Basic English Grammar And Vocabulary . You might also like ⏬
➤ Book of Idioms

➤ Idioms about Animals

➤ Idioms of Expression

➤ Idioms on Food

➤ Idiomatic Expressions

➤ Origin of Idioms

➤ Proverbs

➤ Idioms on Situation

➤ Idioms on Temperature