Skip to Main Content

ESL English Learners

Resources for ESL Learners & adult education

Idioms & Proverbs

 Proverbs, Idioms, and Sayings

Native English speakers use a lot of proverbs, idioms, and sayings that are difficult for non-native speakers to understand because many of the terms do not use words in their literal sense.

 

يستخدم المتحدثون الأصليون للغة الإنجليزية الكثير من الأمثال والتعابير والأقوال التي يصعب على غير الناطقين بها فهمها لأن العديد من المصطلحات لا تستخدم الكلمات بمعناها الحرفي.

 

F: De nombreux proverbes, expressions idiomatiques et dictons sont employés par les anglophones natifs, ce qui rend difficile leur compréhension pour les non-natifs, car de nombreux termes ne sont pas écrits dans leur sens littéral.

 

What Is a Proverb?

A proverb is a short, popular piece of advice or an observation that is generally held to be true.

What Is an Idiom?

An idiom is a popular saying whose meaning is not apparent from its words. In other words, the literal words of an idiom do not help with understanding the meaning.

Pain in the neck:

someone who is very annoying.

 

Know-it-all:

a person who thinks he/she knows everything.

 

Social butterfly:

someone who is friendly with everyone and enjoys spending time with groups of people.

 

Big cheese:

an important person.

 

Party animal:

someone who enjoys going to parties.

 

Tough cookie:

a person who can endure physical or mental hardship.

 

Airhead:

a member of family or group that shames them.

I am on cloud nine right now after my date:

Being “on cloud nine” means that you feel so happy after spending time with someone. It’s usually something about the romantic aspect of things, so when you hear that, it means that someone is really, really happy.

 

Your friend asks, “How are you doing?”

     You could answer, “I can’t complain.” :

“I can’t complain” just means that you aren’t necessarily “on cloud nine,” or happy, it’s just that you don’t have anything to complain about. “I can’t complain, life is good.”

 

She got riled up because of what she saw in the news:

“Riled up” is to become angry or upset.

 

The guy at the store was foaming at the mouth about a discount or something that happened with the clerk:

When you hear that someone is “foaming at the mouth,” that is not good. “Foaming at the mouth” is not literal, it just means that someone is so angry that they are speaking loudly, or screaming.

 

I get bored to death at work when it is slow:

“Bored to death” means, really, REALLY bored. Instead of saying “really” or “very,” you can say “bored to death.” A lot of native speakers say this.

 

I feel pooped after work:

No, that’s not what it means! You are just very tired, you are “pooped” or “pooped out.” You are just so physically or mentally exhausted that you can’t say a word, so you just say “I’m pooped.”

 

Beat around the bush:

Avoid saying what you mean, usually because it is uncomfortable

 

Break a leg:

Good luck

 

Easy does it:

Slow down

 

Get out of hand : 

Get out of control

 

Hit the sack:

Go to sleep

 

So far so good:

Things are going well so far

 

Get your act together :

Work better or leave 

 

Hang in there:

Don't give up