by Elaine Gallagher
LITERARY PHRASES or IDIOMS FOR TEACHERS TO KNOW
What do these mean? Where did they come from? What do they refer to?
Can you give an example of where it would be appropriate to use the phrase?
- Absence makes the heart grow fonder.
- Actions speak louder than words.
- An albatross around one’s neck
- All’s fair in love and war.
- All that glitters is not gold.
- All the world’s a stage. (text)
- Ask and it shall be given.
- Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country.
- As rich as Croesus
- As the crow flies
- As you make your bed, sp you must lie in it.
- Bad news travels fast.
- His (her) bark is worse than his/her bite.
- In the beginning….
- The best things in life are free.
- Better late than never.
- Better safe than sorry.
- Beauty’s only skin deep.
- Beggars can’t be choosers.
- Beware of the Ides of March.
- The bigger they come, the harder they fall.
- A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
- Birds of a feather flock together.
- The bit between his teeth
- Bite the bullet.
- Bite the dust.
- Don’t bite the hand that feeds you.
- The black hole of Calcutta
- The blind leading the blind
- Blood is thicker than water.
- Born with a silver spoon in her (his) mouth.
- The top brass…or…The big brass
- Brevity is the soul of wit.
- Bull in a china shop
- Burn the midnight oil.
- The burnt child fears the fire.
- Burning the candle at both ends
- Bury the hatchet.
- Business before pleasure
- It’s a buyer’s market. (opposite: It’s a seller’s market.)
- It’s like carrying coals to Newcastle.
- Catch as catch can.
- Champ at the bit
- Change of pace
- Checks and balances
- The chickens came home to roost.
- Cold hands, warm heart
- A cold shoulder
- Consider the lilies of the field.
- The course of true love never runs smoothly.
- Don’t cross the bridge ‘til you get to it.
- Don’t count your chickens ‘til they hatch.
- Don’t cry over spilt milk.
- Don’t cut off your nose to spite your face.
- Don’t judge a book by its cover.
- Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.
- Don’t put all your eggs on one basket.
- Don’t put the cart before the horse.
- Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
- The early bird catches the worm.
- Early to bed and early to rise makes a young man healthy, wealthy, and wise.
- Easier said than done
- It’s elementary, my dear Watson.
- An elephant never forgets.
- Experience is the best teacher.
- Familiarity breeds contempt.
- We have nothing to fear but fear itself.
- A feather in one’s cap
- A friend in need is a friend indeed.
- A fair weather friend
- The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.
- Get a dose of one’s own medicine.
- Get down to brass tacks.
- He got out of bed on the wrong side.
- Give him enough rope and he’ll hang himself.
- Give me liberty or give me death.
- A good man is hard to find.
- Great oaks from little acorns grow.
- A half loaf is better than none.
- Here today, gone tomorrow
- He who hesitates is lost.
- Don’t hide your light under a bushel.
- Hitch your wagon to a star.
- Hit the nail on the head.
- Honesty is the best policy.
- Hope springs eternal in the human breast.
- I came. I saw. I conquered. (Veni. Vidi. Vici.)
- If at first you don’t succeed, try and try again.
- I have never met a man I didn’t like.
- I think; therefore, I am.
- It never rains, but it pours.
- It’s always darkest before the dawn.
- It’s better to give than to receive.
- It takes two to tango.
- Keep the wolf from the door.
- It’s the last straw that breaks the camel’s back.
- Knock on wood.
- A left-handed compliment.
- Lemmings to the sea
- Let the cat out of the bag.
- Lock, stock, and barrel
- Don’t lock the stable door after the horse is stolen.
- Look before you leap.
- Love conquers all.
- Love makes the world go ‘round.
- Lowest common denominator
- Make a clean breast of things.
- Make hay while the sun shines
- Make a mountain out of a molehill.
- Make do with what you have.
- Make-work (busy-work)
- A man’s home is his castle.
- Manna from heaven
- Many are called, but few are chosen.
- To meet one’s Waterloo
- Misery loves company.
- The love of money is the root of all evil.
- The more, the merrier
- Music hath charms to sooth the savage beast.
- Nature – nurture controversy
- No man can serve two masters.
- A new broom sweeps clean.
- No news is good news.
- No man is an island.
- Nose out-of-joint
- Nose to the grindstone
- Nothing is certain but death and taxes.
- Nothing succeeds like success.
- Not with a bang, but with a whimper
- Oil and water don’t mix.
- Out of sight, out of mind
- Parting is such sweet sorrow.
- Patience of Job
- Patience of Penelope
- The pen is mightier than the sword.
- A penny saved is a penny earned.
- Planned obsolescence
- The pot calls the kettle black.
- The proof of the pudding is in the eating.
- Read between the lines.
- Read him the riot act.
- The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
- A rolling stone gathers no moss.
- Rome wasn’t built in a day.
- Separation of church and state
- Separation of powers
- Ships that pass in the night
- A soft answer turneth away wrath.
- A stitch in time saves nine.
- Still waters run deep.
- Strike while the iron is hot.
- Take the bitter with the sweet.
- Take the bull by the horns.
- There are plenty of fish in the sea.
- There’s more than one way to skin a cat.
- These are the times that try men’s souls.
- Thirty days hath September……(text)
- A thing of beauty is a joy forever.
- Through think and thin
- Throw out the baby with the bath water.
- Throw him to the lions.
- Tied to his mother’s apron strings
- To tilt at windmills
- Time and tide wait for no man.
- Too many cooks spoil the broth.
- Too many irons in the fire
- Two heads are better than one.
- Two shakes of a lamb’s tail
- Two wrongs don’t make a right.
- Variety is the spice of life.
- When in Rome, do as the Romans do.
- Where there’s a will, there’s a way.
- Where there’s life, there’s hope.
- Where there’s smoke, there’s fire
- The wish is father to the thought.
- A word to the wise is sufficient.
- You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.
- You can’t fit a square peg into a round hole.
- You can’t have your cake and eat it too.
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Another time, we’ll be offering names of people or things you should know.