25 Useful Idiomatic Expressions In English

An idiom is a group of words in a fixed order that have a particular meaning different from the meanings of each word when used individually. Did you know there are an estimated 25,000 different idioms in English? In this blog post we explain 25 common idiomatic expressions, and give you tips on how to work out the meaning of idioms you may not have come across before. There is also a short quiz at the end for you to practise your idiom-solving skills!

In the box below is a text with 10 idiomatic expressions in bold. Can you a guess what they might mean?

COVID has forced many companies to think outside the box and adopt more creative and unconventional solutions to stay ahead of the pack. Many companies have had to change their game plan, especially as some sectors have become more cut-throat. For some companies, adapting to the new environment has not been rocket science, whilst for others it has been more challenging. Some companies have had to go out on a limb, taking more risks than usual to ensure targets are reached, and many employees have been burning the midnight oil. The bottom line is that COVID has forced all of us to change at lightning speed. For some people this process has been a steep learning curve.

Now let’s take a look now at the meanings of these idioms:

1. Think outside the box: to think of creative or unconventional solutions, instead of common ones; to go beyond a normal idea.

2. Ahead of the pack: to be more successful than one’s competitors.

3. Game plan: a strategy or plan for success.

4. Cut-throat: very intense, aggressive, and merciless competition.

5. It isn’t rocket science: something that isn’t complicated to understand.

6. To go out on a limb: to do or say something risky.

7. Burning the midnight oil: to consistently work beyond normal business hours, usually late

8. The bottom line: the most important point or conclusion.

9. Lightning speed: extremely quickly.

10. Steep learning curve: the rate of someone’s progress in learning a new skill or set of information, usually in a short space of time. This is almost always expressed in a term associated with climbing hills or mountains, ie. steep.

How many did you know or guessed correctly? Here are strategies you can use to work out expressions you may come across in the future

• The context in which they are found will give you clues as to their meaning.
• If there is a similar expression in your native language, translating each word of the idiom will reveal its meaning.
• It isn’t crucial to know the exact meaning to understand what is being written, as long as you get the general idea, or ‘gist’.

Here are some other common idioms, and how to use them.

11. Back to square one

• Meaning: to start something over again because a previous attempt failed.
• Example: ‘Unless we can resolve the problem now, we will be back to square one.’

12. By the book

• Meaning: to do things exactly according to the rules.
• Example: ‘We told our clients that we will do everything by the book and so we must follow procedures properly.’