A List of idioms. This page contains examples of idioms and an ever growing list of idioms. It is a good practice to avoid use of these idioms in poetry unless used in a completely original way.
See also: Proverbs
Idioms are expressions, sayings, or phrases whose meanings cannot be understood from the meanings of the words that make it up.
Piece of cake Meaning:A job, task or other activity that is pleasant – or, by extension, easy or simple.
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Play it by earMeaning:Decide what to do or say according to a situation as it develops. If you play it by ear, you act by responding a situation as it happens, rather than following a plan you made in advance.
Example:
We can't plan for today's interview. Let's just go and play it by ear.
They can't predict what will happen in tomorrow's game, so they decided to play it by ear.
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Pop one's clogsMeaning:Euphemism for dying or death.
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Pop quizMeaning:A short test that is given in class without any warning beforehand. A pop quiz is a quiz (a short test) that your teacher gives you without any advance notice to check if you have been studying.
Example:
Mrs. Jones, an ELC teacher, is famous for giving her students a lot of pop quizzes.
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Pop the questionMeaning:To ask someone to marry you Culturally, it is usually the man who pops the question to a woman. Example:Steve has been dating Stephanie for two years. He decides that he wants to marry her. He is very nervous though, so he goes to ask advice from his best friend Eric. "I think I'm going ask Stephanie to marry me. What do you think I should do?" asks Steve. "You've decided to pop the question? That's wonderful! I think you should buy her roses and take her out for a nice dinner," replies Eric.
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Pull somebody's legMeaning:To tease or to joke by telling a lie.
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Pull someone's legMeaning:Tease someone by saying something shocking as a joke. If you pull someone's leg, you tell him/her something that is not true as a joke.
Example:
She said she found $1 million in the park, but I think she was just pulling my leg. Don't worry. I won't tell it to anyone. I was just pulling your leg. (It was a joke.)
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Pushing up daisiesMeaning:Euphemism for dying or death.
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Put all your (my, their, etc.) eggs into one basket
Meaning:Depend totally on one single person or course of action.
If you put all your eggs into one basket, you put all your energy and time to one thing or purpose. If it fails, you will have no other possibilities left.
Example:
I know you really want to go to BYU, but don't put all your eggs into one basket. Apply to a few other colleges too.
I'll invest my money in several companies, not this one only. I don't want to put all my eggs into one basket.
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Put the cat among the pigeonsMeaning:To create a disturbance and cause trouble.
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Put yourself in someone's shoesMeaning:Try to understand someone's situation. If you put yourself in someone's shoes, you try to understand what his/her situation is like and think about it as if you were in the same situation.
Example:
You need to take some time to put yourself in their shoes and understand them.
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