English Idioms - 200+ Common Idioms
Body Parts
| Idiom | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| break a leg | 幸運を祈る | Break a leg at your audition! |
| cost an arm and a leg | 非常に高い | That car cost an arm and a leg. |
| give someone a hand | 手伝う | Can you give me a hand with this? |
| keep an eye on | 見張る | Can you keep an eye on my bag? |
| turn a blind eye | 見て見ぬふりをする | The teacher turned a blind eye to the cheating. |
| see eye to eye | 意見が合う | We don't always see eye to eye. |
| by heart | 暗記で | I know the lyrics by heart. |
| cold shoulder | 冷たくする | She gave me the cold shoulder. |
| get off my back | うるさく言うな | Get off my back! I'll do it later. |
| behind someone's back | 陰で | Don't talk behind my back. |
| in over your head | 手に負えない | I'm in over my head with this project. |
| keep your chin up | 元気を出して | Keep your chin up! Things will get better. |
| bite your tongue | 言いたいことを我慢する | I had to bite my tongue to avoid arguing. |
| pull someone's leg | からかう | I'm just pulling your leg! (冗談だよ) |
| stick your neck out | 危険を冒す | She stuck her neck out for me. |
| by the skin of your teeth | ギリギリで | I passed the exam by the skin of my teeth. |
| twist someone's arm | 無理に説得する | I didn't want to go, but she twisted my arm. |
| have a gut feeling | 直感がある | I have a gut feeling something's wrong. |
Animals
| Idiom | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| let the cat out of the bag | 秘密をばらす | Who let the cat out of the bag? |
| raining cats and dogs | 土砂降り | It's raining cats and dogs out there. |
| the elephant in the room | みんなが避けている明白な問題 | Let's address the elephant in the room. |
| kill two birds with one stone | 一石二鳥 | We can kill two birds with one stone. |
| when pigs fly | ありえない | He'll apologize when pigs fly. |
| a little bird told me | 小耳にはさんだ | A little bird told me you're getting married! |
| hold your horses | ちょっと待って | Hold your horses! Let me explain. |
| the black sheep | 厄介者 | He's the black sheep of the family. |
| monkey business | いたずら、不正 | No monkey business while I'm gone! |
| dog-eat-dog | 弱肉強食 | It's a dog-eat-dog world out there. |
| fishy | 怪しい | Something about this deal seems fishy. |
| butterflies in my stomach | 緊張する | I have butterflies in my stomach before presentations. |
Food & Drink
| Idiom | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| a piece of cake | 簡単 | The test was a piece of cake. |
| spill the beans | 秘密をばらす | Come on, spill the beans! What happened? |
| in a nutshell | 要するに | In a nutshell, we need more funding. |
| not my cup of tea | 好みじゃない | Horror movies are not my cup of tea. |
| take it with a grain of salt | 鵜呑みにしない | Take what he says with a grain of salt. |
| the cream of the crop | 最高のもの | These students are the cream of the crop. |
| bread and butter | 生計の源 | Teaching is my bread and butter. |
| have a lot on your plate | 忙しい | I have a lot on my plate right now. |
| cry over spilled milk | 過ぎたことを嘆く | Don't cry over spilled milk. |
| bite off more than you can chew | 手に負えないことを引き受ける | I think I bit off more than I can chew. |
| in hot water | 困っている | He's in hot water with his boss. |
| food for thought | 考えるべきこと | That's food for thought. |
| egg someone on | けしかける | His friends egged him on to do it. |
| bring home the bacon | 生計を稼ぐ | She works hard to bring home the bacon. |
| go bananas | 気が狂う | The kids went bananas when they saw the cake. |
| cool as a cucumber | 冷静な | She stayed cool as a cucumber during the crisis. |
Time & Money
| Idiom | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| time flies | 時が経つのは早い | Time flies when you're having fun. |
| once in a blue moon | めったにない | I only eat fast food once in a blue moon. |
| in the nick of time | ギリギリ間に合って | We arrived in the nick of time. |
| better late than never | 遅くてもやらないよりまし | You finally started exercising? Better late than never! |
| call it a day | 今日はここまで | I'm tired. Let's call it a day. |
| around the clock | 24時間 | The store is open around the clock. |
| at the drop of a hat | すぐに | She'd help you at the drop of a hat. |
| burn the midnight oil | 夜遅くまで働く | I've been burning the midnight oil studying. |
| hit the nail on the head | 的を射る | You hit the nail on the head! |
| break the bank | 大金がかかる | This vacation won't break the bank. |
| penny for your thoughts | 何を考えているの? | A penny for your thoughts? |
| rip off | ぼったくり | $50 for this? What a rip-off! |
| make ends meet | やりくりする | It's hard to make ends meet these days. |
| save for a rainy day | 万が一に備えて貯金する | I'm saving for a rainy day. |
Everyday Situations
| Idiom | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| hit the road | 出発する | We should hit the road before traffic gets bad. |
| hit the sack/hay | 寝る | I'm exhausted. I'm going to hit the sack. |
| under the weather | 体調が悪い | I'm feeling a bit under the weather today. |
| on the same page | 同意見 | Let's make sure we're on the same page. |
| the ball is in your court | あなた次第 | I've done my part. The ball is in your court. |
| back to the drawing board | やり直し | The plan failed. Back to the drawing board. |
| get the ball rolling | 始める | Let's get the ball rolling on this project. |
| go the extra mile | 期待以上の努力をする | She always goes the extra mile for her clients. |
| miss the boat | チャンスを逃す | If you don't apply now, you'll miss the boat. |
| a blessing in disguise | 不幸中の幸い | Losing that job was a blessing in disguise. |
| burn bridges | 関係を壊す | Don't burn your bridges when you leave a job. |
| cross that bridge when we come to it | その時が来たら考える | Let's cross that bridge when we come to it. |
| throw in the towel | あきらめる | Don't throw in the towel yet! |
| bite the bullet | 覚悟を決める | I need to bite the bullet and go to the dentist. |
| the last straw | 堪忍袋の緒が切れる | That was the last straw! I'm leaving. |
| a dime a dozen | どこにでもある | Cheap restaurants are a dime a dozen around here. |
| cut to the chase | 本題に入る | Let's cut to the chase. What do you need? |
| wrap your head around | 理解する | I can't wrap my head around this math problem. |
| up in the air | 未定 | Our plans are still up in the air. |
| beat around the bush | 遠回しに言う | Stop beating around the bush and tell me! |
| no brainer | 簡単な決断 | Taking the promotion was a no-brainer. |
| sleep on it | 一晩考える | I'll sleep on it and let you know tomorrow. |
| ring a bell | 聞き覚えがある | That name rings a bell. |
| go with the flow | 流れに任せる | Just go with the flow and enjoy yourself. |
| on the fence | 迷っている | I'm still on the fence about which car to buy. |
| think outside the box | 型にはまらず考える | We need to think outside the box. |
| play it by ear | 臨機応変にする | Let's just play it by ear tonight. |
| jump on the bandwagon | 流行に乗る | Everyone is jumping on the bandwagon. |
| a can of worms | 厄介な問題 | Don't open that can of worms. |
| get your act together | しっかりする | You need to get your act together! |
| lose your marbles | 正気を失う | Are you losing your marbles? |
Work & Career
| Idiom | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| learn the ropes | 仕事を覚える | It takes time to learn the ropes. |
| climb the ladder | 出世する | She's climbing the corporate ladder fast. |
| pull strings | コネを使う | He pulled some strings to get the job. |
| throw under the bus | 人のせいにする | My coworker threw me under the bus. |
| wear many hats | いくつもの役割をこなす | In a small company, you wear many hats. |
| hands are tied | どうしようもない | I'd like to help, but my hands are tied. |
| behind the scenes | 裏方で | A lot of work happens behind the scenes. |
| cut corners | 手を抜く | Don't cut corners on safety. |
| from scratch | ゼロから | We built the business from scratch. |
| get the hang of | コツをつかむ | I'm starting to get the hang of it. |
| step up to the plate | 責任を引き受ける | It's time to step up to the plate. |
| back to square one | 振り出しに戻る | The deal fell through. Back to square one. |
How to Use Idioms Naturally
- Don't overuse them — one or two per conversation is natural
- Know the register — some are casual only (go bananas), some are formal-OK (food for thought)
- Use them to add color to your speech, not to replace simple expressions
- Listen for them in movies, podcasts, and conversations
- Start with the most common ones and expand gradually