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Idioms & everyday expressions

How to say them and what they really mean in conversation.

Break the ice

Brayk the ice

idiom
/breɪk ðə aɪs/
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Hit the nail on the head

Hit the nayl on the hed

idiom
/hɪt ðə neɪl ɒn ðə hɛd/
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Under the weather

UN-der the WETH-er

idiom
/ˈʌndər ðə ˈwɛðər/
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Piece of cake

Peess of kayk

idiom
/piːs əv keɪk/
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Spill the beans

Spil the beenz

idiom
/spɪl ðə biːnz/
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Bite the bullet

Byt the BUL-it

idiom
/baɪt ðə ˈbʊlɪt/
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Once in a blue moon

Wunce in a bloo moon

idiom
/wʌns ɪn ə bluː muːn/
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Cost an arm and a leg

Cost an arm and a leg

idiom
/kɒst ən ɑːrm ənd ə lɛɡ/
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The ball is in your court

The bawl is in yor cort

idiom
/ðə bɔːl ɪz ɪn jɔːr kɔːrt/
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Call it a day

Cawl it a day

idiom
/kɔːl ɪt ə deɪ/
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Cut to the chase

Cut to the chayss

idiom
/kʌt tə ðə tʃeɪs/
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On the same page

On the saym payj

idiom
/ɒn ðə seɪm peɪdʒ/
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Touch base

Tutch bays

idiom
/tʌtʃ beɪs/
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Low-hanging fruit

Loh hang-ing froot

idiom
/loʊ ˈhæŋɪŋ fruːt/
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Burn the midnight oil

Burn the MID-nyt oil

idiom
/bɜːrn ðə ˈmɪdnaɪt ɔɪl/
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Read between the lines

Red beh-tween the lynz

idiom
/riːd bɪˈtwiːn ðə laɪnz/
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Through thick and thin

Throo thik and thin

idiom
/θruː θɪk ənd θɪn/
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The elephant in the room

The EL-uh-fant in the room

idiom
/ðə ˈɛlɪfənt ɪn ðə ruːm/
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When pigs fly

When pigz fly

idiom
/wɛn pɪɡz flaɪ/
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Raining cats and dogs

RAY-ning kats and dogz

idiom
/ˈreɪnɪŋ kæts ənd dɒɡz/
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Break a leg

BRAYK uh LEG

idiom
/breɪk ə lɛɡ/
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Hit the sack

HIT thuh SAK

idiom
/hɪt ðə sæk/
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The ball is in your court

thuh BAWL iz in yoor KORT

idiom
/ðə bɔːl ɪz ɪn jʊər kɔːrt/
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Burning the midnight oil

BUR-ning thuh MID-nyt OYL

idiom
/ˈbɜːrnɪŋ ðə ˈmɪdnaɪt ɔɪl/
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Move the needle

MOOV thuh NEE-dul

idiom
/muːv ðə ˈniːdəl/
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A blessing in disguise

uh BLES-ing in dis-GUYZ

idiom
/ə ˈblɛsɪŋ ɪn dɪsˈɡaɪz/
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Birds of a feather flock together

Burdz of uh FETH-er flok to-GETH-er

idiom
/bɜːrdz əv ə ˈfɛðər flɒk təˈɡɛðər/
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Cry over spilled milk

Kry OH-ver spild milk

idiom
/kraɪ ˈoʊvər spɪld mɪlk/
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Don't judge a book by its cover

Doant juj uh BUUK by its KUV-er

idiom
/doʊnt dʒʌdʒ ə bʊk baɪ ɪts ˈkʌvər/
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Every cloud has a silver lining

EV-ree kloud haz uh SIL-ver LY-ning

idiom
/ˈɛvri klaʊd hæz ə ˈsɪlvər ˈlaɪnɪŋ/
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A fish out of water

uh FISH out of WAH-ter

idiom
/ə fɪʃ aʊt əv ˈwɔːtər/
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Get cold feet

Get KOLD feet

idiom
/ɡɛt koʊld fiːt/
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Hit the books

Hit thuh BUUKS

idiom
/hɪt ðə bʊks/
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In the same boat

In thuh SAYM boat

idiom
/ɪn ðə seɪm boʊt/
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Jump on the bandwagon

Jump on thuh BAND-wag-en

idiom
/dʒʌmp ɒn ðə ˈbændˌwæɡən/
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Kill two birds with one stone

Kil TOO burdz with wun stone

idiom
/kɪl tuː bɜːrdz wɪð wʌn stoʊn/
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Let the cat out of the bag

Let thuh KAT out of thuh BAG

idiom
/lɛt ðə kæt aʊt əv ðə bæɡ/
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Miss the boat

Miss thuh BOAT

idiom
/mɪs ðə boʊt/
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No pain, no gain

No PAYN no GAYN

idiom
/noʊ peɪn noʊ ɡeɪn/
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On cloud nine

On kloud NYN

idiom
/ɒn klaʊd naɪn/
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Pull yourself together

Pul yor-SELF to-GETH-er

idiom
/pʊl jɔːrˈsɛlf təˈɡɛðər/
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Speak of the devil

Speek of thuh DEV-il

idiom
/spiːk əv ðə ˈdɛvəl/
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The best of both worlds

thuh BEST of both WURLDZ

idiom
/ðə bɛst əv boʊθ wɜːrldz/
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A wild goose chase

uh WYLD goose CHAYS

idiom
/ə waɪld ɡuːs tʃeɪs/
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You can't have your cake and eat it too

You kant hav yor KAYK and EET it too

idiom
/juː kænt hæv jɔːr keɪk ənd iːt ɪt tuː/
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A dime a dozen

uh DIME uh DUZ-en

idiom
/ə daɪm ə ˈdʌzən/
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Back to the drawing board

BAK to thuh DRAW-ing bord

idiom
/bæk tuː ðə ˈdrɔːɪŋ bɔːrd/
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Beat around the bush

Beet uh-ROUND thuh BUSH

idiom
/biːt əˈraʊnd ðə bʊʃ/
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By the skin of your teeth

By thuh SKIN of yor TEETH

idiom
/baɪ ðə skɪn əv jɔːr tiːθ/
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Cost a pretty penny

Cost uh PRIT-ee PEN-ee

idiom
/kɒst ə ˈprɪti ˈpɛni/
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The devil is in the details

thuh DEV-il iz in thuh DEE-taylz

idiom
/ðə ˈdɛvəl ɪz ɪn ðə ˈdiːteɪlz/
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Eat humble pie

Eet HUM-bul PYE

idiom
/iːt ˈhʌmbəl paɪ/
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Flogging a dead horse

FLOG-ing uh DED horss

idiom
/ˈflɒɡɪŋ ə dɛd hɔːrs/
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Go the extra mile

Go thuh EKS-truh MYLE

idiom
/ɡoʊ ðə ˈɛkstrə maɪl/
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Hands down

HANDZ DOWN

idiom
/hændz daʊn/
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It takes two to tango

It tayks TOO to TANG-oh

idiom
/ɪt teɪks tuː tuː ˈtæŋɡoʊ/
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Jumping the gun

JUMP-ing thuh GUN

idiom
/ˈdʒʌmpɪŋ ðə ɡʌn/
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Keep your chin up

Keep yor CHIN up

idiom
/kiːp jɔːr tʃɪn ʌp/
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Look before you leap

Luuk be-FORE you LEEP

idiom
/lʊk bɪˈfɔːr juː liːp/
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Not my cup of tea

Not my KUP of TEE

idiom
/nɒt maɪ kʌp əv tiː/
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Off the hook

Off thuh HOOK

idiom
/ɒf ðə hʊk/
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Pulling your leg

PUL-ing yor LEG

idiom
/ˈpʊlɪŋ jɔːr lɛɡ/
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Rule of thumb

ROOL of THUM

idiom
/ruːl əv θʌm/
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See eye to eye

See EYE to EYE

idiom
/siː aɪ tuː aɪ/
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Take with a grain of salt

Tayk with uh GRAYN of SALT

idiom
/teɪk wɪð ə ɡreɪn əv sɔːlt/
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Burning the midnight oil

BURN-ing thuh MID-nyt OYL

idiom
/ˈbɜːr.nɪŋ ðə ˈmɪd.naɪt ɔɪl/
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Caught red-handed

KAWT RED-han-ded

idiom
/kɔːt ˈrɛdˌhæn.dɪd/
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Down to the wire

DOWN to thuh WYRE

idiom
/daʊn tuː ðə waɪər/
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Elephant in the room

EL-uh-fant in thuh ROOM

idiom
/ˈɛl.ə.fənt ɪn ðə ruːm/
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Face the music

FAYS thuh MYU-zik

idiom
/feɪs ðə ˈmjuː.zɪk/
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Give the benefit of the doubt

GIV thuh BEN-uh-fit of thuh DOWT

idiom
/ɡɪv ðə ˈbɛn.ə.fɪt əv ðə daʊt/
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Hit the nail on the head

HIT thuh NAYL on thuh HED

idiom
/hɪt ðə neɪl ɒn ðə hɛd/
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Ignorance is bliss

IG-nor-uns iz BLIS

idiom
/ˈɪɡ.nər.əns ɪz blɪs/
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Jack of all trades

JAK of awl TRAYDZ

idiom
/dʒæk əv ɔːl treɪdz/
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Kick the bucket

KIK thuh BUK-it

idiom
/kɪk ðə ˈbʌk.ɪt/
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The last straw

thuh LAST STRAW

idiom
/ðə læst strɔː/
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Method to the madness

METH-ud to thuh MAD-nes

idiom
/ˈmɛθ.əd tuː ðə ˈmæd.nəs/
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Nip it in the bud

NIP it in thuh BUD

idiom
/nɪp ɪt ɪn ðə bʌd/
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Once in a blue moon

WUNS in uh BLOO MOON

idiom
/wʌns ɪn ə bluː muːn/
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Piece of cake

PEES of KAYK

idiom
/piːs əv keɪk/
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Quiet before the storm

KWY-it be-FORE thuh STORM

idiom
/ˈkwaɪ.ət bɪˈfɔːr ðə stɔːrm/
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Read between the lines

REED be-TWEEN thuh LYNZ

idiom
/riːd bɪˈtwiːn ðə laɪnz/
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Steal someone's thunder

STEEL SUM-wuns THUN-der

idiom
/stiːl ˈsʌm.wʌnz ˈθʌn.dər/
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Through thick and thin

THROO THIK and THIN

idiom
/θruː θɪk ænd θɪn/
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Under the weather

UN-der thuh WETH-er

idiom
/ˈʌn.dər ðə ˈwɛð.ər/
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Apple of my eye

AP-ul of my EYE

idiom
/ˈæp.əl əv maɪ aɪ/
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The ball is in your court

thuh BAWL iz in yor KORT

idiom
/ðə bɔːl ɪz ɪn jɔːr kɔːrt/
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Bite off more than you can chew

BYTE off MORE than you can CHOO

idiom
/baɪt ɒf mɔːr ðæn juː kæn tʃuː/
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Cut to the chase

KUT to thuh CHAYS

idiom
/kʌt tuː ðə tʃeɪs/
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idiom
/doʊnt kaʊnt jɔːr ˈtʃɪk.ənz/
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Easier said than done

EE-zee-er SED than DUN

idiom
/ˈiː.zi.ər sɛd ðæn dʌn/
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From scratch

from SKRACH

idiom
/frɒm skrætʃ/
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The grass is always greener on the other side

thuh GRAS is AWL-ways GREE-ner

idiom
/ðə ɡræs ɪz ˈɔːl.weɪz ˈɡriː.nər/
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Head in the clouds

HED in thuh KLOWDZ

idiom
/hɛd ɪn ðə klaʊdz/
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It's raining cats and dogs

its RAYN-ing KATS and DAWGZ

idiom
/ɪts ˈreɪ.nɪŋ kæts ænd dɒɡz/
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Don't judge a book by its cover

dont JUJ a BUUK by its KUV-er

idiom
/doʊnt dʒʌdʒ ə bʊk baɪ ɪts ˈkʌv.ər/
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Knee-jerk reaction

NEE-jurk ree-AK-shun

idiom
/ˌniː.dʒɜːrk riˈæk.ʃən/
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The lion's share

thuh LY-uns SHAYR

idiom
/ðə ˈlaɪ.ənz ʃɛər/
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To make a long story short

to MAYK a LONG STOR-ee SHORT

idiom
/tuː meɪk ə lɒŋ ˈstɔː.ri ʃɔːrt/
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No strings attached

NOH STRINGZ uh-TACHT

idiom
/noʊ strɪŋz əˈtætʃt/
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Out of the blue

OWT of thuh BLOO

idiom
/aʊt əv ðə bluː/
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Piece by piece

PEES by PEES

idiom
/piːs baɪ piːs/
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Rain on someone's parade

RAYN on SUM-wuns puh-RAYD

idiom
/reɪn ɒn ˈsʌm.wʌnz pəˈreɪd/
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Silver-tongued

SIL-ver TUNGD

idiom
/ˈsɪl.vər tʌŋd/
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Tip of the iceberg

TIP of thuh ICE-burg

idiom
/tɪp əv ðə ˈaɪs.bɜːrɡ/
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