Idioms & Phrases

At a glance 8 rules

1. 1Never literalAn idiom's meaning is fixed; never read it word by word. Strike the literal option first: 'spill the beans' is about a secret, not food.
2. 2Frozen wordingIdioms never swap a word or preposition: it is 'a blessing in disguise', never 'a blessing in a mask'. Pick the version that exists, not one that sounds logical.
3. 3Picture the sceneFor an unknown idiom, picture it and ask what it shows: 'throw in the towel' is a boxer's corner giving up the fight, so it means to quit.
4. 4Look-alike idiomsIdioms that share a word differ: a 'silver spoon' is wealth from birth, a 'silver lining' is hope in a bad time. Match the whole phrase, not one word.
5. 5Read the situation firstDecide what the blank needs from the sentence (praise or blame, rare or often, a fight or a truce) before you read the idioms.
6. 6Substitute the meaningTo test an idiom in a sentence, put its plain meaning in its place; if the sentence stops making sense, the idiom is misused.
7. 7Learn idioms in pairsLearn idioms with their opposites: 'bury the hatchet' (make peace) vs 'at daggers drawn' (bitterly hostile).
8. 8Stories behind phrasesPhrases from myth and history keep their story: an Achilles heel is one weak spot, a Pyrrhic victory costs the winner too much, a Herculean task needs huge effort.