Idioms & Figurative Language
Idioms & Figurative Language — 20 high-frequency words, with pronunciation, collocations, false friends and four interactive exercises.
📌 Lesson contents
🎯 Lesson aim
Twenty high-frequency idioms 💬, chosen from those native speakers really use and that appear in exams. Golden rule: idioms can’t be translated and can’t be changed — it’s raining cats and dogs, never cats and mice. Each one comes with an example of how it is used. 🚀
🗂️ Word Bank
Tap 🔊 to hear the British pronunciation. The IPA transcription is under each word.
📖 Words in context
One meeting, twenty idioms · tap a highlighted word to hear it.
The meeting had been arranged out of the blue, and nobody knew why. To break the ice, the manager told a story about his first week, and it worked.
Then he stopped trying to beat about the bush. The autumn figures, he said, were only the tip of the iceberg: two clients had left, a third was hesitating, and the new supplier had clearly decided to cut corners on quality. When a warehouse error had reached the customers, that had been the last straw.
One colleague argued that it is easy to bite off more than you can chew, and that accepting three projects at once had been exactly that. Another said the promised savings would cost an arm and a leg in repairs, and advised us to take it with a pinch of salt. By seven we had agreed on a plan, and the manager decided it was time to call it a day. "I just want to be sure we're on the same page," he said. "But in the long run, this could still turn out to be a blessing in disguise."
🔗 Collocations & chunks
Words are learned in pairs, not alone: memorise the whole chunk.
| Chunk / collocation | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| to put it in a nutshell | in very few words | To put it in a nutshell, we failed. |
| get to grips with | to find the real cause | I'm getting to grips with the software. |
| keep an eye on | to watch carefully | Keep an eye on the deadline. |
| be in the same boat | to share the same difficult situation | We're all in the same boat here. |
| play it by ear | to decide as things happen | Let's play it by ear. |
| a piece of cake | something very easy | The test was a piece of cake. |
⚠️ Tricky Words and Traps
| English word | Real meaning ✅ | Common trap ❌ |
|---|---|---|
| actually | in fact, really | “Actually” introduces a surprise or a correction. It doesn’t mean “now” → that is at the moment |
| morbid | gruesome, connected with death | It doesn’t mean “soft” → that is soft |
| estate | a large property with land | It doesn’t mean the hot season → that is summer |
| sympathetic | feeling pity or support for someone | It doesn’t mean “friendly, nice” → that is nice / likeable |
🎚️ Register: when to use them
| Expression | Register | When to use it |
|---|---|---|
| It's a piece of cake. | informal | among friends and easy-going colleagues |
| It's fairly straightforward. | neutral | always suitable |
| We appear to be aligned on this. | formal | the professional version of “on the same page” |
| The situation remains precarious. | formal | the written version of “touch and go” |
🚫 Common mistakes to avoid
| Mistake ❌ | Correct ✅ |
|---|---|
| It's raining cats and mice. | It's raining cats and dogs. |
| I feel me under the weather. | I feel under the weather. |
| He broke the ices at the party. | He broke the ice at the party. |
| In the long time it will be cheaper. | In the long run it will be cheaper. |
🎮 Vocabulary gym
Four ways to practise the same 20 words. Your progress is saved on this device.
Tap the card to flip it.
Tap an English word, then its meaning. Eight pairs per round.
Complete the ten sentences with the right word. The short hint is your clue.
- A silly question can .💡 A silly question can help people feel relaxed at the start.
- You've really .💡 You have said exactly the right thing.
- That flat must .💡 That flat must cost a huge amount of money.
- We meet .💡 We see each other very, very rarely.
- She's a bit today.💡 He is feeling a bit ill today.
- He started to the night before.💡 The night before, he began to feel afraid of the plan.
- That email was .💡 That email was the final problem that was too much.
- It is easy to .💡 It is easy to try to do more than you can manage.
- Let's and start again tomorrow.💡 Let’s stop for today and start again tomorrow.
- Stop trying to .💡 Stop avoiding the main point.