English Idioms, American & British Idiomatic Expressions

An idiom is a phrase understood by many people in a specific culture or subculture, and that phrase has a different meaning from the meaning it appears to have.

A very good example of this is "to bend over backwards." This phrase is understood in English speaking culture to mean "to work very hard to do / get something." The meaning it appears to have (the literal meaning), however, is the physical act of bending over in the opposite direction. Very few people can actually do this physical act.

Idioms are used in both spoken and written English, and often appear in newspaper articles.

Idioms with the same meanings and use in your own language may use a different word than the English idiom. Do not try to change any word / vocabulary in an English idiom! Also be careful when you use idioms in your writing exercises. They can be very effective if used carefully and sparingly, but the writing becomes very unnatural if too many idioms are used in one paragraph or essay.

Definitions and Examples (We have made lists of some very popular idioms for you. See below.)

Choose a group of idioms below, to see definitions and examples for idioms in this collection. (For example, choose "Animal" for all animal idioms)

Animal--Business--Colour--Food--Money

We recommend the following English Idioms Books for further study or the ESL schools below.

English	Location
ABC Languages, New York	New York City, New York, USA
English at St Andrews, Scotland	St Andrews, Scotland, UK & England
ILSC Language Schools	Vancouver, BC, Canada
NSL Mondial, Miami	Miami, Florida, USA
Amity English School, London	London, England, UK & England
ILSC - San Francisco	San Francisco, California, USA
Crossing Borders, Houston North Area	The Woodlands, Texas, USA
Rose Mount's Institute of English Language, Dehradun	Dehradun, India
ELS Universal English College, Sydney	Sydney, NSW, Australia
American Language Programs, Inc.	Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USA
British Council, UAE	Dubai, UAE
Kaplan International Colleges New Zealand	Auckland, New Zealand
Sol Schools Toronto	Toronto, Ontario, Canada
New York English Academy	New York City, New York, USA
Kaplan International Chicago	Chicago, Illinois, USA
International House Johannesburg - Language Lab	Johannesburg, South Africa
Kaplan International New York - SoHo, Lower Manhattan	New York City, New York, USA
British Council Singapore	Singapore, Singapore
Language Loop English Classes, Chicago	Chicago, Illinois, USA
Kaplan International Washington DC	Washington, Dist of Columbia, USA