American Popular Idioms 120

1. stick out one’s neck
2. at the end of one? rope
3. hot under the collar
4. on the line
5. make a splash
6. have(get) the world on a string
7. be sitting pretty
8. feel like a million dollars
9. kick up one’s heels
10. bury the hatchet

11. go out and paint the town red
12. get away clean
13. come alive
14. toot(blow) one’s own horn
15. All’s well that ends well
16. back to the drawing board
17. beat around the bush
18. in one’s birthday suit
19. the green-eyed monster
20. keep under one’s hat

21. have something up one’s sleeve
22. put something on ice
23. shoot the breeze
24. bite the dust
25. dress to kill
26. give someone the slip
27. knock someone’s socks off
28. talk through one’s hat
29. lose one’s shirt
30. put someone in stitches

31. lemon
32. out of the woods
33. get up on the wrong side of the bed
34 Is something eating you?
35. get the ax
36. in the hole
37. bite the bullet
38. face the music
39. get off one’s back
40. drive one up the wall

41. string someone along
42. leave someone high and dry
43. sell someone short
44. spill the beans
45. hit the hay
46. cough up
47. jump the gun8
48. You scratch my back, and I’ll scratch yours
49. hit the ceiling
50. cock-and-bull story

51. get(have) cold feet
52. elbow grease
53. fork over
54. turn someone off
55. go fly a kite!
56. raise a stink
57. kick the bucket
58. smell a rat
59. have gone to the dogs2
60. fishy

61. take the bull by the horns
62. let the cat out of the bag
63. for the birds
64. straight from the horse’s mouth
65. horse around
66. Cat got(have) one’s tongue?
67. shoot off one’s mouth
68. jump down someone’s throat
69. cost an arm and a leg
70. tongue-in-cheek

71. pull someone’s leg
72. play it by ear
73. blow it
74. shake a leg
75. be all thumbs
76. not have a leg to stand on
77. turn over a new leaf
78. turn the tables
79. under the weather
80. water off one’s back

81. wear one’s heart on one’s sleeve
82. happen once in a blue moon
83. fair-weather friend
84. feather in one’s cap
85. four-letter word
86. third wheel
87. flash in the pan
88. get to the meat of the matter
89. get someone’s goat
90. go against the grain

91. go haywire
92. go off the deep end
93. make a break for it
94. give someone a dose of one’s own medicine
95. with a grain of salt
96. have a green thumb
97. gung-ho
98. hit below the belt
99. in hot water
100. John Hancock

101. drop someone a line
102. keep one’s fingers crossed
103. kill two birds with one stone
104. red tape
105. renaissance man(woman)
106. rule of thumb
107. second wind
108. see eye to eye
109. black sheep
110. the blind leading the blind

111. crack up
112. make light of
113. one of those things
114. feed someone a line
115. It’s(all) Greek to me
116. chill out
117. wild goose chase
118. What’s with someone(something)?
119. sure thing
120. What’s up?
Index