3.11.3

Idiomatic Expressions

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Idioms

An idiom is an expression in a language that everyone understands but doesn’t make any literal sense. The words or ideas contained in them are hard to interpret unless someone explains them to you.

How common are idioms?

How common are idioms?

  • There are hundreds of examples of idioms used in English.
  • The meaning of an idiom often cannot be understood from the literal meaning of the words used.
  • This means that idioms have to be learned. Usually, we pick them up by listening to people use them in speech or by seeing them in books, adverts or on the internet.
Why use idioms?

Why use idioms?

  • Using an idiom in your writing can:
    • Help to engage the reader.
    • Add impact to your writing.
    • Express a very specific meaning which is difficult to get across without an idiom.
Idioms as metaphors

Idioms as metaphors

  • Idioms are metaphors.
  • They provide an alternative way of thinking about something, and their use makes our language interesting.

Examples of Idioms

Here are some examples of some common idiomatic expressions:

‘It’s raining cats and dogs’

‘It’s raining cats and dogs’

  • This does NOT mean that cats and dogs are falling out of the sky!
  • This means that it is raining very hard.
'It cost an arm and a leg'

'It cost an arm and a leg'

  • This does NOT mean that something cost two limbs to purchase!
  • This means that something was extremely expensive.
'To get cold feet'

'To get cold feet'

  • This does NOT mean to have cold feet.
  • This means to become nervous. For example, you could say 'I've got cold feet ahead of my wedding next week.'
'To kill two birds with one stone’

'To kill two birds with one stone’

  • This does NOT mean to grab a stone, throw it and happen to kill two birds at once.
  • This means to achieve two results in one action.
‘It was a blessing in disguise’

‘It was a blessing in disguise’

  • This means that even though the outcome initially seemed bad, something good came from it.
'She was over the moon'

'She was over the moon'

  • This does NOT mean that she was travelling in space!
  • This means that she was extremely happy.
Jump to other topics
1

Spelling

1.1

Spelling

1.1.1Hard 'U' & 'I' Sounds1.1.2Words Ending in '-sure', & '-mure'1.1.3Words Ending in '-sion'1.1.4'Ei', 'Eigh' & 'Ey' Spellings1.1.5Spelling Words with 'Ch'1.1.6Spelling Words with 'Sc'1.1.7Silent Letters1.1.8i Before e Rule1.1.9Hard & Soft 'c' Sounds1.1.10End of Topic Test - Spelling
1.2

Prefixes

1.2.1'Anti-' & 'Auto-'1.2.2Not & 'Inter-'1.2.3'Mis-', 'Dis-' & 'Re-'1.2.4'Sub-' & 'Super-'1.2.5End of Topic Test - Prefixes
1.3

Suffixes

1.3.1Vowel Suffixes1.3.2Short Vowel Suffixes1.3.3Suffixes: '-ous'1.3.4Rules for Suffixes: '-ous'1.3.5Rules for Suffixes: '-ous' 21.3.6Suffixes: '-ly'1.3.7Suffixes: '-ation'1.3.8Suffixes: '-ation' 21.3.9Spelling: '-tion' Endings1.3.10Spelling: '-sion' Endings1.3.11Spelling: '-ssion' Endings1.3.12Spelling: '-cian' Endings1.3.13End of Topic Test - Suffixes1.3.14End of Topic Test - Spelling
1.4

Making Words Plural

1.4.1Plurals1.4.2End of Topic Test - Plurals
1.5

Homophones

1.5.1Accept & Except1.5.2Affect & Effect1.5.3Ball & Bawl1.5.4Berry & Bury1.5.5Brake & Break1.5.6Fair & Fare1.5.7Grate & Great1.5.8Groan & Grown1.5.9Hear & Here1.5.10Heal, Heel & He'll1.5.11Knot & Not1.5.12Mail & Male1.5.13Main & Mane1.5.14Meat & Meet1.5.15Medal & Meddle1.5.16Missed & Mist1.5.17Peace & Piece1.5.18Plain & Plane1.5.19Rain & Reign & Rein1.5.20Scene & Seen1.5.21Weather & Whether1.5.22Whose & Who's1.5.23End of Topic Test - Homophones1.5.24End of Topic Test - Homophones 21.5.25End of Topic Test - Homophones 3
1.6

Word Meanings

1.6.1Homonyms1.6.2End of Topic Test - Homonyms
2

Punctuation

2.1

Punctuation

2.1.1Full Stops2.1.2Capital Letters2.1.3Commas2.1.4Commas 22.1.5Using Apostrophes with Regular Plurals2.1.6Using Apostrophes with Irregular Plurals2.1.7Question Marks & Exclamation Marks2.1.8Brackets2.1.9Dashes2.1.10Colon2.1.11Semi-Colon2.1.12Direct Speech2.1.13Indirect Speech2.1.14Hyphens2.1.15Ellipses2.1.16End of Topic Test - Punctuation2.1.17End of Topic Test - Punctuation 2
2.2

Writing Structure

2.2.1Paragraphs2.2.2Headings & Subheadings2.2.3Columns2.2.4Bullets2.2.5Tables2.2.6End of Topic Test - Writing Structure
3

Grammar

3.1

Word Classes

3.1.1Nouns3.1.2Pronouns3.1.3Verbs3.1.4Adjectives & Adverbs3.1.5Qualifiers & Quantifiers3.1.6Determiners3.1.7Prepositions3.1.8Synonyms & Antonyms3.1.9End of Topic Test - Word Classes
3.2

Conjunctions

3.2.1Coordinating Conjunctions3.2.2Subordinating Conjunctions3.2.3End of Topic Test - Conjunctions
3.3

Writing Coherently

3.3.1Building Cohesion in Writing3.3.2Avoiding Ambiguity in Writing3.3.3End of Topic Test - Cohesion
3.4

Verbs

3.4.1Subject-verb Agreement3.4.2End of Topic Test - Subject-verb
3.5

Modal Verbs

3.5.1Modal Verbs3.5.2Can & Could3.5.3May & Might3.5.4Should & Shall3.5.5Will & Would3.5.6Must & Have To3.5.7End of Topic Test - Modals
3.6

Phrasal Verbs

3.6.1Phrasal Verbs3.6.2End of Topic Test - Phrasal Verbs
3.7

Subjunctive Verbs

3.7.1Subjunctive Verbs3.7.2End of Topic Test - Verbs
3.8

Sentences

3.8.1Subject of a Sentence3.8.2Object of a Sentence3.8.3Main & Subordinate Clauses3.8.4Simple Sentences & Compound Sentences3.8.5Complex Sentences3.8.6Relative Clauses3.8.7Relative Clauses Without Relative Pronouns3.8.8Participle Clauses3.8.9Run-on Sentences3.8.10Sentence Functions3.8.11End of Topic Test - Sentences
3.9

Tenses

3.9.1Present Tense3.9.2Past Tense3.9.3Past Tense Using Have3.9.4Future Tense3.9.5Present vs Past vs Future3.9.6Continuity of Tenses3.9.7End of Topic Test - Tenses
3.10

Adverbials

3.10.1Adverbial3.10.2Saying Where & When3.10.3Saying How Often3.10.4Saying How & Why3.10.5Using Commas for Fronted Adverbials3.10.6End of Topic Test - Adverbials
3.11

Language Techniques

3.11.1Figurative & Emotive Language3.11.2Active & Passive Voice3.11.3Idiomatic Expressions3.11.4End of Topic Test - Language Techniques
4

Decoding Words

4.1

Common Word Roots

4.1.1Saving4.1.2Certainty & Clarity4.1.3New & Alone4.1.4Believing & Thinking4.1.5Carrying & Leading4.1.6Shape & Place4.1.7Doing & Making4.1.8Climbing & Going4.1.9End of Topic Test - Common Root Words4.1.10End of Topic Test - Common Root Words 2
4.2

Common Prefixes

4.2.1For & Against4.2.2All & Same4.2.3Away & Far4.2.4Colour & Shape4.2.5Back & Down4.2.6Numbers4.2.7Across & Through4.2.8Life & Earth4.2.9Empty & Broken4.2.10Great & Greater4.2.11Hearing & Speaking4.2.12Apart & Together4.2.13Over & Under4.2.14In4.2.15Less & Smaller4.2.16Before & After4.2.17End of Topic Test - Common Prefixes 24.2.18End of Topic Test - Common Prefixes
4.3

Common Suffixes

4.3.1Characterised By4.3.2Disease4.3.3Lover & Lacking4.3.4Belief & Study4.3.5People4.3.6State & Quality4.3.7Sound & Colour4.3.8Capable & Relating4.3.9End of Topic Test - Common Suffixes4.3.10End of Topic Test - Common Suffixes 2
5

Reading & Writing

5.1

Reading Formats

5.1.1Speeches5.1.2Famous Letters5.1.3Diary Entries5.1.4Autobiographical Text5.1.5Opinion News Articles5.1.6Literary Non-Fiction5.1.7Creative Fiction Methods5.1.8Newspaper Articles5.1.9Personal & Formal Letters5.1.10Famous Diaries5.1.11End of Topic Test - Reading Formats
5.2

Writing Formats

5.2.1Features of a Script5.2.2Poems Structure5.2.3Writing a Poem5.2.4Writing an Informational Article5.2.5Writing an Opinion Article5.2.6Writing a Formal Letter5.2.7Writing Personal Letters5.2.8Poetry5.2.9Features of a Speech5.2.10Writing a Script5.2.11End of Topic Test - Writing Formats

Practice questions on Idiomatic Expressions

Can you answer these? Test yourself with free interactive practice on Seneca — used by over 10 million students.

  1. 1
    What is the best way to understand how to use idioms well?Multiple choice
  2. 2
    What is the correct meaning of the following idiom? <br> __'She was over the moon'__Multiple choice
  3. 3
    What is the correct meaning of the following idiom? <br> __'It was a blessing in disguise'__Multiple choice
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Active & Passive Voice

End of Topic Test - Language Techniques