To native speakers, there’s often no better way to express a particular feeling or sum up a situation by using idioms. English speakers use idioms frequently, which can be confusing for those still learning the language.
Here are 8 funny Idioms that help you speak like native speakers.
Here are 8 funny Idioms that help you speak like native speakers.
1. Piece of cake
- A piece of cake but doesn’t mean just a piece of cake. It means “something very easy to do or accomplish”
- Example: She was nervous about her driving test, but it ended up being a piece of cake
2. Cold turkey
- Can you imagine the damp, goosebumpy skin of a cold turkey? It has something to do with the dark meaning behind this expression. The meaning of it is “to quit something (like an addiction) abruptly and without fanfare.
- Example: There’s no other way to go about your online dating addiction. Just delete all the dating apps on your phone and quit cold turkey.
3. Get someone’s goat
- When you get (or steal) a goat owned by somebody else, of course that person would get mad. But the origin of this idiom is far more interesting than that. Meaning: To upset, irritate or anger someone.
- Example: The way she's always correcting other people really gets my goat!
4. Running around like a headless chicken
- Such a weird comparison, isn’t it?. But did you know that when a chicken’s head is chopped off, it still runs about in a panic for a couple of seconds or so before dying? That’s the origin of this expression. Meaning: To run around doing a lot of things in a disorganized, ineffective manner.
- Example: After failing to take her equipment to the lab, Lizzie ran around like a headless chicken while trying to conduct her experiment.
5. Turn turtle
- Have you ever seen an upside-down turtle struggling to get back on its feet?? That’s the imagery this idiom wants to depict. Meaning: To flip over; to turn upside down.
- Example: The streets are so slippery today I was worried our car would turn turtle
6. More holes than a Swiss cheese
- Not all Swiss cheeses have holes in it, but this is what mostly everyone thinks of when we think of Swiss cheese. So if an argument or a story has more holes than this, it’s definitely got a lot of issues.. Meaning: Something that has a lot of faults and problems.
- Example: The new movie’s plot has more holes than a Swiss cheese.
7. Couch potato
- Imagine a potato lies on the couch all day without doing anything. Meaning: A person who does not lead an active life and would rather stay on the couch, watching TV.
- Example: My younger sister is a great couch potato; she can watch TV 24 hours a day.
8. Go bananas
- This idiom got its inspiration from apes who go crazy when given bananas. Meaning: To go wild, to go crazy with excitement or other extreme emotions.
- Example: Tony went bananas over the presents that his parents got him for Christmas.