Hey everyone! Here are 10 idioms that will make your English sound more natural and impressive:

I think that hearing people who otherwise don't speak English very well use idioms like this makes it sound like they're just repeating stuff they've heard without fully understanding what they're saying. It doesn't sound natural, nor impressive. It sounds "fake", or like you're trying too hard. Basically, I think it's better to only say things you fully understand and that come naturally to you.

Thanks for the post. Never heard the fourth one before

Non-native speakers whose fluency is less than C1 tend to sound less natural when using idioms because they tend to use them in unnatural contests. Much better to work on fluency first, the idioms will come naturally later with the immersion and practice.

Some of these are a little old fashioned sounding, as I think is always the case when somebody compiles a list of idioms. But I’ve probably heard all of these in the past year. I personally use: ball is in your/his court, under the weather, and burn the midnight oil with regularity, as an older Millenial in the US.

very useful, thanks a lot.

I'm in my 30s, and out of all those I use #5, "under the weather" most often. It's basically my default way of saying that someone's not feeling well in a situation where you don't want or need to share details. A caution I'd give about #6, "the ball is in your court" is that it feels a little confrontational to me. It implies there's a negotiation going on, it some complex process, not that you're just taking turns.


I should warn English learners, many of us do not know the “proper” idioms and make our own that have the idea of the idiom. Or we purposely mess them up to make a joke. Like combing 2 together. Does a bear shit in the woods? If a tree falls in the forest! 2 total different idioms but sometimes people think it’s funny. 1 does a bear shit in the woods? - Means of course! 2 if a tree falls in the forest and no one is around, does it make a noise? - Also can mean of course.

As a UK native speaker, here's my thoughts about these idioms and how they are used 1. Break the ice - from the same idiom, if you were to throw a party you might have a party game as an "icebreaker" to help people start conversation and get comfortable, to help break the ice. 2. personally I would say "take the hit" instead of bite the bullet, having the same meaning to accept and suffer an unpleasant consequence. Younger people than I might "take a loss" or "take the 'L'" i think. 3. in casual conversation I would usually use "You're spot on" or "You're dead right" to strongly agree with a point someone makes, but "you've hit the nail on the head" is still good especially when someone has really accurately described the situation as you see it. 4. "pulling an all-nighter" is more modern than burning midnight oil 5. feeling under the weather is good and in common usage, also you are "feeling poorly". Are you coming to the party later? "I'm feeling a bit poorly, so I'm going to stay at home." 6. I don't know about anyone else, but although this is still used I personally feel that it is usually a soft ultimatum, or a soft challenge. Almost like "the ball is in your court, so what are you going to do about it?" Maybe that's a British thing, we can be a lot more passive-aggressive than other English speakers, but it expects a response. 7. Although we still love cake, you can also say "easy peas-y" in the UK, and if you're feeling light-hearted then it's "easy peasy lemon squeezy". For day-to-day usage something easy is just "no problem" 8. This feels old, but I can't think of an easy modern alternative. Do you ever get take-out? "Once in a blue moon, but usually I cook at home." i guess 9. "Let the cat out of the bag" is more often used when a surprise is spoiled by a slip-up or mistake in revealing the secret, or revealing the secret leads to someone having to bite the bullet and take a loss (see 2), still commonly used 10. Usually not just expensive in general, but used where it actually applies to your finances. That Prada bag goes great with your outfit. "I know, right? It cost me an arm and a leg, but I love it!". "My car needs a new transmission, it's going to cost me an arm and a leg. What am I going to do?" "My mother wants to take us on a cruise, but those things cost an arm an a leg. Where did she get the money?"