Idioms and Phrases

Idioms and Phrases contains Useful Idioms and Phrases with an explanation, dialog example, and other ways of saying the Phrase or Idiom.

1.Call it a day Meaning/Usage: Used to express that the work day is over. Explanation: "Call it" is often times used to make a decision. When you add "day" to this, then a person is making a decision to say that the day is over. This is mostly used to end a working day. "Let's call it a day.  I'm too tired to continue working." "We can't continue working without Mike, so let's call it a day." "It's already nine o'clock.  Let's call it a day." A:  "How much more work do we have for tonight?" B:  "I think we finished everything for the day." A:  "Good.  Let's call it a day then." 2.Feel blue Meaning/Usage: Feel sad Explanation: Long time ago, blue was related to the rain. Whenever the fictional god Zeus was sad, he would make it rain (crying). "What a gloomy day.  It makes me feel blue." "Whenever I feel blue, I like to listen to upbeat music." "Matt's feeling a little blue right now.  Let's go cheer him up." A:  "Where is Matt these days?  I haven't seen him in a while." B:  "He feels a little blue because he can't find a girlfriend." A:  "Let's go cheer him up." 3.Throw in the towel Meaning/Usage: Give up; quit; surrender Explanation: When a boxer was getting beaten so badly, the coach or manager would throw a towel in to stop the fight. This phrase can be used outside of boxing to simply express quitting. "I was ready to throw in the towel, but I stayed with it." "He's not a quitter, so he's not going to throw in the towel." "I saw a fight last almost two hours before one guy threw in the towel." A:  "The boxing match is great." B:  "One guy is really getting beat up." A:  "Do you think he's going to give up?" B:  "He's not going to throw in the towel, they rarely do that these days." 4.Now and then Meaning/Usage: Once in a while Explanation: "Then" is an unspecific time in the future. When a person does not do something regularly, they can use this phrase to imply once in a while. "I go on a hike every now and then." "My mother calls me every now and then to see if I'm doing well." "It's not something I can do all the time, but I do it every now and then." A:  "Do you like skiing?" B:  "I really enjoy skiing.  It's one of my favorite sports." A:  "You must go very frequently then." B:  "I wish I could, but it's too expensive, so I only go every now and then." 5.Stay in touch Meaning/Usage: To stay connected Explanation: When you can touch someone, you are literally close to that person. "Stay in touch" is indicating that the person wants to keep communicating so they will be "close" as friends. "Call me more often man.  We got to stay in touch." "I hope you stay in touch with me.  I'll give you my contact information." "Let's stay in touch.  I'll email you whenever I can." "Are you staying in touch with her, or are you guys not talking any more?" A:  "Since you are moving to England, I'm really going to miss you." B:  "Yeah.  I'm going to miss you a lot too." A:  "You promise that you'll stay in touch?" B:  "Of course.  We'll always keep in touch." 6.Grab a bite Meaning/Usage: To get something to eat Explanation: "A bite" refers to food. This is a pretty literal so it is simply saying to get something to eat. "When do you want to go grab a bite?" "I don't have much time, so let's grab a quick bite." "If you didn't have lunch yet, let's grab a bite to eat." A:  "Did you have lunch yet?" B:  "Not yet.  I'm swamped with work." A:  "You have to eventually eat so let's just grab a bite somewhere close." 7.Bored to death Meaning/Usage: Very bored Explanation: Death is the worst thing, so using it to compare how you feel is telling someone that you are very bored. "I have nothing to do.  I'm bored to death." "I hate it when I'm bored to death." "Would you rather be super busy or bored to death?" A:  "Hey Seth, what are you doing?" B:  "I'm reading a book.  What are you doing?" A:  "I'm bored to death.  Let's do something." B:  "Sure.  Come over and we can play some games." 8.Pie in the Sky Meaning/Usage: Pleasant to imagine but impossible to attain Explanation: Comes from a song written by Joe Hill. It indicated that you will get heavenly rewards after death. However, people who did not believe in heaven turned this phrase into an idiom to express something pleasant that is unattainable. "Her desire to be an actress ended up just being a pie in the sky." "His dreams of becoming a famous singer are just a pie in the sky." "Their ideas about living in space are just a pie in the sky." A.  "I thought she moved to California to become a model?" B.  "She did, but it didn't work out for her." A.  "Seems like her dreams were just a pie in the sky after all." B.  "That's how it seems." 9.Down to Earth Meaning/Usage: Realistic; reasonable; sensible Explanation: When you are down to earth, you are realistic, reasonable, and does not imagine unnecessary things. "I really like them.  They are so down to earth." "They are really down to earth and easy to get along with." "They live their life very down to earth." A.  "I really like how you handle different situations." B.  "I just try and deal with them the best I can." A.  "But you're so down to earth and deal with them very realistically." B.  "Thank you for your compliments." 10.Keep Me in the Loop Meaning/Usage: To be informed about everything regarding that subject Explanation: "Loop" is a cycle or a continual circular motion. When you are not in the circle, then you don't know what is going on. So being in the loop is indicating that you are aware of the situation. Being kept in the loop is asking someone to keep you informed about what is happening. "I really want to know what happens so keep me in the loop." "Keep me in the loop so I'm included." "Thanks for the update.  Keep me in the loop." A.  "I am meeting with my boss tomorrow about the presentation." B.  "Keep me in the loop and let me know what he says." A.  "Ok, I will let you know." Source : http://www.talkenglish.com/Speaking/listIdioms.aspx