In fact, idioms can make you totally lost in conversations. Americans seem to roll them off their tongues very easily and are so busy gabbing that really makes it clueless when in use. Yet idioms are nothing to sneeze at. If you wish to make a killing in speaking you must keep your nose to the grindstone and not have your head always in the clouds. You will find that if you hang in, and knock yourself out with hard work, before you know it, you will have mastered these hip expressions and come through with flying colors.
Below are the list of the common idioms use in American Slang. Check it out:
above board
– legitimate, legal.
She knows it shouldn’t be kept a secret. She wants to keep everything above board.
across the board
– including everyone or everything.
The company had a successful year. All salaries were increased by 10% across the board.
air one’s dirty laundry in public
– discuss personal problems openly.
He is a very private person. If he has a problem in his family he doesn’t want to air his dirty laundry in public.
all along
– all the time.
She was accepted into the university, but she knew all along that she’d get in.
all ears
– eager to listen.
I was excited to hear about her vacation. When she told me about it, I was all ears.
all thumbs
– clumsy, unable to fix things.
Don’t ask me to put that clock back together. I’m all thumbs.
an arm and a leg
– a large amount of money.
It cost an arm and a leg to fix the stove.
ants in one’s pants
– nervous, anxious.
He wasn’t sure if he would be chosen to win the award. He had ants in his pants.
apple doesn’t fall far from the tree
– being similar to a parent or family member.
He acts just like his father. You know, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
apple of one’s eye
– someone special, usually a son or daughter.
Although he loves his son, his daughter is the apple of his eye.
at fault
– responsible for making errors. He is at fault for all the errors on the computer.
at odds
– in disagreement.
He is at odds with his boss.
at one’s beck and call
– always ready to do what is ordered.
Whenever she calls him, he’s always helping her. He is at her beck and call.
Many people say that they are too busy to have long talks. Other people prefer to watch television, play computer games, or listen to the radio rather than talk to relatives and friends. Sometimes people feel too shy to speak to the people next to them. Individuals who learning English as a second, third, or fourth language faces idiom as one or more barriers to make a satisfying conversation in English. What vocabulary words are needed to have better, more engaging conversations in English matters a lot and idioms are included in the list.
