Idioms make a sentence feel lively. When you use idioms in a sentence, it adds a humorous element and make you look like a native speaker. Native speakers use more idioms and phrases in order improve their English communication skills. Knowing the correct meaning and proper usage can make you a pro in the English language.

Idioms are figurative in nature and cannot be considered literal. In today’s blog, we will explain funny idioms that one must know to improve their English communication.





5 funny idioms you must know

1. Cats got your tongue

Meaning - This idiom is used when someone is strangely silent and suspicious. If somebody is silent and does not answer your question, it means cats got his tongue. This one is often used by parents when their child behaves in an unusual silent way.

Example: What happened to your mobile? Why are you so silent? Not this time, cats got your tongue.


2. Van Gogh

Meaning - Van Gogh was a deaf artist. No, this idiom is not a compliment and do not get happy when someone uses this. This idiom means someone who doesn’t understand the different musical tones and cannot understand the differences between musical tones. It also refers to the person or has a poor taste in music. Generally, this idiom is used in a sarcastic way.

Example: What? Don't you like AR Rehman’s music? I must say you have got Van Gogh’s ear for music.
 

3. Bob’s your uncle

Meaning - This idiom is generally used in Britain. It means that everything is alright. So, if you want to say ‘finally your project is ready’ you can use the idiom ‘Bob is your uncle’.

Example: Your assignment is approved by the Principal. Now bob’s your uncle.
 

4. Pardon my French

Meaning – This idiom is an informal apology forswear, taboo words.

Example: What the hell is this? I’ll kick her in the ass if you‘ll excuse my French.


5. When pigs fly

Meaning -  Things that will never happen. In real life, pigs can’t fly and it will never happen. This idiom is used when you want to say ‘something will never happen’.

Example: He – I will become the Batman.
Me – Only when pigs fly.
 

The above idioms will help you to impress others with your English communication skills. Moreover, an English speaking course is all you need to improve your spoken English and train yourself to use idioms like a pro.

About EAgeTutor:

eAgeTutor.com is the premier online tutoring provider. eAge's world-class faculty and ace communication experts from around the globe help you to improve English in an all-round manner. Assignments and tasks based on a well-researched content developed by subject matter and industry experts can certainly fetch the most desired results for improving spoken English skills. Overcoming limitations is just a click of the mouse away in this age of effective and advanced communication technology. For further information on online English speaking course or to experience the wonders of virtual classroom fix a demonstration session with our tutor. Please visit www.eagetutor.com

- By Shailja Varma


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As you get used to working in a company, chances are that you will often encounter idioms (phrases whose meanings are not obviously based on the individual words used) from your peers or bosses. Many of these are so overused that they have become clichés, but it is important that you understand these to get a clear idea of the context of the statement. While there are countless idioms that may be used in the workplace, let us just touch upon five of them in this piece. We will be explaining the meanings and the usage of more such idioms in another article in the near future.





Hit the ground running:

You are more likely to hear this when you are new to the job or if you are part of meetings where the boss is explaining the execution plan for a product or project. “Hit the ground running” basically means to be fully prepared for a task such that as soon as you get the go-ahead to implement the task, you can get on to it without spending any more time thinking about it.

Let us say that your company has just won a new project, which you are due to start executing from say, April 01. The boss might brief you on the project in the middle of March on the expectations and deliverables from the project and tell you: “Let’s ensure everything we need to do beforehand is taken care of so that we can hit the ground running from April 01.”

It is common for organizations to expect employees, especially experienced professionals to hit the ground running when they join. So, it is an important idiom to not only be familiar with but also understand and imbibe its spirit.


Low-hanging fruit:

During office meetings, you may encounter scenarios where the staff comes up with a lot of ideas and the boss shoots them down and says, “well, they are all good, but let’s focus on the low-hanging fruit first”. Hopefully, the above statement explains the meaning of this idiom, but in case it still leaves you wondering, it just means “easy opportunities”. As a return on investment is high on a manager’s agenda, it is only natural for them to ask to focus on the low-hanging fruit, so that you can get a lot of the desired results, faster.

The ability to determine the low-hanging fruit is a highly valuable job skill as it shows the ability of a person to prioritize what is beneficial at a lower cost.


A well-oiled machine:

When you think of machines that work smoothly, what qualities come to mind? Smoothness and efficiency, right? And that is precisely what is expected when somebody says in the office, “Let’s ensure that we are all working like a well-oiled machine.”  An organization or a team that operates like a well-oiled machine showcases efficient processes and the smooth execution of those processes, so that work can continue to happen without any hiccups.


Bells and whistles:

This is an idiom that one is more likely to hear if one is involved in a software or product development organization, though it can also be used elsewhere. “Bells and whistles” refers to features or functionalities that are not critical or even essential for the product to function or even for the user to use it. They are the optional extras that might make a product or service fanciful. It is always useful to question what is essential and what can be de-prioritized as ‘bells and whistles’.


Hit the panic button:

In any organization or team, things will go wrong at some time. Maybe, there is a bug in the software developed that is causing a lot of problems; or there are some quality issues in a product that is causing angry customers to call up. Moreover, as it happens commonly, just when something goes wrong, a lot of things go wrong at the same time. This is when you will hear wise and experienced professionals say, “It’s ok- we’ll address this problem. Let’s not hit the panic button yet.”  To hit the panic button is to panic, to react to a situation out of panic without thinking through clearly.

To avoid hitting the panic button, one has to develop the ability to think calmly and logically. You will realize in due course that a person who doesn’t hit the panic button commands a lot of respect; a calm temperament is indeed a great asset to have.


We hope you found these 5 idioms useful. Are there any more idioms that you want to understand better? Let us know with your comments on our social media channels and we will cover them through our series of articles on English tips.

Also, see our article on common sports idioms in offices.

About EAgeTutor:

eAgeTutor.com is the premier online tutoring provider. eAge's world-class faculty and ace communication experts from around the globe help you to improve English in an all-round manner. Assignments and tasks based on a well-researched content developed by subject matter and industry experts can certainly fetch the most desired results for improving spoken English skills. Overcoming limitations is just a click of the mouse away in this age of effective and advanced communication technology. For further information on online English speaking course or to experience the wonders of virtual classroom fix a demonstration session with our tutor. Please visit www.eagetutor.com.

- By Chander Madan


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Work is, in many ways, like sports. The ups and downs, the winning and losing, the planning and preparation, the execution and the myriad emotions- they all mirror what happens on a playing field. In fact, some career experts suggest that one should treat our jobs as a game we love, and work will be so much more enjoyable, productive and fulfilling. No wonder we have so many idioms in the English language that are related to sports. While these may be used often on the field, they are also used in our workplaces and meeting rooms with amazing frequency.





In this article, let us explore the usage of 5 sports idioms that you are likely to hear often in your office environment.


1. Play it by the ear: to do something by feel and instinct rather than with a plan, to improvise 
In an office meeting, you may hear a colleague say something like, “Regarding the next meeting date, I am not sure yet as there are a couple of other tentative appointments that may be finalized. Let’s just play it by the ear for the next week.”  What this means in the above context is that because the person cannot confirm right away, he/she is suggesting that they coordinate amongst themselves informally to work out the schedule for the next meeting.


2. Play with fire: to take a huge risk

‘Play with fire’ is often used as a warning of the potential consequences of taking a particular decision or action.

Example: “Don’t delay responding to that e-mail - you’ll be playing with fire.” 


3. Play it cool: to portray indifference or neutrality; to take it easy

We often hear managers talk to their subordinates the need to play it cool when faced with a tough situation. Essentially what they are saying is to portray or showcase a sense of cool indifference; indicating that one is not really affected by the situation.  People in sales are also encouraged to ‘play it cool’ when a prospect is showing great interest in a product. In this context, playing it cool means the salesman is not showing undue eagerness to sell the product and instead slowly guiding the prospect towards the sale.

Example: “Don’t rush into accepting the merger offer, play it cool for a while. That may increase the offer price.”


4. Play ball: to go along with an idea or person

Disagreements are common in any office. However, it is not productive to make a huge hue and cry of every disagreement and protest against every decision of your manager that you disagree with. Sometimes, it is more prudent (wise) to “play ball” with the colleague you disagree with rather than enter a ‘fight mode’.

Example: “Let’s play ball with that idea for now and see where it takes us. We can re-evaluate after monitoring for a couple of months.”


5. Hit the ball out of the park: to achieve great success

This sports idiom may have originated from baseball, one of the most popular sports in America. But it is very relevant to the Indian context as well, where cricketers routinely hit sixes out of the stadium!  As the idiom indicates, hitting the ball out of the park means to achieve something big (and probably unexpected) i.e. achieve a huge level of success.

Example: “Our new sales manager is amazing- he just hit the ball out of the park!”. Here the implication is that the sales manager clearly exceeded his sales targets by a huge margin.


We hope you find these idioms useful and the next time you hear any of these sports-related English idioms in your office meeting room, you are not taken by surprise. Are there any other idioms you would like to know more about? Ask us in our comments section or through our Facebook page.

Visit our technology-related English idioms that we wrote about recently.

About EAgeTutor:

eAgeTutor.com is the premier online tutoring provider. eAge's world-class faculty and ace communication experts from around the globe help you to improve English in an all-round manner. Assignments and tasks based on a well-researched content developed by subject matter and industry experts can certainly fetch the most desired results for improving spoken English skills. Overcoming limitations is just a click of the mouse away in this age of effective and advanced communication technology. For further information on the online English-speaking course or to experience the wonders of virtual classroom fix a demonstration session with our tutor. Please visit www.eagetutor.com.

-By Chander Madan


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Idioms are a group of words whose meaning is different from the literal meaning.  Idioms are expression, a phrase. They have hidden meaning. For Example- “Kick the bucket”, it means to die. There are many other idioms too which are related to body. These are known as Body idioms.


Some of the Body Idioms are:

1. All ears:  full attention

Example- Her all ears were here when we were talking about that matter.

Example- We should keep all our ears open while listening to a teacher during a lecture.


2. Cold feet: nervous

Example- She was having  cold feet before the event.

Example- We had to help her calm down because she was having  cold feet.


3. Cost an arm and a leg:  very expensive

Example- I tried to convince her not to buy that phone as it would cost her an arm and a leg.

Example- Nowadays, it seems to be very difficult to buy anything as it costs an arm and a leg.


4. Get something off one’s chest: tell someone your problem

Example- She wanted to meet me because she had to get something off her chest.

Example- You should get something off one’s chest so that you can live happily.


5. Keep an eye on:  to take care or protect

Example- I am really worried. Please keep an eye on her.

Example- They appointed a watchman to keep an eye on the society.


6. Lips are sealed: promise to keep a secret

Example- I trust my best friend. I know her lips will be sealed.

Example- He told me to seal my lips till the party is over.


7. Makes my blood boil: makes me very angry

Example- It makes my blood boil when someone always tells lies.

Example- Today, teacher’s blood boiled as no one had completed their homework.


8. Pat on the back:  Thank you

Example- Today, our teacher was so happy that she patted on our back.

Example- He patted on the back because I helped him do his homework.


9. Pull one’s leg: to tease someone

Example- My friends always pull my leg no matter what.

Example- She always pulls my leg in front of everyone.


10. Give a hand, lend a hand: help someone

Example- We should always give a hand to someone in need.

Example- God will give a hand to us if we give a hand to someone in need.


We hope you liked this blog. These are some common idioms which can help you improve your communication skills.

About EAgeTutor:

eAgeTutor.com is the premier online tutoring provider. eAge's world-class faculty and ace communication experts from around the globe help you to improve English in an all-round manner. Assignments and tasks based on a well-researched content developed by subject matter and industry experts can certainly fetch the most desired results for improving spoken English skills. Overcoming limitations is just a click of mouse away in this age of effective and advance communication technology. For further information on online English speaking course or to experience the wonders of virtual classroom fix a demonstration session with our tutor. Please visit www.eagetutor.com.

- By Shailja Varma


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