50 Essential English Idioms for Vocabulary Expansion

Vanessa inspires learners to expand their English vocabulary with 50 essential idioms for everyday conversations.

### Expand Your English: 50 Important Idioms for Everyday Conversations
* 📚 Vanessa from SpeakEnglishWithVanessa.com is back to help you **expand your vocabulary** with 50 more important English phrases, building on the previous video that covered **50 phrases**.
* 🐦 These phrases are categorized into themes like **animals, body, work, transportation, and wisdom**, making them easier to remember and more applicable in daily conversations.
* 🦜 The first category features animal-related idioms, such as "**A little bird told me**," which means you **know a secret without revealing the source**, and "**Curiosity killed the cat**," warning against **excessive curiosity**.
* 🐶 Other idioms include "**To kill two birds with one stone**," meaning to **accomplish two tasks at once**, and "**Cat got your tongue**," used when someone is **unusually silent**.
* 🚜 Moving on to farm-related idioms, "**When pigs fly**" indicates something **impossible**, while "**Don't put all your eggs in one basket**" advises against relying on a **single option**.
* 📝 The body-related idioms include "**Break a leg**," a way to wish someone **good luck**, and "**My eyes were bigger than my stomach**," which refers to **overestimating one's appetite**.
* 🚂 In the transportation section, idioms like "**Don't miss the boat**" signify not missing an opportunity, and "**That ship has sailed**" indicates a missed chance that **cannot be regained**.
* 💡 Finally, wisdom idioms like "**Actions speak louder than words**" emphasize the importance of **actions over mere promises**, encouraging learners to **actively practice their English skills**.

Hi, I'm Vanessa from SpeakEnglishWithVanessa.com. Are you ready to expand your vocabulary? Let's do it. A few months ago, I made this video, 50 Important English Phrases, and you loved it. Unfortunately, there were a lot of phrases that I didn't include in that lesson. Of course, there are more than 50 phrases that are important in English, so good news. Today, I'm going to help you to grow your knowledge, expand your vocabulary, and learn 50 more important phrases in English. These phrases are divided into different categories like animals, body, work, transportation, wisdom. This will just help you to categorize them in your mind and help you to remember them, I hope. You are definitely going to hear these when you watch English movies and TV shows and have conversations. We use them all the time. Let's get started with our first category.

Our first category is idioms that have to do with animals or animal characteristics. For each of these idioms, I'm going to be telling you the idiom, then giving you a sample sentence. I want you to think about what this idiom might mean in that context, and then I'm going to tell you what the definition is. This is going to test your context skills. Of course, it's just one sentence; it's not a whole conversation, but I hope that this will help you be able to understand these when you hear them in conversation so that you can get the full picture. All right, let's start with the first one. A little bird told me. A little bird told me it was your birthday. Here's a present. Mmm, this is when you know a secret, but you don't want to reveal who told you. So, if you're giving

a little present to your friend, and your friend thinks that you don't know that it's his birthday. You might say this sentence, A little bird told me it was your birthday today. Here you go. As the crow flies. As the crow flies, I'm pretty close to the school, but because of lots of one-way streets, it takes me a long time to get there. What do you think this means? As the crow flies. A crow is a kind of bird. It's really big and black. There's a lot of crows in my yard, and they always make loud caw sounds. Caw, caw, caw. They're always really loud. I'm not sure why they chose this for this idiom, but this means that if you take the straightest distance, not accounting for one-way streets, just a straight distance, as the crow flies, I'm not that far from my school, but because of one-way streets, it takes me forever to get there.

To kill two birds with one stone. I wanted to bake cookies with my son, and I needed to make another English lesson for you here on YouTube, so I decided to kill two birds with one stone, and I did both. Have you seen the lesson where I baked cookies, chocolate chip cookies, with my three-year-old son? You can watch this up here. It is a delight. It was delightful to film that with him and to eat cookies together. What do you think this idiom means? Hmm. It means that you're getting two things done at the same time. You're saving time, and you're being efficient. Curiosity killed the cat. Well, it's getting close to Christmas time here in the US, and if a package arrives at our door and my son says, Hey, I see we got a package, I might say, Hey, curiosity killed the cat. Don't ask questions around Christmas time.

And that's kind of hinting that probably this is a Christmas present for him, and I don't want him to open that package. I'm kind of warning him about being too curious. So this is the meaning of the idiom that being curious can sometimes get you into trouble. Cat got your tongue. What's the matter? Why are you so quiet? Cat got your tongue? Imagine if a cat got your tongue. Mmm. This is talking about being speechless or not talking, being quiet, and usually, it's probably because you can't think of something to say. Oh. Oh, wow, she just told me something really shocking. Uh, I can't say anything. And the other person might say, What? Cat got your tongue? Why aren't you saying anything? To bark up the wrong tree. The word bark is the sound that a dog makes. Woof, woof. Bark, bark.

Or we might say in the sample sentence, My sister was barking up the wrong tree when she accused me of taking her favorite shirt. It was in the dirty laundry the whole time. I didn't do it. What do you think this means? It's when you believe or pursue something that's wrong. So she was accusing me of taking her favorite shirt, but I wasn't the one who did it; it was just in the dirty laundry basket. I want to let you know that we often use this idiom to talk about sexuality. For example, the famous TV host Ellen DeGeneres is married to a woman. So, if a man flirts with Ellen DeGeneres, she might say, Sorry, you're barking up the wrong tree. That means, you believe that I'm going to be interested in you? But that's not true. You are believing something that's not true. So we often use it in those situations.

Our final idiom for the animal section is to be packed like sardines. Have you ever eaten sardines? They're the little fish that are often packaged in a little tin or in a can, and there are often a lot in that can. So what do you think about this sentence? When everyone got in the train, we were packed like sardines. This is something that hasn't happened much in the year 2020, but we can remember back to the good old days when we were all together, lots of people together. Well, when you are packed like sardines, you feel like that little fish that's smashed into a tin or into a jar or a can. You are packed like sardines. In our next category, there are a lot of idioms that have to do with the farm or farm-related vocabulary. But don't worry, you don't have to be a farmer to use these or understand them. I

hope that they will be useful to you. The first one in this category is, when pigs fly. I told my husband that I would stop eating chocolate when pigs fly. This is something impossible, something that will never happen and you can use it in those situations. I will never stop eating chocolate. I will stop eating chocolate when pigs fly. To put all of your eggs in one basket. Hmm. When you're applying for a job, don't put all your eggs in one basket. You should apply to multiple companies. Mmm, to put all your eggs in a basket. Are you applying to become a farmer? No. In this situation, we're talking about diversifying. Don't put all of your hope, all of your dreams, in just one option. Instead, you should apply to multiple companies. It's not a good idea to put all of your efforts and resources in just one place.

Don't count your chickens before they hatch. I wanted to buy a car with my end-of-year bonus that I was expecting from my job, but my friend told me not to count my chickens before they hatch. Hmm, not to count my chickens before they hatch? This means that you shouldn't assume something is going to happen. You should wait until you are certain. You're not sure if you're going to get that end-of-year bonus from your company, so don't buy a car in advance. Instead, wait until you have the money, and then you can buy the car. Don't put the cart before the horse. Don't put the cart before the horse by quitting your job before you have another one. Hmm. Can you imagine the same idea, counting your chickens before they hatch, putting the cart before the horse. Mmm, this is the same idea, talking about doing

something in the wrong order. Before you quit your job, you probably should secure another job so that you're not jobless while you're searching for a job. So don't do things in the wrong order. Don't put the cart before the horse. Make sure the cart is behind the horse. Straight from the horse's mouth. If you don't believe me, ask him and hear it straight from the horse's mouth. Mmm, if your friend tells you that he just quit his job because he got a job as an advisor to the entire company, wow, this is a big promotion, you might not believe it. So you might say, Hey, ask him and get it straight from the horse's mouth. Is that guy a horse? No, it just means hear it directly from the source. Instead of hearing it from someone else, hear something directly from the source, the horse's mouth.

A needle in a haystack. Trying to find my friend in a crowd was like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Do you imagine that this is an easy task or a tough task? Very tough task. Maybe impossible. If there is a needle in the middle of a haystack, good luck trying to find it. In fact, this happened to me, literally, last year. My two-year-old son, Theo, dropped a basketball pump needle in our grass. We were pumping a basketball in the grass. We should not have done this in the grass; we should have done it on the sidewalk. But he dropped the needle, and I knew almost exactly where it fell, but do you know what? It took almost one hour. It took me, my husband, two neighbors, and my son trying to find that needle in the grass. It was almost impossible. Thankfully, we found it, but this is a really tough task to find a needle in

a haystack, or in my case, a needle in the grass. To hit the hay. Are you hitting the hay? No, when we say, Hoo, after learning these 50 idioms, you are probably going to be ready to hit the hay. That means, you're so tired you want to just go to sleep. Maybe at the end of a long day you say, All right, I'm going to go hit the hay. I'm so tired, I'm going to go hit the hay. You're not sleeping in a barn, you're just going to bed. Our next section of idioms have to do with the body or different body parts. They might seem a little bit strange when you first hear them, but stick with them and you'll be able to use it. Our first one is, break a leg. This sounds kind of like a mean thing to say, right? Hey, I hope you break your leg.

No, if you say, Break a leg, to someone, think about this situation. Before I went onstage for the performance, my fellow actors told me to break a leg. Are they evil, terrible people, trying to make me get hurt? No, this simply means good luck, and it's something that you can use usually in a performing or competing situation. If you're performing or competing, you can say to other people, Break a leg. In fact, sometimes it's seen as bad luck if you say, Good luck, to someone who's giving a performance. So if you are a singer and you're going to sing in front of other people, if someone says to you, Good luck, you can do it, you might think, Oh, no, I'm going to fail. Because in some situations, depending on how superstitious your theater group is or your singing group is, saying good luck can be considered bad luck. So instead,

this expression, break a leg, is used for these professional, competing, or performing situations. Pulling my leg. I thought my dad was telling me a serious story, but it turns out he was just pulling my leg. Is my dad pulling my leg? No. In this situation, it just means that he's teasing me or telling me a joke. I want to tell you a little story. I live in the mountains, and as I've mentioned before, there's black bears everywhere. Sometimes there's a black bear walking down my street, really. But one time I was at the store, and my hands were full of grocery bags. I had just bought some food, and I was walking towards my car when I saw a black bear in the parking lot, and the black bear started to chase after me, maybe he wanted my food, and I started to run. You should not run when you see a black bear.

But that was just my instincts. I ran, and I got my bags, and I started running, and the black bear caught my shoe, and he started pulling my leg, just like I'm pulling yours. Ha ha. Do you get it? Do you understand this joke? If you don't, first of all, don't worry, this story is not true at all. Well, it is true that there are black bears in my neighborhood, but a black bear has never chased me at the grocery store. Instead, black bears are really shy and timid, and usually, if you just go, Roar, and make a loud noise, they run away. They're very shy. But I wanted to tell you this story. When I was little, I loved to tell this joke because usually, people are listening like, Oh, really? Oh, really? Oh, really? And then you say, The black bear was pulling my leg. This is literally, he's pulling my leg,

and then we say, Just like I'm pulling your leg, or, Just like I'm pulling yours. And this is called a punch line. That means it's the end of the joke, it's something funny that was said, and it means, Ha ha, I'm just teasing you. I'm just telling a joke. So, if you have any English friends or English-speaking friends who know this idiom, you can tell this little story, this little joke, and maybe they'll get a good laugh. If they don't understand this idiom, maybe it's a good time to teach them. Keep an eye out. Take your eye out? No. Keep an eye out. Keep an eye out for snakes when you're hiking, they're everywhere. A couple of years ago, my husband Dan and I saw a huge, thick rattlesnake right beside the trail where we were hiking, and it was a little reality shock for me because

when I hike, I'm just looking at the trail. I'm not really thinking about every possibility. But now, because of that experience, I try to keep an eye out for snakes and always just remember that they could be there and to keep an eye out for them. Can you imagine what this means? It means to be on the lookout for something. This is like active searching, so now, whenever I step off the path or if I step over a log or especially for my kids, if they're running ahead of me, I need to make sure that they're safe because snakes are much more dangerous for children, so I want to keep an eye out for snakes. This is actively looking. Keep your eyes peeled. That sounds awful. Usually, for a banana, you peel a banana. But to keep your eyes peeled? What about this sentence? When I go hiking, I keep my eyes peeled for snakes. I keep my eyes peeled for snakes. We can imagine

your eyelids are kind of like a banana peel, so you're keeping your eyes open, you're peeling your eyes so that you can be on the lookout for snakes. This is the exact same meaning, to keep an eye out, to keep your eyes peeled for something, this is the exact same thing. See eye to eye. We may not see eye to eye on all issues, but we both love cats. Mmm. This means that you agree, or don't agree, with someone else. We see eye to eye on something. It's very important when you have children that you and your spouse, this is your husband or wife, need to see eye to eye on parenting. How are you going to teach your children, discipline your children, you need to agree on how you're going to do that. You need to see eye to eye. My eyes were bigger than my stomach. When I put all this food on my plate for Thanksgiving,

my eyes were bigger than my stomach. Mmm. This means that I thought I was hungrier than I really was, so I put lots of food on my plate. Oh, my eyes were getting big and excited, and then when I ate, oh, my stomach couldn't actually eat all of that food. Bite off more than you can chew. Right now I'm creating two new English courses but I think I might have bitten off more than I can chew. I'm going to need to delay one of them. Mmm. This means that I overcommitted. I'm doing too much. I bit... more than I can chew. It's just too much food, or figuratively, too much work. Keep your chin up. I know that learning 50 idioms is tough, but keep your chin up. You can do it. This is talking about having courage or strength during a difficult time. Keep your chin up, it's a great word of encouragement.

A chip on your shoulder. When he missed the game-winning shot because the other player hit the ball out of his hands, he left the game with a chip on his shoulder. Does that mean that there's actually like a potato chip on his shoulder? No. Instead, this means that you have some kind of grudge or grievance or this kind of hard feeling because of something else. When you feel like someone did something wrong to you that wasn't fair, maybe you have a chip on your shoulder. He missed the basket at the end of the game, but it's maybe because someone hit it, maybe it's because it was his fault. We don't know, but in any case, he had a chip on his shoulder. He had this angry feeling inside of him because of how he was wronged. Bend over backwards. Mmm, can you bend over backwards? We might say that car companies are bending over backwards to sell

cars nowadays. Because of the difficult economic situation, people aren't buying new cars, so car salesmen have to bend over backwards to sell cars. Mmm. This means they have to make a great effort in order to do something. They have to put in a lot of effort to sell cars. Add insult to injury. So, the injury is when you get hurt, and an insult is a mean word. If you get hurt, if you fall on the ground, and someone says, You're so dumb, you fell on the ground, that's awful. You're hurt, and then someone says something mean to you, how terrible. Look at this situation. I accidentally locked my keys in my car, and then, to add insult to injury, my phone battery died, so I couldn't even call a locksmith. Mmm. You see, one bad thing happened, I locked my keys in my car, and then another bad happened, my phone battery

died, so I couldn't call anyone for help. To add insult to injury. This is about making a bad situation ever worse, to add insult to injury. Rub salt in the wound. A wound is if you get a cut or it could be a lot worse, and you put salt in that wound. Ouch, that sounds awful. Let's look at this situation. My kids woke up really early and grumpy. They were not happy, and then seeing my friend's pictures of her kids happily playing together just rubbed salt in the wound. Mmm. My friend wasn't doing something bad; she was just sharing about her day. That's no problem. We love to share pictures, especially of our families, but for me, I was already having a tough situation. My kids woke up early, I was tired, they were grumpy, they were not happy, and then that was not good, but then it got even worse.

when my friend showed me, Look, we're playing together. We're having a happy time. Oh, it makes me feel not too good. So, it is rubbing salt in my wound. Does that sound familiar? Mmm. It's making a bad situation worse. Yep, this is exactly the same as our previous idiom. It's making something that was already bad even worse. Go behind someone's back. Mmm. When I told my teenage daughter that she couldn't go on a date, she went behind my back and climbed out her bedroom window to go on a date with him. Hmm. Do you get a sense that this is a good thing? No, this means that you're doing something bad secretively. She snuck out the window, not exactly a good thing to do if you want to build trust in a relationship, but here she is going behind my back. Our next category are idioms that have

to do with work and productivity. So, if you are a student, if you are working at a job and you have a lot of projects to do, I'm sure you'll be able to use these idioms to describe your daily life. Burn the candle at both ends. Hmm. Usually, we burn a candle just on one end, right? But if you burn a candle on the other end, what happens? Look at this sentence. I've been burning the candle at both ends by working a morning job and a nighttime job. Hmm. Do you think that you can do both of those jobs effectively and keep up your energy and motivation? Ah, not really. This means that you're working so hard that you're not really being effective, that you are working too hard. You're burning the candle at both ends, so this might be some kind of warning that your friend gives you. If you are studying during the day, studying in the afternoon, in the evening,

and staying up all night to study, your friend or your family might say, Hey, you're burning the candle at both ends. You can't do that. You need to get some sleep. You need to get some exercise. You need to eat well. You can't burn the candle at both ends. It's not a good idea. Burn the midnight oil. Even though we don't use oil lamps anymore, at least I don't, we can still use this idiom. We might say, I've been burning the midnight oil to finish my project on time, just means that you're working really hard, usually late at night. If you need oil, a little oil lamp, to work hard, then it's probably at night, you probably don't need that during the day with sunlight, so we might say, Yeah, I just burned the midnight oil last night and finished my

project. I got it all done, but I didn't sleep. Running on fumes. Making holiday preparations has left me so tired I feel like I'm running on fumes. What are fumes? Mmm. This is gas, so when you are driving a car and your gas meter says low, you might say, Oh, no, I'm running on fumes. I need to go to a gas station to fill up my car. That means that there's not much gasoline left, it's just air, just some fumes, not a good idea, and this is how we're using it but in a figurative sense, that my body has no energy left, I am just running on fumes. I have no real energy, it's just like air and gas that's keeping me going. Cut corners. I tried to cut corners when I was making the meal but I just ruined the whole

thing. Mmm. This means that you're doing something in the easiest, cheapest, or fastest way, and usually, that means it's not the best way, so you are cutting corners. Not always a good idea. Get the ball rolling. You want to get the ball rolling on your English skills, so you're watching this lesson. Great. It means that you're getting started doing something. There is a ball rolling down the hill, that's great, that's progress. Imagine now that's your English skills. You're pushing your English skills ahead by watching this lesson. Back to the drawing board. Mmm. I'm not an artist, and you don't have to be an artist or an architect to use this expression. Look at this situation. My dream of having a beautiful flower garden was ruined when my neighbor's dog dug up all of my flowers. Well, back to the drawing board. Hmm,

what do you think that means? I have to start over, completely start over. We often use this idiom at the end of a little situation, just like I did, and we often use it by itself, kind of to say, Well, there is nothing else I can do right now, so, back to the drawing board. Hit the books. Is this a new study method? Like some aggressive study method so that you can really learn something? No. Look at this situation. If I want to get good grades, I need to hit the books. Yeah, if you're just sleeping all day, taking a nap, your mom might say, Hey, you need to hit the books if you're going to pass your exam. This means you need to study hard. I don't recommend hitting your books. Be nice to your books, but this means that you are studying hard. Our next couple of idioms are about

transportation. The first one is to miss the boat. Don't miss the boat on practicing these idioms. Keep watching this lesson. You're almost there. Don't miss the boat means don't miss an opportunity. Don't miss the boat, keep watching this lesson. You're going to learn a couple of idioms that have a similar meaning in this transportation section. Listen up, don't miss the boat. That ship has sailed. I wanted to buy some shoes at 50% off but when I went back to the store, I realized, 'Oh, no, that ship has sailed,' the sale was over. Hmm. Can you guess what this means? There is an opportunity that I missed. That ship has sailed, or, I missed the boat. The sale was over. These have a similar meaning. The train has left the station. Mmm. If someone just told you, Nope, that train has left the

station. Hmm, would you think that they're about to go on a trip and they missed the boat? Missed the train? Hmm. Look at this situation. My husband said he didn't want to go to the party, but that train had already left the station because I told the host that we would be there. I don't recommend this situation. I've been there and done that. If you're going to go somewhere and it is also involving your spouse, make sure you consult with them first before you commit them to go into a party. What do you think this is? There is some process that is already happening and there is, in a way, a missed opportunity to say, Yeah, you don't need to go, because you already said yes, you can go. So I already told the host, Yep, we'll be there. We'll be at your party. And when my husband says, I don't want to go, well,

sorry, that ship has sailed. Sorry. We missed the boat. Sorry. That train has left the station, because I already made the decision that we were going to be there. Not a good idea. Drive someone up a wall. Mmm. Sounds kind of impossible, huh? We might say, When my neighbor's dog was barking all night, it was driving me up the wall. Mmm, the dog was driving me up the wall? Well, in this situation we're talking about being extremely annoyed or angry because of a situation. You could also say, It drove me crazy. It was driving me crazy. Or, It was driving me up the wall. Our next category of idioms didn't neatly fit into one of the other categories, but I wanted to make sure I included them because they're really useful and commonly used. Our first one is, on the fence. I'm on the fence about

hiring a professional cleaner to help clean my house. Maybe I should just do it myself. I'm on the fence. Hmm. Well, you're not completely on one side or completely on the other side, you're in the middle. This means you're unable to make a decision, or you haven't made a decision yet. Well, are you going to hire a professional cleaner? I don't know, I'm on the fence. I heard it through the grapevine. Mmm, to hear something through the grapevine. What if your friend says to you, How did you find out that she was pregnant? You might say, I heard it through the grapevine. Hmm. Did a grape tell you this? Did the grapevine send you a little message? Well, in a figurative way, yes. This means that you learned a secret from, usually, an anonymous or a secret source. You don't want to reveal who told you. This is kind

of similar to a little birdie told me. A little bird told me that she was pregnant. How did you hear about it? I heard about it through the grapevine. There's a classic oldie song from the '60s called, I heard it through the grapevine. I'm sure if you write this idiom into YouTube, you'll probably be able to listen to this song. It's a classic and a lot of people love it. A short fuse. A fuse, you can imagine when you have dynamite, behind the dynamite there's a little string and you use a lighter or some kind of match and you light the fuse... And then the dynamite explodes. What if there is a short fuse? Look at this situation. My geometry teacher had a short fuse. He would often throw chalk if a student was late to class. Hmm. Can kind of imagine that he's easily angry? If you have a long fuse, no, we don't use this in a...

this kind of positive sense. He has a long fuse, that means it's difficult for him to get angry. But a short fuse... It's very easy for him to get angry. He has a short fuse. So if you are the kind of person who has a short fuse, try to take a couple of deep breaths, try to count to five, count to three, count to 10, whatever it takes, because having a short fuse is usually not a good thing. A stone's throw away. Hmm, a stone is a rock. I'm so happy that the closest grocery store is just a stone's throw away. Well, if you have a little rock and you throw it, you probably can't throw it that far. It's not too far away, and that's the same idea here that the grocery store is close to my house. Well, how close is the grocery stone? It's a stone's throw away.

At the drop of a hat. I know that my friend will help me at the drop of a hat. Hmm. This means that she's going to pick up my hat? No, this means that she'll help me immediately. Whenever I need it, she will help me at the drop of a hat. This is something that my mother-in-law said to me when my second son was born. We needed someone to watch my oldest son when we went to give birth, so she said, Don't worry. I will come to your house at the drop of a hat. You can call me at 3:00 a.m. and I will be there and I will watch your oldest son so that you can go, have a wonderful time giving birth to your second son without worrying about your first son. So, I will help you at the drop of a hat. Very kind. Cut to the chase. When my best friend was telling

me about some cute guy that she met. I told her to cut to the chase. Are they going on a date or not? Well, maybe she was telling me a lot of details, and I say, No. Cut to the chase. Are you going on a date or not? This means to be direct and to not tell too many details, just to get it over with, tell me what I really want to hear, Are you going on a date or not? Cut to the chase. Our final idiom from this category of... Not really any category, is, once in a blue moon. When I was a kid I flossed my teeth once in a blue moon, but now, as an adult, I floss them every day. Do you see this comparison? Once in a blue moon, and every day? Mmm. This means, not often. I didn't floss my teeth often, and surprisingly, I never got any cavities.

Maybe it's because I didn't eat much sugar. I don't know, I was very lucky. But now as an adult, I floss my teeth every day. I don't floss them once in a blue moon. Now I floss them every day. Our final category has idioms that give words of wisdom. Don't judge a book by its cover. Maybe there's a similar idiom to this in your native language. If there is, let me know in the comments. Look at this situation. I walked into the restaurant. It was small, it didn't have many decorations, but the food was amazing. I guess you can't judge a book by its cover. This story has nothing to do with books. I'm not going to a library, I'm not reading a book, nothing like this, but we can still use it to talk about forming an opinion based on only appearances. Well, the restaurant didn't look that great but

really the quality was still there. You might say this about someone else. If someone doesn't have amazing clothes and their hair is a mess, you might say, Yeah, don't judge a book by its cover. He's still an amazing person. Cross that bridge when you come to it. Mmm, a bridge. Cross that bridge. Well, I think it might rain next week and ruin our picnic plans, but let's cross that bridge when we come to it. Mmm. Weather often changes, especially a week before, and it could change a lot. It might not rain, it might rain, so here we're talking about dealing with maybe a difficult situation when it happens. Don't worry about it in advance. Not before it happens, especially if you think it might not happen. So, in this situation, it might not rain, so we don't need to make second plans, third plans, fourth

plans. What if it rains? What else are we going to do? No, worry about that closer to the event. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. I personally use this expression a lot because sometimes when I'm thinking about different things happening in life, we ask, Well, what if this happens? What if this happens? What if this happens? So I need to remind myself, Okay, I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. If that situation happens, then I will deal with it. Of course, it's good to have some plans in life, but for some situations that we can absolutely not predict or it's so far away that it's not worth stressing yourself about, you can use this expression. Okay, I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. Right now I'm not going to worry about it. No use crying over spilled milk. Ah, I forgot

about my diet and had pizza for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Oh, well, no use crying over spilled milk. I'll do better tomorrow. If something has already happened in the past, don't feel upset about it because that is over, that situation or the decision you made is finished, so don't cry because the milk spilled. That has already happened, that situation is already there, so instead we need to move forward. And our final idiom today is, actions speak louder than words. I think that this is almost a universal idiom because it's so true. A lot of English learners say that they want to practice their English, they want to improve their English, but actions speak louder than words. You are actually doing it. A lot of people are just sitting there thinking, Oh, I wish I had time to do this. I wish I could improve my English. But

No, you are the one who's taking action, and your actions show that you are really serious about learning English. Actions speak louder than words. What you do is more important than what you say. This is very true in relationships. Make sure that you show love to the people around you instead of just saying, Yeah, I care about you. Yeah, you're my friend. Okay. Well, put some action behind that and do something special or show that you care about the people around you. Well, congratulations on flooding your mind with 50 important English idioms. You did it. I'm on the fence about which of these idioms is my favorite, but I hope that you will keep an eye out for these as you're watching English movies and TV shows and having conversations. Break a leg. You can do it. And now I have a question for you. Use one of

these idioms in the comments. Try to use what you've learned, and thank you so much for learning English with me. I'll see you again next Friday for a new lesson here on my YouTube channel. Bye. The next step is to download my free eBook, Five Steps to Becoming a Confident English Speaker. You'll learn what you need to do to speak confidently and fluently. Don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel for more free lessons. Thanks so much. Bye.

50 Important English Expressions for daily conversation

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Expanding Your English Vocabulary: 50 Important Phrases

com is back with 50 more important English phrases, categorized for easier memorization.

The first category focuses on animal-related idioms, with each idiom followed by a sample sentence and its definition.

These phrases are commonly used in conversations and will help you understand English movies and TV shows better.

"Packed like sardines" refers to being in a crowded situation.

"When pigs fly" indicates something impossible will never happen.

"Putting all your eggs in one basket" advises against relying on a single option, while "counting your chickens before they hatch" warns against assuming future success.

"Putting the cart before the horse" means doing things in the wrong order, and "straight from the horse's mouth" suggests getting information directly from the source.

"A needle in a haystack" describes a difficult or impossible task, and "hitting the hay" means going to sleep.

Lastly, "break a leg" is a way to wish someone good luck, despite its seemingly negative wording.

"Break a leg" is a phrase used to wish someone good luck in a performing or competing situation, often seen as bad luck to say "good luck.

" "Pulling my leg" means teasing or joking with someone, often used in a humorous story.

"Keep an eye out" and "keep your eyes peeled" both mean to actively look for something, such as being on the lookout for snakes while hiking.

Keeping your eyes peeled means to be on the lookout for something.

Seeing eye to eye indicates agreement or understanding with someone.

Biting off more than you can chew refers to overcommitting or taking on too much work.

Common Idioms for Difficult Situations and Work

Feeling bad when a friend highlights their happiness is like rubbing salt in a wound.

Going behind someone's back means doing something secretive and dishonest.

Idioms related to work include burning the candle at both ends, burning the midnight oil, running on fumes, cutting corners, getting the ball rolling, and going back to the drawing board.

Starting over is often expressed as "back to the drawing board.

" "Hit the books" means to study hard, while "miss the boat" and "that ship has sailed" both indicate missed opportunities.

"The train has left the station" signifies a process that is already happening, leading to a missed opportunity.

"Drive someone up a wall" means to be extremely annoyed, and "on the fence" indicates being unable to make a decision.

"Heard it through the grapevine" refers to learning a secret from an anonymous source.

A little bird told me about someone's pregnancy, and I heard it through the grapevine, a classic '60s song'.

A short fuse indicates someone who easily gets angry, while a long fuse means the opposite.

Other idioms include "a stone's throw away" for close proximity, "at the drop of a hat" for immediate assistance, "cut to the chase" for being direct, and "once in a blue moon" for something that doesn't happen often.

Lastly, "don't judge a book by its cover" teaches us not to form opinions based solely on appearances.

The speaker discusses the importance of not judging others by their appearance and emphasizes the idea of dealing with difficult situations when they arise.

They highlight the idiom "no use crying over spilled milk" to encourage moving forward from past mistakes.

The speaker also stresses that "actions speak louder than words," emphasizing the importance of taking action to show commitment and care for others.