Last updated 07/18/2021
A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush (it's better to be content with what you have than to risk losing everything by seeking more.)
A drop in the ocean
A fate worse than death
A feather in one's cap (mark of achievement)
A fish out of water
A fool and his money are soon parted
A foot in the door
A friend in need is a friend indeed (a person who helps at a difficult time is
a truly reliable person)
A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse
A la carte (according to a menu or list that prices items separately)
A la mode (1 : fashionable, stylish. 2 : topped with ice cream.)
A man after my own heart
A millstone around one's neck (A heavy burden)
A nest of vipers
A nod is as good as a wink (It is unnecessary to explain or elaborate upon
something because one already understands or knows enough about it)
A penny for your thoughts
A picture is worth a thousand words
A Piece of Cake‚Äã
A riddle wrapped up in an enigma
A rolling stone gathers no moss
A rose by any other name would smell as sweet (names of things do not affect
what they really are)
A sea change
A skeleton in the closet
A shot in the arm (an encouraging stimulus)
A sight for sore eyes
A stitch in time saves nine
A stone's throw
A tinker's damn (something small, insignificant or worthless)
A watched pot never boils
A wolf in sheep's clothing
Abandon all hope ye who enter here
Above my pay grade
Absent-minded professor
Accidents will happen
Ace in the hole
Achilles' heel
Across the pond
Act of God
Actions speak louder than words
Adversity makes strange bedfellows
After the fact
Against the clock
Against the grain
Agree to disagree
All fingers and thumbs
All Greek to me
All of a sudden
All publicity is good publicity
All singing, all dancing (full of vitality)
All systems go
All that glitters is not gold
All things come to those who wait
All things must pass
All you can eat
All's fair in love and war
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy
Alter ego
(a person's sense of self-esteem or self-importance.)
An accident waiting to happen
An albatross around one's neck (An annoying burden)
An apple a day keeps the doctor away
An axe to grind
An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth
Another day, another dollar
Another think coming
April fool
Arm candy
A.S.A.P. (As soon as possible)
As busy as a bee
As cool as a cucumber
As dead as a doornail
As easy as pie
As easy as taking candy from a baby
As fast as greased lightning
As fit as a fiddle
As good as gold (in a very good condition or state.)
As old as the hills
As snug as a bug in a rug
As the crow flies
As thick as thieves
As white as snow
Ashes to ashes dust to dust
(Ask not) for whom the bell tolls (the church bells which ring when someone has
died and it is suggesting to us that we should not ask who has died because
eventually the bell will toll for you)
At one fell swoop
At one's wit's end
Baby blues
Back to basics
Back to square one
Back to the drawing board
Bring home the Bacon
Bad egg
Bad hair day
Baker's dozen (Baker's dozen means 13, instead of 12)
Bail out
Ball and chain
Baptism of fire
Barking up the wrong tree
Barrel of laughs
Basket case
Be afraid, be very afraid
Be still, my beating heart
Beast with two backs
Beat around the bush
Beat swords into ploughshares
Beat the living daylights out of someone
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder
Beauty is only skin deep
Bed of roses
Been there, done that
Beer goggles
The Bee's knees
Before the fact
Beggars can't be choosers
Behind every great man there's a great woman
Belle of the ball
Below the belt
Bells and whistles
Better half
Better late than never
Better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all
Between a rock and a hard place
Beware the Ides of March
Beyond a shadow of a doubt
Beyond belief
The Big Apple
The Big Cheese
A Big fish in a small pond
Better bang for your buck
The Birds and the bees
Birds of a feather flock together
Bite the bullet
Bite the dust
The Bitter end
Black-on-black (Something that is invisible or intentionally obfuscated)
Black sheep of the family
A Blast from the past
Blaze a trail
Bless you! (after a sneeze)
The Blind leading the blind
Bling-bling
Blood is thicker than water (relationships and loyalties within a family are
the strongest and most important ones)
Blood, sweat and tears
Blow your mind
Blow your own horn
Blown to smithereens
Blue blood
Once in a Blue moon
Bone dry
Booby trap
Boogie-woogie
Booze cruise
Born with a silver spoon in one's mouth
Boys will be boys
Brand spanking new
Brass monkey
Brass tacks (details of immediate practical importance)
Break a leg
Break the ice
If it ain't broke, don't fix it
Brownie points
The Buck stops here
Bucket list
Buckle down
Bite the Bullet
Bun in the oven
Burn the wick at both ends
Burning the midnight oil (To stay awake late at night to work or study)
Burst Your Bubble
Bury the hatchet
Bury your head in the sand
Butterfingers
By the book
By the short hairs
By the skin of your teeth
Let bygones be bygones
Call a spade a spade
Can't hold a candle to
Can't see the forest for the trees
Carbon-copy
Carpe diem (urge someone to make the most of the present time and give little
thought to the future)
Put the Cart before the horse
Cast the first stone
Cat got your tongue?
In the Catbird seat (an enviable position)
The Cat's pajamas
Caught red-handed
A Chain is only as strong as its weakest link
Channel surfing
Charmed life
Cheapskate
Chew the cud (think or talk reflectively)
Chick flick
Children should be seen and not heard
Chip off the old block
Chip on Your Shoulder‚Äã
Chit-chat
Chivalry is not dead
Chop-chop
Chow down
Cleanliness is next to godliness
Cliff-hanger
Cloak and dagger
Clog up
Close, but no cigar
Close quarters
Club sandwich
Don't have a Clue
Clutch at straws
Coat of many colours
Cock-sure
Cogito ergo sum
Coin a phrase
Cold as any stone
Cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey
Cold feet
Cold shoulder
Cold turkey
Colder than a witch's tit
The Collywobbles (stomach pain or queasiness)
Common sense
Complete shambles
Cook the books (alter facts or figures dishonestly or illegally)
Cookie cutter
Cool as a cucumber
Cordon bleu (meat wrapped around cheese, then breaded and pan-fried or
deep-fried)
Cost an arm and a leg
Counting sheep
Country bumpkin
The Crack of dawn
Crackpot
The Crapper
Crocodile tears
Crown jewels
Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war
Cry Over Spilled Milk
Curiosity killed the cat
The Customer is always right
The cut of your jib
Cut off your nose to spite your face
Cut the mustard (come up to expectations; reach the required standard.)
Cut to the chase
Dark horse (little is known but who unexpectedly wins)
The Darkest hour
The Dark side
Dash to pieces
Davy Jones' locker
Your Days are numbered
Dead as a doornail
Dead cat bounce
Dead in the water
Dead ringer
Delusions of grandeur
Deus ex machina
Between the Devil and the deep blue sea (in a difficult situation where you
have to choose between two equally unpleasant courses of action)
The Devil makes work for idle hands to do (people who have nothing to do are
more likely to get into trouble or commit a crime)
The Devil to pay (serious trouble to be dealt with)
[Hell to pay]
Devil's advocate
Diamond in the rough
A Diamond is forever
Die-hard
The Die has been cast (a process or course of action has been started and that
it cannot be stopped or changed)
Dime a Dozen
Different strokes for different folks
Differently abled
Dirt bag
Doesn't know shit from Shinola
Dog days (early July and early September when the hot sultry weather)
Dog is a man's best friend
The Doldrums (a state or period of inactivity)
Dollars to doughnuts (used to emphasize one's certainty)
Don't call us, we'll call you
Don't count your chickens before they are hatched
Don't get mad, get even
Don't go there
Don't let the grass grow under your feet (stop hesitating)
Don't look a gift horse in the mouth (find fault with something that has been
received as a gift or favor)
Don't close the barn door after the animals are all gone.
Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater (an avoidable error in which
something good is eliminated when trying to get rid of something bad)
Doom and gloom
Double cross
Double Dutch (unintelligible language)
Double entendre
Double standard
Double whammy
Down in the dumps
Down to the wire
Down the tubes
Dragged through a hedge backwards (To look very disheveled or unkempt)
Draw a blank
Dressed to the nines
Drink like a fish
Drop-dead gorgeous
A Drop in the bucket
Dropping like flies
My old Dutch (colloquialism for a partner or friend)
The Early bird catches the worm
Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise
Ear-mark
Easy as pie
Eat drink and be merry
Eat humble pie
Eeny, meeny, miny, mo
Egg on
Elbow-grease
Elementary my dear Watson
Elephant in the room
Elvis has left the building
Emperor's new clothes
The Empire on which the sun never sets
Enough is enough
Esprit de l'escalier (used to refer to the fact that a witty remark or retort
often comes to mind after the opportunity to make it has passed)
Et tu, Brute
Even a worm will turn (a meek person will resist or retaliate if pushed too
far)
Even at the turning of the tide (Change from a previously stable course of
events)
Every cloud has a silver lining
Everybody out
The Exception, not the rule
Excuse my French
Extraordinary rendition (a performance or interpretation, especially of a
dramatic role or piece of music) (the seizure and transfer of a person
suspected of involvement with a terrorist group to another country for
imprisonment and interrogation without legal process)
Eye candy
Eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth
The Face that launched a thousand ships
Face the music
Not for the Faint-hearted
Fair and square
Fair dinkum (unquestionably good or genuine)
Fairy-tale ending
Fait accompli (a thing that has already happened or been decided before those
affected hear about it, leaving them with no option but to accept it.)
Fall from grace
Fall guy
Fall on your sword
Famous for fifteen minutes
Famous last words (ironic comment on or reply to an overconfident assertion
that may well be proved wrong)
Fancy free
Fancy pants
Fashion victim
Fast and loose
Fast asleep
The fat of the land
Fed up
Fellow traveller
Fend for yourself
Fend off
Fiddlesticks
Fiddling while Rome burns
Fie, fih, fo, fum, I smell the blood of an Englishman
Fifteen minutes of fame
Fight fire with fire
Fight the good fight
Filthy rich
Fine as frog's hair (very delicate and fine.. The phrase is facetious as frogs
do not possess hair.)
Fine words butter no parsnips (nothing is achieved by empty promises or
flattery.)
Finger lickin good
Fingers and thumbs (extremely awkward or clumsy)
Fits to a tee
Five o'clock shadow
Fixer-upper
Flash in the pan
Flat out
Flavor of the month
Flesh and blood
Flogging a dead horse
Fly by night (unreliable or untrustworthy)
Fly by the seat of one's pants
Fly in the ointment (a minor irritation that spoils the success or enjoyment of
something)
Fly off the handle
Fly on the wall
Foam at the mouth
Old Fogey
A Fool and his money are soon parted
Fools rush in where angels fear to tread (people without good sense or judgment
will have no hesitation in tackling a situation that even the wisest would
avoid.)
Fool's errand (a task or activity that has no hope of success.)
Fool's gold
A Foot in the door
For all intents and purposes
For crying out loud
For ever and a day (very long time)
For every thing there is a season
For the birds
Forbidden fruit
Foregone conclusion
Forgive them for they know not what they do
Fork out
Foul play
Four corners of the earth
Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend me your ears
Frog in the throat - A
From sea to shining sea
Fruits of your loins
The Full Monty (the full amount expected, desired, or possible) (male strip
tease)
Full of piss and vinegar (brimming with energy)
Full tilt (maximum energy or force)
Funny farm
Fuzzy wuzzy (Black native of any of various countries, esp one with curled
hair.)
Gadzooks (an exclamation of surprise or annoyance)
The Jig is up / The Game is up
Game of two halves (one team plays better in each half of the game)
Gee whiz
Genius is one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration
Get medieval
Get off on the wrong foot
Get off your high horse
Get over it
Get behind me Satan
Get used to it
Ginger up (to make (someone or something) more exciting or lively)
Give a man a fish and you will feed him for a day
Give no quarter (no pity or mercy)
Give the Devil his due (acknowledge the good qualities of even a bad or
undeserving person.)
Give up the ghost (they stop trying to do something because they no longer
believe they can do it successfully.)
Glass ceiling (an unofficially acknowledged barrier to advancement in a
profession)
Go berserk
Go haywire
Go out on a limb
Go postal
Go over like a lead balloon
Going to hell in a handbasket
Go whole hog / whole ham (do something completely or thoroughly)
Go to the dogs
A Golden key can open any door (sufficient money, or the promise of it, will
allow the possessor of it to do anything they wish.)
A Good man is hard to find
For Good measure
Good riddance
Good Samaritan
Goodnight Vienna (Events have reached a state of completion)
Goody, goody gumdrops
Goody two-shoes
Got my mojo working (bringing charm and acttractiveness of one's self)
Grace of God
Grand slam
Grass is always greener on the other side of the fence - The
Graveyard shift
Great balls of fire
Great minds think alike
Great oaks from little acorns grow
Green eyed monster (jealousy personified)
Grind to a halt
Grinning like a Cheshire cat
Gung ho
Gussied-up
Guts for garters (to state the intention to do them serious harm)
Hair of the dog that bit you (an alcoholic drink taken to cure a
hangover.)
Hairy eyeball (a look of disdain or skepticism)
Half-cocked
Half-hearted
Hand over fist
Hands down
Hanged, drawn and quartered
Hanky-panky
Happy as a clam
Happily ever after
Hard and fast
Hard cheese (used to express sympathy over a petty matter.)
Hard lines
Harp on
Harvest moon
Hasta la vista, baby
Haste makes waste
Hat trick
Have your work cut out
He who can, does; he who cannot, teaches
He who laughs last laughs longest
Head over heels
Heads up
Heads will roll
Heard it through the grapevine
Heart's content
Heavens to Betsy
The Heebie-jeebies
Hedge your bets
Hell has no fury like a woman scorned
Hell or high water
High and dry
High and mighty
High as a kite
High five
Get off your High horse
High jinks
High on the hog (n a luxurious style)
High time (a long-awaited event, an appropriate time, or past the appropriate
time)
Hissy fit
History is bunk
Hit the ground running
Hit the hay
Hit the nail on the head
Hobby-horse (a preoccupation or favorite topic)
Hocus pocus
Hoity-toity
Hold your horses
Home is where the heart is
Honesty is the best policy
Honey catches more flies than vinegar
Horse-sense
Straight from the Horse's mouth
Hot-blooded
Hot off the press
A House divided against itself cannot stand
Houston, we have a problem
How are the mighty fallen?
Hung, drawn and quartered
Hunky-dory (quite satisfactory)
Hunt and peck (inexpert form of typing in which only one or two fingers are
used)
I have not slept one wink
I spy with my little eye
I will wear my heart upon my sleeve
If music be the food of love, play on
If the cap fits
If the shoe fits
If wishes were horses, beggars would ride
If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen
I'll be there with bells on
I'm stumped
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery
In a pickle
In a quandary
In a nutshell
In for a penny, in for a pound
In like Flynn
In limbo
In my minds eye
In spades
In stitches (laughing uncontrollably)
In the bag
In the club
In the doghouse (in a bad situation because someone is angry at one)
In the limelight
In the nick of time
In the pink (the peak of health or an optimal state)
In the red
In the same boat
In the sticks
In your face
Including, but not limited to
Indian giver
Indian summer (a period of warm or mild weather in late autumn or early
winter)
Innocent until proven guilty
Inside out
For all intents and purposes
Is this a dagger which I see before me? (symbolizes the impending murder)
It ain't over till the fat lady sings
It came like a bolt from the blue
It's all grist to the mill (something that can be used for a particular
purpose)
It's better to give than to receive
It's not rocket science
Ivory tower (a state of privileged seclusion)
Jack of all trades, master of none
Jam tomorrow (an expression for a never-fulfilled promise)
Jerry built (badly or hastily built with materials of poor quality)
Jimmy Riddle (rhyming slang for going pee or having a piddle)
Joined at the hip
Jot or tittle (a very small amount)
A Journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step
Jump on the bandwagon
Jump the gun
Jump the shark
Jury is still out
Just deserts (the punishment that one deserves)
Just in time
In Kahoots / cahoots (a secret partnership)
Kangaroo court (an unofficial court held by a group of people in order to try
someone regarded, especially without good evidence, as guilty of a crime)
Keel over
Keen as mustard (very excited and interested)
Keep a stiff upper lip (staying resolute without giving way to emotion)
Keep at bay
Keep it under your hat (keep something a secret)
Keep schtum (To remain silent; to not say anything.)
Keep the ball rolling
Keep up with the Joneses
Keep your chin up
Keep your hands clean
Keep your distance
Keep your nose clean (you behave well and stay out of trouble)
Keep your nose to the grindstone
Keeping up with the Joneses (doing something in order to show that they have as
much money as other people)
Kick the bucket
Kick your heels (to waste time waiting for someone or something)
Alive and Kickin'
King's ransom (a huge amount of money)
Kiss and tell
The whole kit and caboodle
Knee-jerk reaction
Knick-knack
Knight in shining armour
Knock on wood (said after a confident or positive statement, to express a hope
for one's good luck to continue.)
Know which side your bread is buttered (to know how to act or how to treat
others in order to get what one wants)
Know which way the wind blows
Knuckle down (apply oneself seriously to a task)
Knuckle under (Give in, acknowledge defeat)
La-di-da
Labour of love
La dolce vita (a life of indolence and self-indulgence)
Laid out in lavender (The expression, mostly used in informal contexts, means
to criticise someone severely)
La-la land
Lamb to the slaughter
Land-lubber
The Land of nod
Lantern-jawed (having a long hollow jaw that gives the face a drawn
appearance.)
Lardy-dardy (excessive elegance)
Lark about (to behave in a silly and enjoyable way)
Last but not least
The Last straw
Laughing-stock
Rest on one's Laurels (be so satisfied with what one has already achieved that
one makes no further effort.)
Go over like a Lead balloon (be poorly received.)
Lead-pipe cinch (something very easy or certain ought to be a lead-pipe cinch to
find)
Learn the ropes
Left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing (organization where
different members are pursuing opposing or contradictory goals)
Left in the lurch (to leave (someone) without help or protection when it is
needed)
Legend in one's own lifetime (to be very famous while you are still
alive)
A Leopard cannot change its spots (people cannot change their basic
personalities, habits, etc)
Less is more
Let bygones be bygones
Let sleeping dogs lie (avoid interfering in a situation that is currently
causing no problems but might do so as a result of such interference)
Let the cat out of the bag
Let them eat cake
Let your hair down
Let's roll
Level playing field
Lickety-split
Lie low
Lies, damned lies and statistics
Life begins at forty
Life's not all beer and skittles
Life's too short
Like a chicken with its head cut off
Like a moth to a flame
Like the Dickens
Like two peas in a pod
A Little knowledge is a dangerous thing
Little pitchers have big ears (Children like to listen to adult conversations
and can understand a lot of what they hear)
Live long and prosper
Living daylights
Living off the fat of the land
Living on borrowed time
Lo and behold
Load of codswallop
Lock stock and barrel
Long in the tooth (alludes to a horse's gums receding with age and making the
teeth appear longer)
Look before you leap
Loose cannon
Loose lips sink ships
Lose your marbles
Love is blind
Lunatic fringe (an extreme or eccentric minority within society or a
group)
Mad as a hatter / Mad as a March hare
Make a bee-line for it
Make haste
Make hay while the sun shines
Make him an offer he can't refuse
Make my day
Make no bones about
Make your hair stand on end
Mal de mer (seasickness)
Man does not live by bread alone (human beings need more than the simple
necessities to keep them biologically alive)
Many a little makes a mickle (many small amounts accumulate to make a large
amount)
Many are called but few are chosen
Many happy returns
Marital aid (sex toy)
The real McCoy
Meet your Waterloo (to be defeated)
Memory lane
Men in suits
Mend fences
Menage a trois (three-way sex)
Method in my madness
Middle of the road
The pen is mightier than the sword
Mighty oaks grow from little acorns
Mind your Ps and Qs (mind your manners)
Mind's eye
Mint condition
Misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows (that interesting circumstances
can bring together people who otherwise have little in common.)
Miss is as good as a mile (he fact of failure or escape is not affected by the
narrowness of the margin.)
Montezuma's Revenge
Moot point
Morbid obesity
More bang for your buck
Morning person
Mother country
Motley crew (an unusual mixed group)
Mouth-watering
Movers and shakers
Moving the goalposts
Much ado about nothing
Your name is Mud (one is unpopular or perhaps in disgrace or embroiled in
scandal)
Mull (something) over
Mumbo jumbo
Murphy's Law
My better half
My cup of tea
My cup runneth over
My way or the highway
Nail your colours to the mast
Namby-pamby (lacking energy, strength, or courage; feeble or effeminate)
Near the knuckle (about sex and therefore likely to offend people)
Necessity is the mother of invention (when the need for something becomes
imperative, you are forced to find ways of getting or achieving it.)
Neither here nor there
Nest-egg
Never-never land
New kid on the block
In the nick of time
Night owl
Nip and tuck
Nip in the bud
Nitty-gritty
No-brainer
No dice
No holds barred
No laughing matter
No love lost
No man is an island (no one is truly self-sufficient, everyone must rely on the
company and comfort of others in order to thrive)
No rest for the wicked
No way, Jose
Nosy parker (a person who is too interested in what other people are
doing)
Not by a long chalk (not by any means)
Nothing is certain but death and taxes
Nothing ventured, nothing gained
Now is the winter of our discontent
Nth degree
Nul points (No points (as a score); zero, nothing.)
O ye, of little faith
Off the record
Off with his head
Old as the hills
Old soldiers never die, they simply fade away.
On a wing and a prayer
On cloud nine
On tenterhooks (n a state of suspense or agitation because of uncertainty about
a future event)
On the ball
On the button
On the shoulders of giants
Off the wagon
On the warpath
Once bitten, twice shy
Once in a blue moon
One-hit wonder
One for the road
One foot in the grave
One hand washes the other (mutual favors are exchanged)
One small step for man
One stop shop
Oops-a-daisy
Open season
Out of sight
Out of sight, out of mind
Out of the frying pan into the fire
Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings
Out on a limb
Over the moon
Over the top
Paddle your own canoe
Paint the town red (go out and enjoy oneself flamboyantly.)
Panic stations (a situation in which people feel worried and nervous because
things need to be done quickly)
Paper tiger (a person or thing that appears threatening but is
ineffectual.)
Pardon my French
Pass over to the other side
Pass the buck
Pearls before swine
Pecking order
Peeping Tom
Pell-mell (in a confused, rushed, or disorderly manner.)
Pennies from heaven (unexpected good luck or good fortune)
Penny dreadful (a cheap, sensational comic or storybook)
The penny drops (someone finally understands something after not understanding
it for a time)
Penny pinching
A Penny for your thoughts
A Penny saved is a penny earned
Peter out
Petty cash
A Picture is worth a thousand words
Picture-perfect
Pie in the sky
A Piece of cake
Pig in a poke (A pig in a poke is a thing that is bought without first being
inspected, and thus of unknown authenticity or quality)
Piggyback
Pigs might fly
Pipe down
A Pipe dream
Piping hot
Pitch black
Pitch dark
The Pits
A Place for everything and everything in its place
Play by ear
Play it again Sam
Play second fiddle
Play the race card
Pleased as Punch
Poetic justice
Point-and-click
Point-blank
Politically correct
Pony up
Pop goes the weasel
The Pot calling the kettle black
Pound of flesh (something one is strictly or legally entitled to, but which it
is ruthless or inhuman to demand.)
Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely
The Powers that be
Praying at the porcelain God
Preaching to the choir
A Pretty penny
Pride comes before a fall
Prime time
Proof is in the pudding
Pull out all the stops
Pull the wool over your eyes
Pull your horns in (to begin to behave in a more careful way)
Pull yourself up by your bootstraps
Pulling one's leg
Push the envelope
Put a damper on
Put a sock in it
Put on your thinking cap
Put the cart before the horse
Put up your dukes
Put your best foot forward
Quality time
Quantum leap
Quid pro quo (a favor or advantage granted or expected in return for
something)
Rabbit and pork (Cockney slang for Talk)
Rack and ruin
Rack your brains
Rag-and-bone (collects unwanted household items and sells them to
merchants)
Raining cats and dogs
Raining stair-rods
Raise Cain (to cause a commotion, to create a disturbance)
Rank and file (the ordinary members of an organization as opposed to its
leaders.)
Read between the lines
Red-letter day (a day that is pleasantly noteworthy or memorable.)
Red herring (something, especially a clue, that is or is intended to be
misleading or distracting)
Red in tooth and claw (involving savage or merciless conflict or
competition.)
Red tape
Religion is the opiate of the people
Revenge is a dish best served cold
Neither rhyme nor reason
A Riddle wrapped up in an enigma
Riding shotgun
Riff-raff
That Rings a bell
Ring down the curtain (mark the end of an enterprise or event.)
Rinky-dink
Rise and shine
The Road less travelled
Road rage
The Road to hell is paved with good intentions
Rough diamond (a person who is generally of good character but lacks manners,
education, or style)
Round Robin (a tournament in which each competitor plays in turn against every
other)
Rub of the green (something happening to a golf ball in play that affects its
course or status not caused by a player or caddie involved in the match.)
Rule of thumb
Run amok
Run of the mill
Run rings around
Run the gauntlet
Sacred cow
The Salt of the earth (a person or group of people of great kindness,
reliability, or honesty.)
Sandwich short of a picnic
Save face
Saved by the bell
Savoir faire (the ability to act or speak appropriately in social
situations.)
Say cheese
Scot-free (without suffering any punishment or injury.)
Second-guess
Security blanket
See a pin and pick it up, all the day you'll have good luck; see a pin and let
it lie, bad luck you'll have all day
Seek and you shall find
I've Seen better days
Send packing
Separate the sheep from the goats (to judge which people or things in a group
are bad and which ones are good)
Seven-year itch
The whole Shebang
Shaggy dog story
Shake a leg
Shakers and movers
Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
The Short end of the stick
The Shit end of the stick
Shit for brains
Shiver my timbers
The Shot heard 'round the world
Shot in the dark
Show your mettle
Shut your cake-hole
A Sight for sore eyes
Silence is golden
Silver bullet
Sitting pretty
Six ways to Sunday
Skeleton in the closet
Skid row
The sky's the limit
A Sledgehammer to crack a nut
Sleep like a dog
Sleep like a dead horse
Sleep tight
Slush fund
Smoke and mirrors
Sold down the river
Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue
Son of a bitch
Son of a gun
Sorry sight
Sour grapes
Space, the final frontier
Speak of the Devil
Speak softly and carry a big stick
Spick and span
Spill the beans
Spin doctor
Spitting image
Spring forward, fall back
Spruce-up
Square meal
Stand and deliver (to give up something to someone who demands it)
Stand up guy
Star-crossed lovers
Stark, raving mad
Start from scratch
Steal my thunder
Step up to the plate
Stick in the mud
Stick your oar in (informal disapproving. to say or do something that annoys
other people because they have not asked you to join their conversation or
activity)
Sticks and stones may break my bones
Stinking rich
A Stitch in time saves nine
Stone the crows (an exclamation of surprise or shock)
Straight from the horse's mouth
Strait-laced
Strait and narrow
Stranger danger
Stranger than fiction - Truth is
The Straw that broke the camel's back (the last in a series of bad things that
happen to make someone very upset, angry, etc.)
Strike while the iron is hot
Such is life
Surf and turf
Surfing the Net / Surfing the Web
Survival of the fittest
Suspension of disbelief
Swing the lead (to pretend to be ill and not do something you should be
doing)
The Tail wagging the dog (used to describe a situation in which an important or
powerful person, organization, etc., is being controlled by someone or
something that is much less important or powerful.)
Take a back seat
Take down a peg or two
Take the cake
Take with a grain of salt
Taken aback
Taken for a ride
Talk of the Devil
Talk the talk
Talk to the hand
Tall tale
There's no such thing as a free lunch
Technicolor yawn
Tell me about it
Tempest in a teapot (a great commotion over an unimportant matter.)
That's all folks!
That's one small step for a man, a giant leap for mankind
The apple of my eye
The balance of power
The best defense is a good offence
The best laid schemes of mice and men (every living thing, great or
small)
The Big Easy
The call of the wild
The camera cannot lie
The chickens come home to roost (the bad things that someone has done in the
past have come back to bite or haunt the individual)
The darkest hour is just before the dawn
The Devil Incarnate
The Devil is in the details
The elephant in the room (a major problem or controversial issue that is
obviously present but avoided as a subject for discussion because it is more
comfortable to do so.)
The emperor's new clothes (situation in which people believe or pretend to
believe in the worth or importance of something that is worthless)
The ends of the earth
The more the merrier
The shoemaker always wears the worst shoes (someone who is an expert in their
field will often not focus upon applying that expertise in order to meet his
own personal needs)
The toast of the town (A person, male or female, who is admired and very
popular in local society)
The third degree (long and harsh questioning, especially by police, to obtain
information or a confession)
The upper hand
The usual suspects
The writing is on the wall
The wrong side of the blanket (illegitimacy due to a child being born out of
wedlock or through an adulterous relationship)
There's more than one way to kill a cat
There's no place like home
There's one (a sucker) born every minute
Things that go bump in the night
Think outside the box
Through thick and thin
Throw the towel in
Throw your hat into the ring (to announce that one is going to try to win a
contest (such as an election) Yet another candidate has thrown his hat into the
ring.)
Thumbs up
Ticked off
Tickle the ivories
Tickled pink
Tie the knot
Till the cows come home
Tit for tat
To a T
To be or not to be, that is the question
To boldly go where no man has gone before
To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive
Toe the line (accept the authority, principles, or policies of a particular
group, especially under pressure.)
Toe-curling (makes you feel very embarrassed)
Toffee-nosed (pretentiously superior; snobbish.)
Tomorrow is another day
Tongue in cheek (in an ironic, flippant, or insincere way.)
Too big for your breeches
Too much of a good thing
Toodle-oo
Tooth and nail
Top dog
Top drawer
Top notch
Top shelf
Topsy-turvy
Touch and go
Touch wood (said after a confident or positive statement, to express a hope for
one's good luck to continue.)
Touchy-feely
Tout de suite (immediately; at once.)
Tower of strength (a person who can be relied upon to give a great deal of
support and comfort to others.)
Train surfing (train hopping or train hitching)
Trick or treat
True blue
Truth is stranger than fiction
Turn a blind eye
Turn of phrase
Turn the tables
Twenty three skidoo (leaving quickly, being forced)
Twenty four seven
Two cents worth
Two heads are better than one
Under my thumb
Under wraps
Heavy is the head that wears a crown
Up in arms
Up shit's creek without a paddle
Upper crust (the upper classes.)
Oopsie-daisy
Up the ante
Urban legend
Use your loaf (used to tell someone in a slightly angry way to think more
carefully about what they are doing.)
Vanish into thin air
Veg out
Vice versa
Vicious circle
Vis-a-vis (in relation to; with regard to.) (a face-to-face meeting.)
Vorsprung Durch Technik (progress through technology)
Walk free
Walk the walk
Walk the plank
Warts and all
Watch the birdie
Watching brief
Wear your heart on your sleeve
Weasel words
Wee-wee
Well read
Wet behind the ears (that they have only recently arrived in a new place or
job)
Wet blanket (a person who spoils other people's fun by failing to join in with
or by disapproving of their activities.)
What part of "no" don't you understand?
What the dickens
What you see is what you get
What's not to like?
What's up Doc?
When in Rome, do as the Romans do
When pigs fly
When the going gets tough, the tough get going
When the shit hits the fan
Which is which?
Whipper snapper
Whipping boy
Whistle blower
Whistle down the wind
White as snow
White bread
White elephant
Whole-hearted
Wild goose chase
Willy nilly
Win hands down
Wing it
At my Wit's end
Woe is me
Women and children first
Word for word
Wreak havoc
The Wrong end of the stick
Yada yada
Yellow-belly
Yellow Peril
You are what you eat
You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink
You can't have your cake and eat it too
You can't teach an old dog new tricks
Young man's fancy (light thoughts of romantic love.)
Young turk (an insurgent person trying to take control of a situation or
organization by force or political maneuver.)
You've never had it so good
Zero tolerance