Popular Idioms

Latest Popular Idioms

An idiom is an expression or phrase that cannot be semantically expressed by looking at its individual words. It is a brief collection of words with a figurative non-literal meaning. Idioms bring language to life by adding a colourful flavour to common speech.

Carefully crafted idioms invoke imaginative interest in a sentence. Through rendering pictorial language to the reader it conjures a vividly visual association in their minds eye, a graphic metaphor can instantly be imagined.

An idiomatic phrase breaks down an idea or notion to a brevity of understanding in a few words. It conveys a particular perception that is universal to the language of the idiom.

Popular Idioms With Meaning And Origins

For derived meaning, idioms come in two categories; transparent and opaque. A transparent idiom is a phrase that is self evident and requires no explanation. Finding the meaning of an opaque idiom can be more challenging due to its cryptic use of words or its use from a bygone era fails to carry its originally intended meaning.

The history of the word idiom dates back to ancient Greece where the word idioma meant a peculiarity in phrase of language.

The meaning of some idioms has changed through the centuries which adds a dimension of interest and understanding of its abstract form. Where possible we will trace the history and explain its origins.

Here is our selection of popular idioms, we hope you enjoy them and if you do then don't forget to share. Loving idioms is appreciating the language of brevity. Giving meaning to expression adds to the tapestry of literature and when shared it spreads its inspiration for the betterment of all who read.


Michael Joseph Farrelly Written By:


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Random Idiom Quote

"The great enemy of clear language is insincerity. When there is a gap between one's real and one's declared aims, one turns, as it were, instinctively to long words and exhausted idioms, like a cuttlefish squirting out ink" - George Orwell