Helping English language learners
When we say that you can’t make an omelette without breaking eggs we mean that it’s impossible to do something good without damaging something else. It’s an idiom that we often use – sometimes...
We say that someone has a bee in their bonnet when they can’t stop talking or thinking about something. This might be because they are worried or angry about it. Or it might be...
“To put one’s foot in it” is an idiom. We use it to talk about someone saying something embarrassing without meaning to do so. If I say “I put my foot in it”, I...
When we say that something is mind-boggling, we mean that it is so large, complicated or extreme that it is very surprising and difficult to understand or imagine. For example: We often use the...
As a noun, “a joke” is something that is said to make people laugh. And as a verb, “to joke” is to say something to make people laugh. Some examples: (In English there is...
When you say “my foot!” you are telling someone that you don’t believe – or strongly disagree with – what someone has told you. It is an idiom used to express disbelief or incredulity....
You probably know that a budget is a sort of plan for your money. When you make a budget, you decide how much money to allocate to different sorts of expenses such as food,...
The idiom “everything but the kitchen sink” means “almost everything”. To help understand the phrase, imagine you are moving home. You want to take everything with you, but some things are fixed and can’t...
“To bowl over” is a phrasal verb with two main meanings. The first meaning of “to bowl over” is to knock someone or something to the ground. Examples: Because she wasn’t looking where she...
“Well-heeled” is an idiom that is used to describe someone who has plenty of money. It probably originates from the idea that only someone with enough money could afford to have their shoes repaired...