Virtuous English AcademyIdioms & Sayings — C1 English Vocabulary
This C1 vocabulary list gathers 60 advanced English words about idioms & sayings — everyday english you can’t translate word for word. Every word comes with a simple definition, its British-English pronunciation and a natural example sentence, so you learn each one in real context. When you are ready, open the flashcards to practise and remember them for good.
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break the ice/ˌbreɪk ðə ˈaɪs/
To make people feel more relaxed in a new situation.
“A good host knows how to break the ice.”
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piece of cake/ˌpiːs əv ˈkeɪk/
Something very easy to do.
“For her, the test was a piece of cake.”
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once in a blue moon/ˌwʌns ɪn ə bluː ˈmuːn/
Very rarely.
“We see them once in a blue moon.”
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hit the nail on the head/ˌhɪt ðə ˈneɪl/
To describe exactly what is causing a problem.
“Your comment really hit the nail on the head.”
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cost an arm and a leg/ˌkɒst ən ˈɑːm/
To be very expensive.
“Tickets these days cost an arm and a leg.”
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under the weather/ˌʌn.də ðə ˈweð.ə/
Feeling slightly ill.
“I am feeling under the weather today.”
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bite the bullet/ˌbaɪt ðə ˈbʊl.ɪt/
To force yourself to do something difficult.
“Sometimes you just have to bite the bullet.”
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the ball is in your court/ðə ˈbɔːl/
It is your turn to take action.
“I have done my part; the ball is in your court.”
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burn the midnight oil/ˌbɜːn ðə ˌmɪd.naɪt ˈɔɪl/
To work late into the night.
“Students often burn the midnight oil before exams.”
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cut corners/ˌkʌt ˈkɔː.nəz/
To do something cheaply or quickly, ignoring quality.
“Never cut corners on safety.”
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on the same page/ɒn ðə ˌseɪm ˈpeɪdʒ/
In agreement and understanding each other.
“Let us make sure we are on the same page.”
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spill the beans/ˌspɪl ðə ˈbiːnz/
To reveal a secret.
“Come on, spill the beans!”
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a blessing in disguise/ə ˌbles.ɪŋ ɪn dɪsˈɡaɪz/
Something bad that turns out to be good.
“Losing that job was a blessing in disguise.”
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the last straw/ðə ˌlɑːst ˈstrɔː/
The final problem that makes a situation unbearable.
“That comment was the last straw.”
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back to the drawing board/ˌbæk tə ðə ˈdrɔː.ɪŋ ˌbɔːd/
To start again after a failed attempt.
“The plan failed, so it is back to the drawing board.”
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beat around the bush/ˌbiːt əˌraʊnd ðə ˈbʊʃ/
To avoid saying something directly.
“Stop trying to beat around the bush.”
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call it a day/ˌkɔːl ɪt ə ˈdeɪ/
To stop working on something for now.
“We worked hard, so let us call it a day.”
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get out of hand/ˌɡet ˌaʊt əv ˈhænd/
To become impossible to control.
“The party began to get out of hand.”
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a hot potato/ə ˌhɒt pəˈteɪ.təʊ/
A controversial issue people avoid dealing with.
“Immigration is a hot potato right now.”
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miss the boat/ˌmɪs ðə ˈbəʊt/
To miss a chance by being too slow.
“Buy now, or you will miss the boat.”
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on cloud nine/ɒn ˌklaʊd ˈnaɪn/
Extremely happy.
“She was on cloud nine after the wedding.”
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the tip of the iceberg/ðə ˌtɪp əv ðə ˈaɪs.bɜːɡ/
A small sign of a much bigger problem.
“These complaints are just the tip of the iceberg.”
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throw in the towel/ˌθrəʊ ɪn ðə ˈtaʊ.əl/
To give up.
“Do not throw in the towel just yet.”
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a piece of the pie/ə ˌpiːs əv ðə ˈpaɪ/
A share of something, such as profit.
“Everyone wants a piece of the pie.”
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by the skin of your teeth/baɪ ðə ˌskɪn/
Only just; barely succeeding.
“You only passed by the skin of your teeth.”
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once bitten, twice shy/ˌwʌns ˈbɪt.ən/
Being cautious after a bad experience.
“He won’t try again — once bitten, twice shy.”
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the best of both worlds/ðə ˌbest əv bəʊθ ˈwɜːldz/
The benefits of two different things at once.
“Working from home gives the best of both worlds.”
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add fuel to the fire/ˌæd ˈfjuː.əl/
To make a bad situation worse.
“Do not add fuel to the fire.”
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a storm in a teacup/ə ˌstɔːm ɪn ə ˈtiː.kʌp/
A lot of anger about an unimportant matter.
“It was all a storm in a teacup.”
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the elephant in the room/ði ˈel.ɪ.fənt/
An obvious problem no one wants to discuss.
“Nobody mentioned the elephant in the room.”
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a wild goose chase/ə ˌwaɪld ˈɡuːs ˌtʃeɪs/
A hopeless search for something.
“The clue sent us on a wild goose chase.”
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in the same boat/ɪn ðə ˌseɪm ˈbəʊt/
In the same difficult situation as others.
“We are all in the same boat here.”
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steal someone’s thunder/ˌstiːl ˈθʌn.də/
To take credit for another person's idea.
“Try not to steal someone’s thunder.”
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the whole nine yards/ðə ˌhəʊl naɪn ˈjɑːdz/
Everything; the full amount.
“They gave us the whole nine yards.”
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a penny for your thoughts/ə ˌpen.i/
A way of asking what someone is thinking.
“You look quiet — a penny for your thoughts?”
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actions speak louder than words/ˈæk.ʃənz spiːk/
What you do matters more than what you say.
“Remember, actions speak louder than words.”
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the early bird catches the worm/ði ˈɜː.li bɜːd/
Those who act first gain an advantage.
“Get up early; the early bird catches the worm.”
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count your chickens/ˌkaʊnt jɔː ˈtʃɪk.ɪnz/
To assume success before it happens.
“Do not count your chickens before they hatch.”
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every cloud has a silver lining/ˌev.ri ˈklaʊd/
Every bad situation has a good side.
“Cheer up — every cloud has a silver lining.”
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kill two birds with one stone/ˌkɪl tuː ˈbɜːdz/
To solve two problems with one action.
“I can kill two birds with one stone.”
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let sleeping dogs lie/ˌlet ˌsliː.pɪŋ ˈdɒɡz/
To avoid stirring up an old problem.
“It is best to let sleeping dogs lie.”
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the grass is always greener/ðə ˈɡrɑːs/
Others' situations always seem better.
“Remember, the grass is always greener.”
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when pigs fly/wen ˈpɪɡz flaɪ/
Something that will never happen.
“He will apologise when pigs fly.”
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a chip on your shoulder/ə ˈtʃɪp/
A lasting feeling of resentment.
“Do not carry a chip on your shoulder.”
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burn bridges/ˌbɜːn ˈbrɪdʒ.ɪz/
To destroy relationships you may later need.
“Never burn bridges with old employers.”
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the bigger picture/ðə ˌbɪɡ.ə ˈpɪk.tʃə/
The most important overall view of a situation.
“Try to see the bigger picture.”
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read between the lines/ˌriːd bɪˌtwiːn ðə ˈlaɪnz/
To understand a hidden meaning.
“You have to read between the lines.”
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a double-edged sword/ə ˌdʌb.əl edʒd ˈsɔːd/
Something with both good and bad effects.
“Fame is a double-edged sword.”
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jump on the bandwagon/ˌdʒʌmp ɒn ðə ˈbænd.wæɡ.ən/
To join something because it is popular.
“Everyone wants to jump on the bandwagon.”
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the bottom line/ðə ˌbɒt.əm ˈlaɪn/
The most important fact or final result.
“The bottom line is that we need money.”
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face the music/ˌfeɪs ðə ˈmjuː.zɪk/
To accept the unpleasant results of your actions.
“It is time to face the music.”
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go the extra mile/ˌɡəʊ ði ˌek.strə ˈmaɪl/
To make more effort than is expected.
“We must go the extra mile for clients.”
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a needle in a haystack/ə ˌniː.dəl/
Something almost impossible to find.
“Finding it was like a needle in a haystack.”
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the calm before the storm/ðə ˈkɑːm/
A quiet period before trouble.
“It felt like the calm before the storm.”
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put all your eggs in one basket/ˌpʊt ˈeɡz/
To risk everything on one thing.
“Do not put all your eggs in one basket.”
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a slap on the wrist/ə ˌslæp ɒn ðə ˈrɪst/
A very mild punishment.
“He only got a slap on the wrist.”
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off the top of my head/ˌɒf ðə ˈtɒp/
From memory, without checking.
“Off the top of my head, I cannot say.”
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sit on the fence/ˌsɪt ɒn ðə ˈfens/
To avoid choosing between two sides.
“You cannot sit on the fence forever.”
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the icing on the cake/ði ˈaɪ.sɪŋ/
An extra good thing that improves something.
“The award was the icing on the cake.”
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a drop in the ocean/ə ˌdrɒp ɪn ði ˈəʊ.ʃən/
A very small amount compared to what is needed.
“My donation is a drop in the ocean.”
Using idioms & sayings words in English
Idioms are the part of English where grammar stops helping you. Their meaning cannot be worked out from the words, and — just as importantly — their words cannot be changed. You spill the beans; you do not spill beans or spill the peas. This page is about how fixed they are, which register they belong to, and when a C1 learner is better off not using one at all.
What to watch out for
Idioms are fixed in wording and in grammar
The article, the number and the preposition are all part of the idiom: it is hit the nail on the head, never hit a nail or hit the nails. Most also resist the passive and resist modification — the beans were spilled works because that idiom is unusually flexible, but a very blue moon does not. Learn each one as a single lexical item, exactly as you would learn a word.
A few slots do move
The possessive in the ball is in your court changes with the person: the ball is in their court now. Tense moves freely: we burned the midnight oil. And cut corners takes an ordinary object position. The reliable rule is that grammatical words tied to the speaker — pronouns, possessives, tense — can change, while the lexical core cannot.
Register, and when not to use one
Cut corners, on the same page and the ball is in your court are neutral enough for a work email. Spill the beans, a piece of cake and under the weather are conversational. None belongs in academic writing, where an examiner will read an idiom as informality rather than as range. The place they genuinely pay off is speaking, where they signal fluency.
Words learners mix up
Two things trip learners up here: this list contains three different kinds of fixed expression that behave differently in a sentence, and several idioms sit close enough in meaning to be swapped by mistake. Both are worth sorting before you use any of them.
Idiom, proverb, or something in between?
| Word | What it actually means | In a sentence |
|---|---|---|
| spill the beans | An idiom. A phrase that slots into a sentence and takes tense and subject from it. Not a complete thought on its own. | Somebody spilled the beans before the announcement. |
| actions speak louder than words | A proverb. A complete sentence offering general advice. It is quoted whole and never conjugated. | I would wait and see — actions speak louder than words. |
| every cloud has a silver lining | Also a proverb, and one used to console. Often shortened in speech to just every cloud…, with the rest understood. | You will find something better. Every cloud has a silver lining. |
| a hot potato | A noun phrase idiom. Functions as a noun, so it needs a verb around it — it cannot stand alone. | Funding has become a hot potato for the council. |
The practical consequence is grammatical. You can say he was spilling the beans, because that is a verb phrase; you cannot say he was actions speaking louder than words. Proverbs are quoted, idioms are used — and in a speaking exam, a proverb dropped in whole can sound rehearsed where an idiom woven into your own sentence sounds fluent.
Four idioms about what is not being said
| Word | What it actually means | In a sentence |
|---|---|---|
| the elephant in the room | An obvious, serious problem that everybody present is deliberately avoiding. | Nobody mentioned the deficit — the elephant in the room. |
| the tip of the iceberg | The small visible part of a much larger problem. About scale, not avoidance. | These complaints are only the tip of the iceberg. |
| read between the lines | To work out a meaning the speaker implied but did not state. An instruction to the listener. | Read between the lines and the answer is no. |
| the bigger picture | The wider context that detail obscures. Usually paired with see or lose sight of. | We are arguing about wording and losing the bigger picture. |
These get swapped constantly. The elephant is being *ignored*; the iceberg is *larger than it looks*; reading between the lines is something *you* do; the bigger picture is what you *stopped* looking at. Only the first two are about concealment at all.
Facing something, or getting out of it
| Word | What it actually means | In a sentence |
|---|---|---|
| bite the bullet | To accept something unpleasant you have been putting off, and get on with it. | We had to bite the bullet and replace the roof. |
| face the music | To accept the consequences of something you already did. Backward-looking, where biting the bullet looks forward. | He returned to face the music. |
| throw in the towel | To give up entirely. From a boxing corner conceding the fight. | After three rejections she threw in the towel. |
| sit on the fence | To avoid committing to either side. Criticism — nobody says it approvingly. | The report sits on the fence throughout. |
The distinction between the first two is timing: you bite the bullet before the difficulty and face the music after the mistake. Go the extra mile is the opposite pole from throw in the towel, and cut corners the opposite of doing it properly.
Collocations that sound natural
Idioms are fixed, but the words around them are surprisingly predictable too — the verb that introduces them and the shape they take in a real sentence. These are the frames native speakers actually use.
break the ice
help to break the iceto break the icean icebreaker
Normally in the infinitive after a purpose verb. The related noun icebreaker is one word and means the activity itself.
cut corners
cut corners onno corners were cutcut corners to save time
Unusually flexible: it takes on plus the thing skimped, and it passivises, which most idioms will not do.
the bottom line
the bottom line is thatthe bottom line hereaffect the bottom line
Two lives: the literal financial sense — a company’s profit — and the conversational the bottom line is that…, meaning the point that matters most.
jump on the bandwagon
jump on the bandwagonclimb on the bandwagonthe bandwagon effect
Always disapproving — it accuses somebody of joining only once success was obvious.
off the top of my head
off the top of my headnot off the top of my head
Fixed to the first person and used as a hedge before an approximate answer: off the top of my head, about forty.
the last straw
it was the last strawthe last straw forthe final straw
From the proverb about the straw that broke the camel’s back. The final straw is an equally standard variant — one of the few idioms with a genuine alternative.
Formal, neutral or informal?
The single most useful thing on this page is knowing where each idiom is safe. Some are neutral enough for a client email, some will make you sound like a management seminar, and a few are dated enough to place your English in a previous decade.
- on the same pageBusiness clichéFine in speech and email, but so overused in workplace English that it now signals corporate register rather than clarity. The same applies to the bigger picture and going forward.
- a storm in a teacupBritishA fuss about something trivial. American English says a tempest in a teapot, so this one identifies your variety of English immediately.
- the whole nine yardsAmericanMeaning everything, the full extent. Understood in Britain but not native to it, and its origin is genuinely unknown despite many confident explanations.
- when pigs flyInformal · jokeyA dismissive way of saying never. Light and slightly childish, so it works in conversation among friends and nowhere near a professional context.
- a penny for your thoughtsDatedAn invitation to say what someone is thinking. Still understood, but it now sounds old-fashioned, and a learner using it will often be heard as quoting a phrasebook.
- the early bird catches the wormProverb · preachyProverbs give advice, so delivering one to a person about their own situation can sound moralising. Safer as a comment on a general truth than as counsel to someone in the room.
- under the weatherInformal · BritishA mild, polite way of saying unwell. Perfect for texting a colleague, wrong for a medical form, where the word is simply ill.
- burn bridgesNeutral · workplaceTo destroy a relationship so it cannot be repaired, usually on leaving. Neutral enough for professional advice — try not to burn bridges — and one of the more useful idioms to actually produce.
Sentences to try
Four idioms in natural contexts. Say each one and resist the urge to change a single word.
- A quick game at the start will help to break the ice.
- We are all on the same page about the deadline.
- The contractor clearly cut corners on the wiring.
- Losing the contract was the last straw.
Questions about idioms & sayings vocabulary
Can I change the words in an English idiom?
Almost never. The lexical core of an idiom is fixed, so hit the nail on the head cannot become hit the nail on the top, and once in a blue moon cannot become once in a green moon without sounding like an error rather than a joke. What can change is the grammar that ties the phrase to its speaker: tense, and pronouns or possessives where the idiom contains one — the ball is in her court, we burned the midnight oil. Treat the rest as one unbreakable word.
Should I use idioms in an English exam essay?
Generally not. Written exams reward range and precision, and most idioms are conversational, so an examiner is more likely to mark one as inappropriate register than as evidence of sophistication. The exception is speaking tests, where a well-placed idiom sounds natural and fluent. In academic writing the safer way to show range is precise, less common single words and controlled complex sentences. If you do use an idiom in writing, choose a neutral one such as cut corners rather than a piece of cake.
How do I learn idioms so they actually stick?
Learn them in situations rather than in alphabetical lists, because an idiom without a context is nearly impossible to retrieve. Attach each one to a specific scene you can picture — a meeting where somebody said the ball is in your court — and record the whole sentence, not the phrase alone. It also helps to note the register beside it, since knowing that under the weather is casual is as much a part of knowing the idiom as knowing it means unwell.