American Idioms

Idiom of the day :- Underdog

Usage, examples and definition of the Idiom :-

Someone who is almost certain to fail / lose a competition / argument / war etc A : Kevin Klumsy is the British entry at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships this year. He’ll be the underdog as usual. B : Why do you say that ? He might win ! A : Well, for a start he’s very shortsighted and has a wooden leg ! An underdog can be a person, animal or country. A common way of using it is in the expression support the underdog. One theory about its origin is that it came from the time when dogfighting was popular. The dog who was strongest was called the top dog ( which can be used of people today ) and the animal who was more likely to lose was called the under dog.

Idiom of the day :- big mouth / (To have a) big mouth

Usage, examples and definition of the Idiom :-

To not be able to keep a secret. ex. “Don’t tell her anything. She’s got a really big mouth.” 

Idiom of the day :- drop it / (To) drop it

Usage, examples and definition of the Idiom :-

To stop talking about something. ex. “I told you to drop it! I don’t want to talk about it.” 

Idiom of the day :- by the book / (To do something) by the book

Usage, examples and definition of the Idiom :-

To do something legally, without breaking any laws. ex. “The new sheriff made sure that everything was done by the book.” 

Idiom of the day :- Marry beneath oneself

Usage, examples and definition of the Idiom :-

To some people the social position of the person they marry is very important consideration. ‘People who believe in that kind of nonsense almost never marry beneath themselves, do they Myrtle ?’ ‘No,’ Myrtle answered ‘ because marrying beneath oneself means to marry a person of a lower social class than the one — real or imagined — they belong to.’

Idiom of the day :- Knock on wood

Usage, examples and definition of the Idiom :-

A phrase said to cancel out (imaginary) bad luck. *Touch wood* is also used in some parts of the English-speaking world.  Knuckle tapping on wood in order to avoid some bad luck.

Idiom of the day :- get a move on / (To) get a move on

Usage, examples and definition of the Idiom :-

To go or do something quickly, to get going, etc. ex. “Hey if we want to make the 8:00 PM show we should get a move on.” 

Idiom of the day :- Not much of

Usage, examples and definition of the Idiom :-

Pretty bad. exex. “He has saved up quite a nest egg. Pretty soon he’ll be able to retire.” 

Idiom of the day :- Crocodile tears

Usage, examples and definition of the Idiom :-

Some say that crocodiles shed tears when eating their prey. This has led to the belief that they pretend to be unhappy about eating their victims. From that, when people have crocodile tears they are only pretending to be sad. ‘The students wept crocodile tears when told that examinations had been canceled.

Idiom of the day :- A road hog

Usage, examples and definition of the Idiom :-

Drivers of automobiles who selfishly take up more space than necessary on roads and refuse to allow other drivers room to pass are road hogs. ‘Mr. Wilson should never be allowed to drive a car. He’s a terrible road hog who seems to think he’s driving the only car on the road.’