English Idioms

When things are "coming to a head," a confrontation or point of crisis is being reached , usually after a long period of build-up....

Turkey is a traditional Christmas holiday meal in the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States. No one asks turkey birds themselves whe...

In journalism, a sound bite is a short clip of audio from an event that is the subject of a news report. A bite is, idiomatically, a small ...

The adjective "draconian" is an idiom for particularly harsh laws . It is a reference to Draco , the legislator (in this instance...

The "brunt" of an impact or blow is the principle or main part of it; most of the force and damage of a blow or attack. To "b...

Drawn from baseball, "to strike out" is to completely fail at something, including missing an opportunity for success.  It is freq...

The idiomatic expression "taking it on the chin" refers to a bar brawl or other forms of fist-fighting, where being hit by a punch...

A paper tiger is an expression drawn from a Chinese saying. A paper tiger may pose in a threatening way, but it is actually completely harm...

A slash is a swift, violent cut. As a result of being swift and violent, the wound created by a slash is longer and deeper than a shallow su...

To cut a budget  means to eliminate  (cut) spending from a budget.  The items being eliminated are "cut out" of the budget. Exam...

In politics, and sometimes business, someone in a powerful position who everyone knows will be leaving office at a particular time, but who ...

Physically twisting someone's arm can be used as a means of intimidation or coercion. Due to this, figurative arm-twisting  is a term us...

To slog one's way (or variations thereof) means to make difficult progress forward against significant resistance. To use this as an idi...

If someone has been won over , that person has been convinced . In negotiations, someone who has been won over has been convinced to appro...

In food, a sweetener  is something added to food to make it sweeter, like sugar or a sugar substitute. In politics and business, a sweetener...

When used as an adjective, last-minute  suggests occurring at the last minute,  an expression for occurring very near to a deadline; very la...

When applied to politics, we speak of something propelled by X  when we mean, something pushed forward by X . Synonyms:   driven by  and  dr...

The Odyssey  was one of Western civilization's first masterpieces of literature, composed by Homer, about the ten year voyage of Odysse...

A voice in the wilderness  is someone who expresses an unpopular opinion. Example: "For years, she was a voice in the wilderness ab...

American politics uses "the wilderness" as a Biblical reference. Someone who is in the wilderness  is an outcast, a nomad, someon...