Everyday English expressions and idioms / High Intermediate

Take a look at these ten well-known idioms. How many of them are you familiar with. Do you know what they mean?

1. Don't count your chickens before they’re hatched.
2. When in Rome do as the Romans do.
3. When the cat's away the mice will play.
4. The more the merrier.
5. Actions speak louder than words.
6. His bark is worse than his bite.
7. No news is good news.
8. Rome wasn't built in a day.
9. Don’t make a mountain out of a molehill.
10. Rather the devil you know.

Match the correct definition with each expression or idiom:

Do you have similar expressions in your language?

Today's lesson comes from Danica, EC Cape Town

Link: Running Vocabulary

• A) You have to adapt to the culture and accept the habits of the place where you are.
• B) It would be better and more fun if there are more people or things.
• C) What you do is more important than what you say.
• D) Don’t assume that something is successful before it is certain.
• E) When a superior is absent the subordinates do whatever they want.
• F) If there had been anything bad to report, you would’ve known of it by now.
• G) He is not as bad as he seems.
• H) It is better to stay in a difficult position when it is familiar than to change and find yourself in a new position that might be even worse.
• I) Don’t exaggerate.
• J) For something good to happen it requires patience.