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Idioms

Idiom of the day 'Like a red rag to a bull'

Average: 3.9 (10 votes)

like a red rag to a bull

Definition: Something that will cause an angry or violent reaction.

5 Money Idioms

Average: 3 (11 votes)

Money, like time, is something that we never seem to have enough of.

Here are five phrasal verbs we use to talk about spending money.

cough up

To pay for something or to send money on something especially when you don't want to.

"She's just coughed up £40 for a speeding fine."

Expression of the day: Neither here nor there

Average: 3.4 (21 votes)

This idiom is used at Upper Intermediate level.

When a fact or opinion is neither here nor there, it is not important.

Words that have the same meaning (synonyms) of neither here nor there are unimportant, inconsequential, irrelevant and immaterial.

'First' Idioms

Average: 3.1 (10 votes)

First things, first. Here are four idioms and natural English expressions which using the word first.

first among equals

A member of a group who has more power (or is more important) than the rest, even though officially the members are all on the same level. One person is higher than the rest when they should all be the same.

"The Pope is first among equals in the Roman Catholic Church."

Idiom of the day 'Heart into'

Average: 3.4 (17 votes)

Heart into

Today's cartoon is based on the idiom Put your heart into something:

When you put your heart into something you make a lot of effort to do something.
"He's the kind of person who puts his heart into his job."
"She wanted her company to be a success and really put her heart into it."

Everyday English expressions and idioms / High Intermediate

Average: 3.4 (41 votes)

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

Articles and idioms - Elementary

Average: 3.1 (10 votes)

Articles (the;an;a) can often cause a lot of frustration. See how spot-on you are by matching them to these everyday idioms.  How well do you know these idioms. Do you have the same ones in your language?

Only use a, an, the

Submitted by Jozua van der Lugt. Teacher at EC Cape Town English language school

Articles and idioms - Elementary

Average: 2.3 (4 votes)

Articles (the;an;a) can often cause a lot of frustration. See how spot-on you are by matching them to these everyday idioms.  How well do you know these idioms. Do you have the same ones in your language?
Links: Submitted by Jozua van der Lugt. Teacher at EC Cape Town.

Animal Expressions - Elementary/Pre-Intermediate

Average: 3.6 (8 votes)

We sometimes use animals to describe people or things. Choose the correct animal to complete these comparisons. Do you have similar expressions in your country?

 Today's lesson is from Nasreen Narkedien, EC Cape Town English language school.

Link: 10 Animal Idioms

Christmas Expressions

Average: 3.5 (10 votes)

Here are fours festive expressions related to Christmas. Ho, ho, ho!


like turkeys voting for (an early) Christmas

If people are like turkeys (the large bird eaten at Christmas) voting for Christmas, they choose to accept a situation which will have very bad results for them.

"Oil companies asking their customers to use less oil is like turkeys voting for Christmas."