English expressions used in everyday life
📱
Using expressions in a language shows that you have mastered that language. Here, we have 15 common English idioms to enrich your vocabulary and make you sound like a native when speaking English.
-
- ‘The best of both worlds’ – the best of two different opportunities at the same time. Ex.: “By working part-time and looking after her kids two days a week she managed to get the best of both worlds.” (Working part-time and babysitting twice a week, she managed to have the best of both worlds.)
Listen to the pronunciation:
https://englishlive.ef.com/pt-br/blog/wp-content/uploads/sites/16/2013/11/the-best-of-both-worlds.mp3
-
- ‘Speak of the devil’ – is the same as what we say in Portuguese, “to speak of the devil”. It means you are talking about someone and that person appears at that time. Ex.: “Hi Tom, speak of the devil, I was just telling Sara about your new car.” (Hi Tom! Speaking of the devil, I was telling Sara about her new car.)
Listen to the pronunciation:
https://englishlive.ef.com/pt-br/blog/wp-content/uploads/sites/16/2013/11/speak-of-the-devil.mp3
-
- ‘See eye to eye’ – agree with someone. Ex.: “They finally saw eye to eye on the business deal.” (They finally reached an agreement for the deal.)
Listen to the pronunciation:
https://englishlive.ef.com/pt-br/blog/wp-content/uploads/sites/16/2013/11/see-eye-to-eye.mp3
-
- ‘Once in a blue moon’ – something very rare. Ex.: “I only go to the cinema once in a blue moon.” (I go to the movies once in a while.)
Listen to the pronunciation:
https://englishlive.ef.com/pt-br/blog/wp-content/uploads/sites/16/2013/11/once-in-a-blue-moon.mp3
-
- ‘When pigs fly’ – something that will never happen. Ex.: “When pigs fly she’ll tidy up her room.” (On Saint Never’s Day, she’s going to tidy her room.)
Listen to the pronunciation:
https://englishlive.ef.com/pt-br/blog/wp-content/uploads/sites/16/2013/11/when-pigs-fly.mp3
-
- ‘To cost an arm and a leg’ – something very expensive, that costs an arm and a leg. Ex.: “Fuel these days costs an arm and a leg.” (Fuel lately costs an arm and a leg.)
Listen to the pronunciation:
https://englishlive.ef.com/pt-br/blog/wp-content/uploads/sites/16/2013/11/to-cost-an-arm-and-a-leg.mp3
-
- ‘A piece of cake’ – something very easy. Ex.: “The English test was a piece of cake.” (The English test was a breeze.)
Listen to the pronunciation:
https://englishlive.ef.com/pt-br/blog/wp-content/uploads/sites/16/2014/08/a-piece-of-cake.mp3
-
- ‘Let the cat out of the bag’ – accidentally reveal a secret, blurt it out. Ex.: “I let the cat out of the bag about their wedding plans.” (I let their wedding plans slip.)
Listen to the pronunciation:
https://englishlive.ef.com/pt-br/blog/wp-content/uploads/sites/16/2013/11/let-the-cat-out-of-the-bag.mp3
-
- ‘To feel under the weather’ – feel bad. Ex.: “I’m really feeling under the weather today; I have a terrible cold.” (I’m feeling bad today; I have a bad cold.)
Listen to the pronunciation:
https://englishlive.ef.com/pt-br/blog/wp-content/uploads/sites/16/2013/11/to-feel-under-the-weather.mp3
-
- ‘To kill two birds with one stone’ – solve two problems at the same time, kill two birds with one stone. Ex.: “By taking my dad on holiday, I killed two birds with one stone. I got to go away but also spend time with him.” (While going on vacation with my father, I killed two birds with one stone. I went out a bit and also spent time with him.)
Listen to the pronunciation:
https://englishlive.ef.com/pt-br/blog/wp-content/uploads/sites/16/2013/11/to-kill-two-birds-with-one-stone.mp3
-
- ‘To cut corners’ – do something poorly done, cheaply. Ex.: “They really cut corners when they built this bathroom; the shower is leaking.” (They really made this bathroom poorly; the shower leaks.)
Listen to the pronunciation:
https://englishlive.ef.com/pt-br/blog/wp-content/uploads/sites/16/2013/11/to-cut-corners.mp3
-
- ‘To add insult to injury’ – make something even worse. Ex.: “To add insult to injury, the car drove off without stopping after knocking me off my bike.” (To make matters worse, the car left without stopping after knocking me off my bike.)
Listen to the pronunciation:
https://englishlive.ef.com/pt-br/blog/wp-content/uploads/sites/16/2013/11/to-add-insult-to-injury.mp3
-
- ‘You can’t judge a book by its cover’ – can not judge by appearances. Ex.: “I thought this no-brand bread would be horrible; turns out you can’t judge a book by its cover.” (I thought this unmarked bread was horrible, it turns out you can’t judge by appearances.)
Listen to the pronunciation:
https://englishlive.ef.com/pt-br/blog/wp-content/uploads/sites/16/2013/11/you-cant-judge-a-book-by-its-cover.mp3
-
- ‘Break a leg’ – it’s the same in Portuguese, you say “break your leg” to wish you luck, especially before the person performs (especially among actors). Ex.: “Break a leg, Sam, I’m sure your performance will be great.” (Break your leg Sam, I’m sure your performance will be great.)
Listen to the pronunciation:
https://englishlive.ef.com/pt-br/blog/wp-content/uploads/sites/16/2013/11/break-a-leg-1.mp3
-
- ‘To hit the nail on the head’ – accurately describe what caused a problem, hit the nail on the head. Ex.: “He hit the nail on the head when he said this company needs more HR support.” (He nailed it when he said this company needs more support from HR.)
Listen to the pronunciation:
https://englishlive.ef.com/pt-br/blog/wp-content/uploads/sites/16/2013/11/to-hit-the-nail-on-the-head.mp3
Now, how about going beyond idioms? Let’s talk about…
Common everyday English expressions
Often, we worry about learning idioms, English words related to work or travel, and we forget words related to things we do in everyday life. We only pay attention when we try to talk about them in English. Check out some that will enrich your vocabulary below:
set the table
When we go to have breakfast, lunch, dinner or even a snack at home, we need to set the table, right? In English, the expression for “setting the table” is set the table, but we can also talk lay the table.
eat out
Generally, when we don’t want to cook or when we want to eat something specific, alone or with someone, we go to a restaurant. An English expression for situations where we eat out is eat out.
packed lunch
What is called a “pack box” here for us in the United States is packed lunch, which in a more literal translation would be “packaged lunch” – which makes sense as people there use paper bags to pack both snacks and lunches and grocery shopping. In England, however, people say bagging.
Keep an eye on
Self explanatory. An eye fixed on something or someone. is the famous keep an eye on. The same as watch closely (watch closely) or to monitor (to monitor). But remember: one eye only! 😀
long shot
Imagine a target and you in possession of a weapon. The target is too far away. What is your probability of hitting this shot (shot)? It’s low. the long shot it’s something you crave but with little chance of working.
running late
Different than “I’m barking“which just means “I’m late”, running late is an expression to say that someone is late, but that there is still a chance they will be on time.
let’s hope
In Portuguese, we use phrases like “I hope it doesn’t rain today” when we are hoping or hoping for something to happen or not. In English, in situations like this, we say Let’s hope…
hopefully
A frequent habit of Brazilians is to say “If God wills”. Is there a matching expression in English? Yes! In English, without the religious bias, we use hopefully.
make ends meet
When you work hard to make ends meet at the end of the month. You ends here would be your expenses and your earnings. If they meet (meet), phew, you spent another month without debt. But like that, right?
Go with the flow
go with the flow (flow). Whatever he is. It’s accepting what you have for today. It’s agreeing with what they’re saying, without too much questioning. It’s the “let life take me”.
call it a day
Your workday is over. Exhausted but satisfied, you look at everything you’ve done and think, “That was my day.” the idea of expression call it a day is this: my work is done (my work was done) or I’m finished (I finished). You can go home happy.
step up your game
Think of life as a video game. You need to complete the day’s mission, level up, level up. That is, raise a step (step) in this great game of life. step up your game is to do better what you do. Improve!
go the extra mile
You run a certain mileage a day. But, in this incessant game of life (see the expression above), it is always necessary to run a little more. One extra mile (extra mile) can mean the difference between succeed (succeed) or fail (fail). Make that extra effort.
Run out of
We usually go to the market when we need to buy things that have run out of stock at home, right? So, to say that something is over, we say I ran out of. If something isn’t over yet, but it’s about to end, we say then running out of. We can also understand this expression as “run out”.
Are you on Facebook, Whatsapp…?
In Portuguese, when we want to know if someone has a profile on any social network or application, we say “Do you have Facebook, Twitter, etc…?”. In English, it is not common to use the verb “to have” in this situation. Instead, we say “Are you on Facebook?”, “Are you on Instagram?”, as if we were asking if the person is part of the social network.
Do you want to know about any more idioms or expressions you use in your daily life? Leave a comment and we’ll help you!
How about checking other posts here on the blog? Look:
how to tell the time in english
Wanna, Gonna, Gotta: when to use each expression?
EF English Live
English Live is part of the Education First group and is the largest online English school in the world, created in 1996. There are more than 100,000 students in Brazil alone.
Check more articles in our categories Captions & Quotes & Luxe ou encore 90s Outfits.
Thanks for visiting we hope our article English expressions used in everyday life
, help us and share the article on Facebook, instagram and whatsapp with the hashtags ☑️ #English #expressions #everyday #life ☑️!
