Category: Idioms

Are you talking to your son about who broke the window with the baseball? If he starts lying to you and placing the blame with others, you'll probably catch on to the fact that he's not telling the truth. If that's the case, you could say to him, "the truth will out." You'll be referring […]

Are you looking at a colleague at the office going "crazy" after the boss let them go? If they are having a Jerry Maguire moment, you can say they have "bats in the belfry" regarding their behavior. This post unpacks everything you need to know about this idiom, its origin, and how to use it […]

Do you have an "inquiring mind?" The chances are that if you walked past a newsstand in the 70s and 80s, you would see a copy of the tabloid paper, "Enquiring Minds." Over the following decades, people would replace the phrase with the alternative spelling of the word, resulting in "Inquiring minds" as an expression. […]

Are you thinking about taking out a second credit card to pay off the first one's balance? If so, you're "robbing Peter to pay Paul." This idiom describes shifting your debts from one person to another or one entity to another to settle your finances. The saying defines idiotic behavior, and most people use it […]

Are you planning on going on vacation? If you're stacking piles of luggage into the car to prepare for any scenario, you're taking the entire "kit and caboodle" with you. Kit and kaboodle isn't a very popular phrase, but it still has plenty of use cases in today's society. For instance, the pet food brand […]

Are you looking for a way to present new evidence? "In light of" is an idiom referencing consideration of new information to a conversation, task, process, or something similar. In light of can refer to taking something into consideration, or looking at the relationship between different data sets. The phrase is in use in modern […]

Is someone presenting a civil argument to you, and you disagree with them? Rather than getting heated, you could simply present your counter-argument by stating, "I beg to differ." I beg to differ is a polite way to offer your counter-point without raising the intensity around the situation that might result in a heated argument. […]

Are you feeling tired? Maybe it’s time to “hit the hay” and go to bed? To hit the hay is a common term used in modern society, and the chances are you use it yourself from time to time or hear other people say it around you. The term suits informal use, and many people […]

Are you doing financially well in life? If you're a salesperson or business owner making large amounts of money quickly, you're doing so, "hand over fist." The idiom is suitable for formal and informal use, describing someone or a company doing well and reaping financial rewards. Hand over fist is a common term used in […]

Are you involved in a confusing situation with a possible dire outcome? If that's the case, you're “goat roping” yourself towards disaster. "Goat roping" is a slang term typically used in military and tactical situations to describe setting yourself up for failure. You can goat rope yourself or others, and you can also use it […]