IDIOMS An idiom is a phrase whose meaning cannot be interpreted literally. The group of words together has a completely different meaning than the individual words Why use idioms? For example: Boring It’s time to go to bed. Interesting It’s time to hit the sack. “That test sure was a piece of cake after I studied all day!” said May. Piece of cake Very easy I forgot my assignment. I guess it is time to tell the professor and face the music. Face the music If you have done something wrong, you have to face the music - this means you will have to face the consequences / scolding if you do something wrong. Jack wants to sign up for baseball, chess club, speech team, and the school newspaper for next year. His mother said, “Make sure you don’t bite off more than you can chew!” You don’t bite off more than you can chew! To try to do too much Paige complained to her mother that her science project would take her all weekend to finish. Her mother said, “Remember, Rome wasn’t built in a day." Rome wasn’t built in a day Some things take a lot of time Mr. Weasley told his students, “Keep your fingers crossed, and maybe we will win the inter-school competition” Keep your fingers crossed to hope for a good outcome for someone or something Tiffany worked against the clock to finish her art project in time for the art fair at school. Worked against the clock do it as fast as possible and try to finish it before a certain time. Dad had a hard time figuring out how to use his new smartphone. “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks,” he said after unsuccessfully trying to change his ring tone for 30 minutes. You can’t teach an old dog new tricks It is often difficult to get people to try new ways of doing things Joe and Madison both guessed the correct number of cookies in the teacher’s jar. Mrs. Patterson said, “Great minds think alike!” Great minds think alike! when two people have the same opinion or make the same choice. There's no way they'll be playing at the park, it's raining cats and dogs out there! It’s raining cats and dogs Raining heavily After spending hours trying to learn long division, Rob closed his math book with a sigh, and said, “It’s all Greek to me!” It’s all Greek to me! Difficult to understand Once in a blue moon, Betty’s dad takes her to a baseball game for a special treat. Once in a blue moon Very rare occurrence Before his big performance, Jessica told her brother, “Break a leg!” Break a leg To wish good luck While on vacation across the country, Austin and his family saw their neighbors. Austin’s dad said, “ Wow, it sure is a small world!” Small world meeting someone not expected to be at a certain place.
