Common Idioms

to form an opinion about someone/something based on appearance alone

(don't/never) judge a book by its cover

The hotel looked attractive from the outside, but the rooms were small and smelled really bad. You can’t judge a book by its cover!

drive (somebody) up the wall

People talking loudly on the phone drive me up the wall.

such a pain

Trying to find a parking space here is such a pain.

cost an arm and a leg

My new laptop cost an arm and a leg.

used to say when something is extremely beautiful

take your breath away 

Sunsets at the beach take my breath away.

over the moon

If I could speak English really well, I would be over the moon.

used to say when something is very easy to do

a piece of cake 

For me, maths is a piece of cake.

out of this world

This cheesecake is out of this world. It's so delicious.

break the ice

Someone suggested we play a party game to break the ice.

on cloud nine

William has just heard that he has passed all his exams. He is on cloud nine!

down in the dumps

Jenny is down in the dumps. Has something bad happened?

have a heart of gold 

Kate can be a pain sometimes, but she's got a heart of gold.

a bit under the weather

I'm a bit under the weather, so I don't think I will join you this evening.

get the wrong end of the stick 

Oh, so you did get the job. I got the wrong end of the stick. I thought you didn't get it.

to get on someone's nerves

For goodness sake! Can you please stop complaining?! You are getting on my nerves!

pay over the odds

This isn't such a great tablet, and it was really expensive. I think I paid over the odds for it.