RLE Daily Expressions

Here you can check out all the expressions that go with our podcasts!

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Expressions related to TURN (with images AND examples)

  • Turn a blind eye – to ignore something and pretend you do not see it.
  • Head turner – something that attracts a lot of attention from passing strangers. Generally used for beautiful women.
  • Turn of events – something you hadn’t expected that can change your plans.
  • To turn over a new leaf – to forget your old ways and start new and fresh. Have a new beginning.
  • The tables have turned – to cause a reversal in someone’s plans; to change a situation so that someone’s position is the opposite of what it was.

Expressions related to BREAK (with images AND examples)

  • To break your back – to use more energy than necessary to do something (often + doing something).
  • To break something in – to use a new device until it runs well and smoothly; to wear shoes, perhaps a little at a time, until they feel comfortable.
  • To break the news to someone – to tell someone important news, usually bad news.
  • To break new ground – to begin to do something that no one else has done; to pioneer; discover new information about a subject.
  • Break a leg – to wish someone good luck before an important event.

Expressions related to EAT (with images AND examples)

  • As cool as a cucumber – to be very calm and relaxed.
  • To eat it up – (literal) to finish all the food on your plate; (figurative) to enjoy and absorb new information.
  • To eat your own words – to later admit that something you said was wrong – often with a feeling of shame or embarrassment.
  • To eat out of (someone’s) hand – to do everything that someone wants so that person likes you more.
  • You can’t have your cake and eat it too – used for expressing the impossibility of having something both ways, if those two ways conflict.

Expressions related to ANIMALS (with images AND examples)

  • Until the cows come home – until very late; for a very long time.
  • To smell a rat – to begin to suspect that someone is trying to trick or betray you.
  • A wolf in sheep’s clothing – a person who pretends to be good but actually has bad intentions.
  • I’m so hungry I could eat a horse – to say you are extremely hungry.
  • You can’t teach an old dog new tricks – it’s difficult or impossible to change old habits.

Expressions related to WORK (with images AND examples)

  • To throw a spanner into the works – to cause a disturbance in something that seems clear and understandable.
  • Dirty work – an activity or task that is unpleasant or dishonest and given to someone else to do.
  • All in a days work – to say that the subject you are talking about is a normal, habitual thing for you. Nothing special.
  • To work it out – to find a solution to a problem. To resolve.
  • Don’t give up your day job – to suggest that someone isn’t good at what they are doing (you shouldn’t quit your job to do this professionally).

Expressions related to PARTYING (with images AND examples)

  • Party animal – someone who likes going to parties a lot and goes to as many as possible.
  • A social butterfly – a person who socializes a lot and enjoys going out and meeting new people.
  • To paint the town red – to go out and enjoy yourself in the evening, often drinking a lot of alcohol and dancing.
  • To let your hair down – to relax and have a good time. To forget all your inhibitions.
  • To go all out – to do something with the most amount of effort as possible.

Expressions related to BODY PARTS (with images AND examples)

  • To cost an arm and a leg – to say that something is really expensive
  • To give someone the cold shoulder – to treat someone as if you don’t know him/her.
  • My hands are tied – someone is not able to help or intervene.
  • On your toes – to be very alert, energetic and ready.
  • The rule of thumb – the basic rule that everyone uses for some kind of procedure; the most important or commonly known rule.

Expressions related to HANG (with images AND examples)

  • To get the hang of something – to become accustomed to the way something is done.
  • To hang out (with someone) – to spend time with someone, in most cases not doing anything specific.
  • To have (something) hanging over your head – when something is bothering or worrying you, usually when you have a deadline to meet.
  • To hang in there – to tell someone to keep trying, don’t give up. For moral support from friends.
  • To leave someone hanging – to leave someone or something waiting to be finished or continued.

Expressions related to WATER (with images AND examples)

  • To blow (something) out of the water – to be so much better than another that there’s no competition. (It can be used for people or things)
  • To be in deep water – to be in a troubling situation that is difficult to get out of.
  • Water under the bridge – when something is in the past and not important or bothering you anymore.
  • To dive into something – to start something enthusiastically without thinking about it first.
  • Like a fish out of water – to feel uncomfortable and/ or awkward in a situation you are not used to.

Expressions related to TIME (with images AND examples)

  • Time flies when you’re having fun – when you are doing something you enjoy, time passes very quickly.
  • Better late than never – to achieve something or arrive late is better than never doing anything.
  • Long time no see – we say this expression when we see a friend or a colleague after a long time.
  • Behind the times – not fashionable or aware of current fashions and trends.
  • Time will tell – to express that we will only know if something is true or successful after a period of time.

Expressions related to LIFE (with images AND examples)

  • That’s the way the cookie crumbles – that is fate, that is the way things happen.
  • Life’s a bitch – a phrase used after an unpleasant or unfortunate event.
  • Live life in the fast lane – a very active or possible risky way to live.
  • The best things in life are free – the most satisfying experiences in life don’t cost any money.
  • Larger than life – a person who has an aura of greatness around them. To be very imposing or impressive. A person having a heroic quality.

Expressions related to HAPPINESS (with images AND examples)

  • Jump for joy – to be really happy and excited about something.
  • On top of the world – if you are on top of the world, you are enjoying great happiness, health or success.
  • Make someone’s day – to make someone very happy or pleased.
  • Over the Moon – to be extremely pleased about something.

Expressions related to DISTRESS (with images AND examples)

  • Up in arms – to be upset and ready to fight for something you believe to be right. (This is used a lot for political issues)
  • To have something on your mind – to be continuously thinking about something that’s worrying you.
  • To have a go at somebody – to criticize somebody using a lot of anger.
  • Looking over your shoulder – not feeling safe or secure. Having worries about being followed, identified, attacked.
  • Get your knickers in a twist – to get upset about something that isn’t so important. (Knickers – a British word for ‘underwear’)

Expressions related to LUCK (with images AND examples)

  • Podcast 15 – Expressions related to LUCK

  • Just my luck – something that you say when something bad happens to you.
  • Luck of the Irish – luck associated with Irish people.
  • Beginners luck – when an inexperienced person does something well the first time they try.
  • Don’t push your luck – don’t ask for more when you have just been given something.

Expressions related to KARMA (with images AND examples)

  • Bite off more than you can chew – to accept or more than you can handle.
  • You reap what you sow – something that you say which means that everything that happens to you is a result of your own actions.
  • What goes around comes around – how you treat your life and the people in it is how life will treat you.
  • To have it coming – to deserve something. Often used for referencing someone deserving something bad.