Topic 01 · 170 lessons · every one with a quiz
Idioms
Over the moon, a piece of cake, once in a blue moon: the colourful phrases Brits use every day, with plain meanings, real examples and a quick quiz.
Lucky dip Take a random idiom
Start here
New to idioms? Begin with these three.All idioms
Newest first
The guide
About idioms
Welcome to FunkyEnglish’s collection of English idioms — over 150 of them, and growing. Every idiom on this page comes with a plain-English meaning, example sentences and a short quiz to check it’s actually sunk in.
What Is an Idiom?
An idiom is a phrase whose meaning has nothing to do with the words in it. “It’s raining cats and dogs” has never once involved an actual cat. Translate an idiom word-for-word and you’ll sound less like a fluent English speaker, more like someone reading a phrasebook upside down.
Why Learn Idioms?
Native speakers use idioms constantly — in conversation, in films, in emails from your boss that suddenly stop making grammatical sense. Idioms are where the English language actually lives; learning a solid set of common idioms is one of the fastest ways to sound natural rather than textbook.
A Few Favourites to Get You Started
- A Piece of Cake — something very easy
- A Stone’s Throw — a very short distance
- Ants in Your Pants — unable to sit still
- Cat Idioms — a full round-up of feline phrases
- Dog Idioms — and the canine equivalent
Click through to any idiom for the full explanation, examples and quiz. New idioms are added regularly, so this list only gets bigger.
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Idioms, slang and vocab grouped by subject61 lessonsAnimals61 lessonsProper British43 lessonsBody43 lessonsFood & Drink28 lessonsWeather & Nature28 lessonsWork & Jobs22 lessonsSport & Games21 lessonsLove & Friends20 lessonsFeelings20 lessonsTalk & Secrets17 lessonsTravel & Transport15 lessonsSchool & Study13 lessonsTime & Hurry12 lessonsMoney12 lessonsTechnology11 lessonsColours
Take your pick
01IdiomsRaining cats and dogs — and why02SlangChuffed, knackered, gutted03Phrasal VerbsGet on, get over, get by04GrammarTenses without the tears05Common PhrasesWhat people really say06British CultureQueues, tea and ‘you alright?’07Photo VocabWords you can actually see08ProverbsOld wisdom, still handy09LessonsThemed deep dives10In the NewsEnglish from the headlines