If you know these 20 IDIOMS, your English is EXCELLENT!

you are going to love this lesson because today you're going to learn the 20  

most common idioms in English and using these idioms  

will help you sound like a native speaker welcome back to JForrest English.  

of course I'm Jennifer now let's get started  

number one to break a leg do you know this one  

what if I said to you break a leg  

do you know what that means I'm saying good luck  

and we generally use this when someone is about to perform in an exam or a presentation  

a job interview or within the theatrical world if you're an actor  

so I might say you're going to do great on your presentation  

break a leg good luck and you can  

simply use those three words break a leg  

break a leg break a leg  

don't worry about writing these down because I summarize  

everything in a free lesson PDF and you can find the link in the description  

No. 2 to spill the beans oh this means to reveal a secret  

so you tell your friend about this surprise party you're planning for another friend  

but then she spills the beans she tells that friend  

hey we're planning you a surprise party you can say  

I can't believe you spilled the beans about the surprise party  

so what about you can I trust you with a secret  

I'm gonna tell you a secret but first you have to promise  

to not spill the beans so put in the comments  

I won't spill the beans I won't spill the beans  

and then I'll reveal my secret spill the beans  

spill the beans No. 3 to hit the hay  

well I'm gonna hit the hay do you know what this means  

it means I'm going to bed I'm going to sleep  

so you might tell your family I have an early meeting tomorrow  

so I'm going to hit the hay now you can also use sack  

hit the hay hit the sack  

they mean exactly the same thing let's hit the hay  

well I'll hit the hay No.4 to bite the bullet  

this is when you face a difficult situation with courage  

so let's say you made a mistake at work that's a difficult situation  

but you're going to face it so you're going to walk into your boss's office  

and you're going to say I made a mistake  

so you could tell your coworker I have to bite the bullet  

and tell my boss about the mistake we bite the bullet  

guess it's time to bite the bullet No.5 to hit the Jackpot  

I hope this happens to you this is when you experience a significant  

success or gain you could say  

winning the contract felt like hitting the Jackpot for our company  

so maybe the contract was for a very large amount or it was with a really prestigious client  

so it was a big success a significant success  

we hit the Jackpot No. 6 to catch someone's eye  

this means to attract someone's attention or simply be noticed  

her impressive presentation  

caught the CEO's eye so no it is that possessive  

catch someone's eye the CEO's eye  

so it's possessive how about this one  

his resume caught the hiring manager's eye  

so notice the possessive is after the s because there's more than one hiring manager  

the hiring managers it's plural  

so you add the possessive after for a plural so it belongs to the hiring managers  

but notice I is always singular we don't add the s to I  

pick whatever catches your eye are you enjoying this lesson  

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Fluent Academy now let's continue with our lesson No.8  

to hit the nail on the head this is when you describe precisely  

exactly what is causing a problem or situation hit the nail on the head  

to give you a compliment I could say  

you really hit the nail on the head with your analysis  

but I could reverse that and say your analysis  

of the situation really hit the nail on the head  

both of them are correct  and have the same meaning  

you hit the nail on the head No. 9 to burn bridges  

you don't want to do this this is when you  

damage relationships or you close off  

opportunities and most people do this when they end a  

relationship in a business context  

this would be when you quit when you end your professional  

relationship with the company but you should never burn bridges when you quit  

because if you damage that relationship by quitting in a  

outrageous way in a unprofessional way  

well then you can't use that employer as a reference  

and you never know when you might need that employer  

again in the future or when you might even  

work for that employer again in the future  

so you don't wanna burn bridges burned all my bridges  

and burn that bridge no No. 10 to jump on the bandwagon  

this is a fun one this is when you adopt a popular  

activity or trend in the YouTube world  

a popular trend is YouTube Shorts  

now after a year of not making YouTube shorts  

I decided to jump on the bandwagon I decided to make YouTube shorts  

because they're popular and they're trendy  

every studio is jumping on the bandwagon I wish I had  

bit the bullet remember this one bit  

that is the past this is the past perfect  

I wish I had bit the bullet sooner No. 11  

to be in the same boat one of the most common idioms  

this is when you face the same challenges or are in a similar situation  

the same boat Julio is nervous about public speaking  

Kezia is nervous about public speaking  

they're in the same boat when it comes to public speaking  

we're in the same boat looks like we're in the same boat  

speak in span I love this one  

this means neat tidy and clean  

I always keep my office speak in span  

how about your office you can use this for anything  

an entire room or maybe even just a desk  

she always keeps her desk speak and span  

speak and span I want them  

speak and span No. 13 to cost  

an arm and a leg this means to be very expensive  

so there's a problem with your car  

you could say ugh getting my car  

repaired is going to cost an arm and a leg  

it's going to be very expensive air conditioners  

cost an arm and a leg and it won't cost you  

an arm and a leg you could also say  

cost a pretty penny which is our next idiom No. 14  

and it means exactly the same thing very expensive  

so the same example as before  

but now you can say getting my car repaired  

is going to cost a pretty penny  

you can use either one because it cost a  

pretty penny cost me a pretty penny today  

how about No. 15 dirt cheap dirt cheap  

this means very cheap very inexpensive  

so let's say I see my best friend with this new  

designer handbag I can say wow  

that Gucci handbag must have cost  

an arm and a leg or must have cost  

a pretty penny but then she can say  

actually it was dirt cheap hmm so I can say really how  

and that's our next idiom No. 16 a knockoff  

do you know what a knockoff is this is a copy or imitation  

of a product so my friend does not have a real Gucci handbag  

it's a knockoff so when you buy a Rolex  

make sure it's not a knockoff it's just a cheap  

knockoff No. 17 to hit the road  

I love this one I use it a lot  

this is when you begin a journey  

or simply leave a place so to begin a journey  

you can say I'm packed let's hit the road  

let's begin our journey  

or you can say oh it's getting late  

let's hit the road yes hit the road  

let's hit the road No. 18 to break a sweat  

this is when you exert physical effort  

so at the gym if you run really fast  

you're going to break a sweat which means you  

begin sweating to break a sweat  

but it could also be when you work  

really hard you could break a sweat  

but we also use this in the negative oh  

this lesson was too easy Jennifer  

I didn't even break a sweat well I'll have to make the next one  

harder for you No. 19 to be  

under the weather a must know idiom  

this simply means to be or feel sick  

so you might send a message to your team and say I'm going to work from home today  

I'm a little under the weather and I don't wanna get anyone sick well  

they're under the weather and finally  

No. 20 to call it a day this is when you  

decide to stop working on something well  

this is the 20th idiom so let's call it a day  

I'm going to stop working on this video  

I'm going to end the video  

and you can stop as well well  

in just a few minutes now notice the expression uses day  

let's call it a day if it were 8 o'clock at night  

you could say well it's 8  

so let's call it a day or let's call it a night  

so at night you can choose to use night  

but you can also still use day so you can just use day  

for all situations call it a day  

we're gonna call it a day now you have 20 of the most common idioms  

in your speech there are hundreds of idioms in English  

do you want me to teach you more if you do  

put more idioms more idioms  

more idioms in in the comments  

and I'll bite the bullet  

and make another lesson for you now before we call it a day  

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doesn't cost an arm and a leg it's dirt cheap it's free  

you can click here to download it  

or look for the link in the description now before you hit the hey  

if you haven't broken a sweat yet  

why don't you watch this lesson on common phrase of verse  

because native speakers love using  

phrase of verse you can watch it right now