Why do we say "I'm not pulling your leg"? Or "he kicked the bucket"? I don't mean etymologically, I mean logically. Why do we use idioms? I became fascinated by that question when I discovered that ...

If you've ever shot the breeze, had a heart-to-heart or bent somebody's ear — in fact, if you've ever talked at all — odds are you've used an idiom. These sometimes bizarre phrases are a staple of ...

For English language learners, mastering idioms is vital for academic and professional success. Proficiency exams like IELTS and TOEFL assess idiom comprehension, recognising it as a sign of advanced ...

Language changes fast, and new words and phrases are being created all the time. In this programme, Rob and Sam talk about some modern idioms – new expressions that have been introduced to English ...

Learning languages is challenging. There are thousands of strange new words to know, along with how to pronounce them and use them correctly in a sentence. One of the trickier parts is figuring out ...

Hit the sack, hold your horses, once in a blue moon and when pigs fly. What do all these strange turns of phrase have in common? They are all idioms. An idiom is an expression that is commonly ...

Jan. 14-20 is Idiom Week, and today we thought we’d have a heart-to-heart about some strange phrases we use. Idioms, metaphors and similes are all types of figurative language. According to ...

That's why the following quiz of idioms from 11 different languages is a little unfair—it's difficult to be in 11 in-groups simultaneously. English itself isn't one big in-group. I take it for granted ...