This
database is a comprehensive collection of all the American idioms and slang available.
American Idioms are many and varied. We hope you enjoy our collection. We are adding more all the time.
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up the creek
What does up the creek mean? | in trouble | She is up the creek now that she has lost her passport.
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up the creek
What does up the creek mean? | in trouble |
The woman is up the creek now that she has lost her passport.
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Some Random Idioms
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not born yesterday
What does "not born yesterday" mean? | to be experienced in the ways of the world | I was not born yesterday and I do not believe what the woman is saying.
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get one's money's worth
What does "get one's money's worth" mean? | to get everything (or even a little more) that one has paid for | We got our money's worth when we were able to spend the day at the water park.
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get one's second wind
What does "get one's second wind" mean? | to get a second burst of energy (usually after being tired) |
I tried to get my second wind in order to continue my hike up the mountain.
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all for (someone or something)
What does "all for (someone or something)" mean? | to be very much in favor of someone or something |
The woman is all for the manager and she never criticizes her.
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in deep
What does "in deep" mean? | very much involved in something |
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At the eleventh hour
What does "At the eleventh hour" mean? | At the very last moment. | The union negotiator went right down to the eleventh hour before accepting the company's final offer.
On a 12-hour clock (rather than the 24-hour clock used by scientists, the military, et al) the hours of 12 noon and 12 midnight seem to hold special significance. De-marking the transition from morning to afternoon and the end of the day, they are often used as deadlines (high noon, the stroke of midnight).
To come at "the eleventh hour" implies that it comes in the last hour before the deadline. The choice of "the eleventh minute of the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month" as the time to end W.W.I was quite apt. |
make mincemeat out of (someone or something)
What does "make mincemeat out of (someone or something)" mean? | to beat up or destroy someone or something |
The older boxer made mincemeat out of the young boxer.
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fall head over heels
What does "fall head over heels" mean? | to fall down | The little boy fell head over heels down the hillside.
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nutty as a fruitcake
What does "nutty as a fruitcake" mean? | to be very crazy | The woman who lives next door to us is nutty as a fruitcake.
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Q-sign
What does "Q-sign" mean? | comatose patient with mouth open and tongue hanging out |
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beyond one's depth
What does "beyond one's depth" mean? | in water that is too deep, do something that is too
difficult | in water that is too deep, do something that is too difficultThe executives appeared to be beyond their depth when they chose to pick a fight with the unions.
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Don't look a gift horse in the mouth
What does "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth" mean? | Do not be critical of a gift. | Okay, so the '72 Gremlin grandma gave you is not your idea of a babe magnet, but it was free - so don't look a gift horse in the mouth.
Horses have gum lines that recede with age. Hence older horses have longer teeth than young horses.
To "look a horse in the mouth" is to examine the horse's mouth closely to determine its age (and therefore its usefulness and/or worth). To immediately judge a gift based on its worth or usefulness rather than the "thought" behind it considered rude, and ungrateful (it is a gift after all, and didn't cost the receiver anything).
The phrase is apparently quite old, a Latin version of it appeared in a work by St. Jerome in 420 AD, and it also exists in many languages. An Early english version (1510 AD) appears in John Standbridge's "Vulgari Standbrigi": "A gyuen hors may not (be) loked in the tethe." |