idioms
When translating idioms from one language to another, there are many things to consider. Idioms are often culture specific, so a good understanding of the culture in which the idiom is used is important.
The literal meaning of an idiom may be very different from the meaning that is understood by speakers of the language, so it is important to be able to translate the meaning, not just the words.
We have gathered hundreds of English idioms and we seek your help to translate them into other languages. Try it out, test your knowledge and have fun!
A
about as broad as it’s longabout as sharp as a marbleacid testall talk and no actionanything butapples and orangesapple of discordapple of one’s eyeask for the moonas a matter of factas it wereas the crow fliesat the eleventh hourat the end of the daya dime a dozena few fries short of a Happy Meala friend in need is a friend indeeda frog in the throata hot potatoa load of rubbisha mine of informationa sandwich short of a picnica wet weekenda few sandwiches short of a picnic(as) sure as eggs is eggsB
back to square onebag of bonesbag of nervesbarking up the wrong treebear in mindbeat about the bushbeat a dead horsebells and whistlesbend over backwardsbetter safe than sorrybeyond measurebeyond the palebe all earsbe all eyesbe a turkeybe born with a silver spoon in one’s mouthbe fed up with itbe greenbe in a picklebe in cloverbe in deep waterbe in the dog housebe in the pinkbe in the soupbe left holding the babybe left holding the bagbe on cloud ninebe out of the questionbe six feet underbe with someonebe yellowbe (a) chickenbig cheesebig shoes to fillbig shotbinge drinkingbinge eatingbinge watchingbirthday suitbirth one’s food babybite one’s tongueblack sheep (of the family)bolt from the bluebone of contentionbrain freezebreadwinnerbreak a legbreak the habitbring home the baconbundle of nervesburn one’s bridgesburn the midnight oilbury the hatchetbury the pastbuy a pig in a pokeC
call it a daycall one’s bluffcan’t make heads or tails of somethingcarnal knowledgecarrot and stickcast pearls before swinechicken outcold comfortcold turkeycome cleancome out (of the closet)common sensecon artistcook the bookscool as a cucumbercool beanscopycatcost an arm and a legcost a small fortunecould eat a horsecry over spilt milkcuriosity killed the catcushy jobcut the cheeseD
dead enddead tireddead-end jobdie on the vinedoes a bear shit in the woodsdoes Dolly Parton sleep on her backdon’t dip your pen in the company inkdon’t shit where you eatdon’t judge a book by its coverdrive a hard bargaindrive somebody crazydrive somebody nutsdrive someone up the walldrive stick (shift)drop someone a lineE
eager beaverearly birdearly bird catches the wormeasy come, easy goeats soup with a forkeat like a birdeat like a horseeat like a pigeat one’s wordselephant in the roomevery rose has its thorn(every) once in a whileEven a scumbag will fall on a fucked-up personF
face the musicfall on deaf earsfeed the ducksfeel bluefeel something in one’s bonesfell out of the stupid tree and hit every branch on the way downfind fault withfishyfit the billfixer-upperflip the birdflog a dead horsefoot the billfrench lettersfrom time to timefull of beansfunny boneG
get cold feetget on like a house on fireget to the bottom of somethingget up with the larkget (one’s) knickers in a twistgift from the godsgift of gabgive reingive up ongolden showergood for yougot it on lockgo blankgo by the bookgo like clockworkgo southgo to hell in a handbasketgo to the dogsgo undergrab a biteguilty pleasureH
half-bakedhas the cat got your tonguehave ants in one’s pantshave a beef with someone/somethinghave a change of hearthave a long facehave goose bumpshave one’s finger in the piehave the guts (to do something)head startheaven on earthhit a snaghit the bookshit the nail on the headhit the sackhold one’s horseshold the pistol at someone’s headholier than Caesar’s wifeholy cowhunger is the best saucehush moneyI
if you pay peanuts, you get monkeysin any casein a nutshellin less than no timein the blackin the redin the sackis the Pope Catholicit doesn’t ring a bellit sucksit will never flyit’s all Greek to meit’s brick out thereit’s pouring downit’s raining cats and dogsI wasn’t born yesterdayIt is bread with butterK
keep one’s fingers crossedkeep someone in the darkkeep stummkeep your shirt onkick the bucketkick the habitkill two birds with one stonekiss of lifeknock one’s socks offknow something by heartknow something like the back of one’s handL
last strawlast wordlead someone by the noseleave a lot to be desiredleave no stone unturnedlet sleeping dogs lielet the cat out of the baglife is not a bowl of cherrieslike a water on duck’s backlike father, like sonlike throwing peas at the walllion’s sharelive in cloverload of crapload of nonsenselollipop ladylose heartM
mad as a hattermake amendsmake a beelinemake a monkey out of somebodymake a mountain ouf of a molehillmake ends meetmake no bones about somethingmake one’s daymake peanutsmake up one’s mindmean businessmeasure twice, cut oncemind one’s own businessmonkey aroundmonkey businessmonkey see, monkey domore fun than a barrel (full) of monkeysmove with the timesmum’s the wordN
nail-biterneck of the woodsnervous wrecknever mindnever say dienever say nevernobody cares two hoots about itnothing ventured, nothing gainednot for all the tea in Chinanot have anything between the earsnot my cup of teanot one iotanot the brightest light in the harbornot the sharpest knife in the drawernot the sharpest tool in the shednot trust somebody an inchno pain, no gainno room to swing a catO
once in a blue moononce upon a timeone of these dayson Greek calendson the buttonon the doton the houseon the mendout and aboutout of orderout of the blueP
paint the town redpain in the asspain in the neckpart and parcelpay through the nosepearl necklacepet peevepiece of cakepigheadedpoison-pen letterpotato phonepot calling the kettle blackpractice makes perfectpromise the moonpull one’s legpush up daisiesput all eggs in one basketput a bow on itput a sock in itput the cart before the horseput two and two togetherR
rack one’s brainsrain checkrain or shinerat raceread between the linesred herringred tapereinvent the wheelrest on one’s laurelsridicule someone out of existenceroad pizzarolling stockround the clockrun a tight shiprun in the familyS
safe and soundsafe betscared shitlessscrew upsee how the sausage gets madesee redsell like hotcakesshake a legshake like a leafshame on youshoot the breezeshoulder the blamesight for sore eyessilver bulletsing a different songsink or swimsit something outskate on thin icesleeping policemansmartasssmart cookieso far so goodspeak of the devilstag partystand on one’s own two feetstick to one’s gunsstool pigeonstorm in a teacupswan aroundT
taken abacktakes one to know onetake a cat naptake forty winkstake its tolltake somebody under one’s wingtake something for grantedtake something with a pinch of salttake up the reinstake (one) to the cleanerstalk backtaste one’s own medicinethat train has left the stationthat’s a different kettle of fishthe jury is (still) outthe light’s on but no one’s homethe middle of nowherethe more the merrierthe same in bluethe ship has sailedthe straw that broke the camel’s backthe wheels of justice turn slowly, but grind exceedingly finethink straightthrow a wet blanket on somethingthrow in the towelthrow money down the draintip of the icebergtop bananatoss some cookiesto be cut from the same clothturkeytwist somebody’s armtwo bricks short of a load(take to something) like a duck to waterTo have a stew in itW
walk into the lion’s denwalk on eggshelswatch one’s sixwatch outwear one’s heart on one’s sleevewe’ll cross that bridge when we come to itwhat a shamewhen hell freezes overwhen pigs flywhite as a sheetwhite elephantwork like a dog