18 Most Common Idioms for IELTS

Speaking
Idiom Meaning Origin

To force yourself to do Derived historically from the practice of having

To Bite the something unpleasant or a patient clench a bullet in their teeth as a way
Bullet difficult, or to be brave in a to cope with the pain of a surgical procedure
difficult situation. without anaesthetic.

If you think something is very Comes from the fact that eating cake is
A Piece of Cake
easy to do. pleasant.

Kill Two Birds To achieve two things by doing Believed to have originated from the story of
With One Stone a single action. Daedalus and Icarus from Greek Mythology.

Cats don’t like being in a bag. Once you let

Let the Cat Out To disclose a secret, often by
them out, it is very difficult to get them back
of the Bag mistake.
in, just like secrets.

Don’t Put All To avoid concentrating all your When gathering up your eggs from your
Your Eggs in resources or efforts in one area, chickens, if you put them all in one basket, you
One Basket as a way to minimize risk. might break them.

The concept behind the origination of this

Once in a Blue
Happens very rarely. idiom is the second but rare appearance of the
Moon
full moon in the same month.

Oil lamps were used to provide light. If you

Burn the To work late into the night or to
were burning oil at midnight, you were
Midnight Oil work hard on something.
working on something.

To exhaust oneself by working

Burn the Candle Originally meant to waste money. Meaning
too much, going to bed late and
at Both Ends changed to doing too much.
getting up early.

Originated sometime in the early 19th century

At the Drop of a To do something immediately when it was common for people to signal the
Hat and without hesitation. start of a fight or a race by literally dropping a
hat or waving it down through the air.

Cry Over Spilt To waste time feeling upset If you spill milk, you can’t use it. No point in
Idiom Meaning Origin

about something that has

Milk already happened and cannot be crying over something that can’t be changed.
changed.

You Can’t Judge You should not judge people or

You have to read a book to find out if it is good
a Book by its things based on their
or not.
Cover appearance.

Don’t Count
Don’t assume that something
Your Chickens Inspired by the fable, “The Milkmaid and her
will happen or be successful
Before They Pail”.
before it actually occurs.
Hatch

Reference to a line from the Bible (Matthew

Go the Extra To make more effort than is 5:41) in which Jesus tells his followers to go
Mile expected or required. the extra mile if someone asks them to go one
mile.

Uncertain origin, possibly related to old myths

Raining Cats and
Raining very heavily. or the way heavy rain can carry debris,
Dogs
including dead animals, through the streets.

Originates from boxing, where a trainer would

Throw in the
To admit defeat or give up. throw a towel into the ring to signal that their
Towel
fighter was giving up.

Deal with a problem or situation

Cross That
when it actually happens, rather In the past, bridges were often dangerous to
Bridge When
than worrying about it cross.
You Come to It
beforehand.

Follow the customs and

behavior of the people in the Attributed to Saint Ambrose, advising people
When in Rome
place where you are visiting or to adapt to local customs when travelling.
living.

Rome Wasn’t Important work takes time and It took hundreds of years to build the greatest
Built in a Day should not be rushed. city in the world.