1.

Get the hang of sth : if you get the hang of something, you learn how to do it
well. (informal)
ex: I’ll teach you how to use the design program – you’ll get the hang of it
after a while.
2. Get the picture : if you get the picture, you understand what is happening in
a situation.

Note: This expression is often used when someone does not understand something
immediately.

Ex: Anna was giggling. She was beginning to get the picture.

3. Get the wrong end of the stick or get hold of the wrong end of the stick : if
someone gets the wrong end of the stick or gets hold of the wrong end of the
stick, they completely misunderstand a situation or something that is said.
(informal)

Ex: Did I get hold of the wrong end of the stick? Was that not what he mean?

4. Get your head around something or get your head round something : if you
get your head round a fact or an idea, you succeed in understanding it or
accepting it (BRITSH, INFORMAL).

Ex: at first people laughed at me because they simply could not get their head
round what I was telling them.

5. Go in one ear and out the other : if something that you tell someone goes in
one year and out the other, they pay no attention to it, or forget about it
immediately.

Ex: I’ve told him so many times- it just goes in one ear and out the other.

6. A grey area: if you call something a grey area, you mean that it is unclear,
for example because nobody is sure how to deal with it, or it falls between
two separate categories of things.

Ex: Tabloid papers paint all the sportsmen as heroes or villains. There is no grey
area in between.

7. Take something on board : if you take an idea, suggestion, or fact on board,

you understand it or accept it (BRITISH)

NOTE: the literal meaning of this expression is to take something onto a boat or
ship.
Ex: I listened to them, took their comments on board, and then made the decision.

8. Up to speed: if you are up to speed, you have all the latest information about
something.
ex: We try to keep people entertained and up to speed with what’s going on
in town.
NOTE: You can say that you bring someone up to speed, or that they get up
to speed when you give them all the latest information about something.

Ex: I guess I should bring you up to speed on what’s been happening since I came
to see you yesterday. The president has been getting up to speed on foreign policy.