Idioms about thinking

to draw a blank

To draw a blank means to not be able to remember something.

“Sheila tried to remember the answer to the question, but she drew a blank.”

“I know her name, but I can’t think of it right now. I’m drawing a blank.”

to put one’s thinking cap on

To put one’s thinking cap on means to think very seriously or very hard about something.

“It’s a difficult riddle. If you want to solve it, you’ll have to put on your thinking cap.”

“I have no idea what my speech is going to be about. I’ll put on my thinking cap and get back to you about it.”

to figure something out

To figure something out means to discover something or resolve a problem.

“I can’t figure out how to do the math homework.”

“Should we ask the teacher what to do, or should we try to figure it out ourselves?”

to rack one’s brain

To rack one’s brain means to think long and hard about something.

“I racked my brain, but I couldn’t think of a good topic for my research paper.”

“Suzie racked her brain, but she couldn’t remember how to play the song.”

to daydream

To daydream means to fantasize instead of paying attention to one’s surroundings.

“Richard isn’t a bad student, but he has a tendency to daydream in class.”

“There’s no way you’ll learn calculus if you spend half the class daydreaming.”

to be lost in thought

To be lost in thought means to be completely consumed by thought, often to the point of being unaware of
one’s surroundings.

“When Dave is programming, he often gets lost in thought.”

Education idioms about people

teacher’s pet
 A teacher’s pet is a student who is clearly the favorite of the teacher and often receives special treatment.

“I know he’s the teacher’s pet now, but that doesn’t mean he’ll be like that when he’s a teenager.”

bookworm

A bookworm is a person who loves to read.

“My son is into sports and video games, but my daughter is more of a bookworm.”

class clown

A class clown is a disruptive student who often makes jokes instead of paying attention and doing their work.

“Brett is a college professor now. Ironically, he was the class clown of our elementary school.”

“Class clowns often don’t receive enough attention at home.”

Idioms about tests, grades, and evaluation

to pass with flying colors

To pass with flying colors means to easily accomplish something. We often use this expression to talk about
tests or exams.

“It was such a hard test. I have no idea how you managed to pass with flying colors.”

to breeze/sail through

To breeze/sail through something means to easily succeed at something.

“I don’t think you’ll be able to breeze through college if you’re majoring in chemical engineering.”

to ace

To ace a test means to get an “A” or a very high grade.

“Sometimes I think my teacher is secretly disappointed when we all ace his tests.”

cheat sheet

A cheat sheet is a piece of paper with answers written on it that student use to cheat on a test.

“I would never use a cheat sheet. I’m not dishonest.”

to bomb

To bomb a test means to get a terrible grade on a test.

“Do you think Mrs. McGillicuddy will give let us retake the test if we all bomb it today?”
 a piece of cake, a cakewalk, a breeze, a cinch, a walk in the park

We use all of these idioms to communicate that something is very easy. They all can be used to talk about
tests, exams, or classes.

“The exam was a piece of cake. We all received high scores.”

Idioms about class

to play hooky

To play hooky is an informal expression which means to miss school or work without having a valid reason or
excuse.

“There’s a baseball game tomorrow at 2 p.m. We should play hooky and go see it.”

to cut/skip/ditch class

To cut, skip, or ditch class means to intentionally miss class, usually in favor of doing something else.

“Students are automatically suspended for cutting class.”

Idioms about studying and learning

to hit the books

To hit the books means to study.

“Finals are next week and I haven’t even started studying yet. I’d better hit the books tonight.”

to pull an all-nighter

To pull an all-nighter means to stay up all night studying or working.

“I’d recommend that you not pull an all-nighter. It’s not good for your health.”

to catch on

To catch on means to understand something after initially not being able to comprehend it.

“The present perfect tense used to be hard for me. It took me a while to catch on.”

to learn by heart

To learn something by heart means to completely memorize something.

“Suzy has an impressive memory. She can recite dozens of poems by heart.”