AMERICAN IDIOMS STARTING WITH ‘A’
Welcome to our extensive list of American English idiomatic expressions! These kinds of phrases are used by native speakers all the time. Learn and use some of these idioms and you will be able to speak English in a more natural way. 🙂
- About time: Â Nearly time, high time. ex. “It’s about time you bought a new car!”
- Absence makes the heart grow fonder: Â Proverb that means that our feeling for those we love increases when we are apart from them.
- Â (To) act high and mighty: Â To act proudly and arrogantly. ex. “He has been acting all high and mighty ever since he chased away that mouse.”
- Actions speak louder than words:Â Proverb meaning that’s it’s better to do something about a problem than to talk about it.
- (To) act one’s age:Â To behave in a more mature way. Frequently said to a child or teen. ex. “Bill, stop throwing rocks! Act your age!”
- (To) add fuel to the fire: Â To make a bad problem even worse. ex. “He added fuel to the fire by bringing up old grudges while they were arguing.”
- Â (To) add insult to injury:Â To make a bad situation even worse.
- Against the clock:Â To attempt to do something “against the clock” is to attempt to do something as fast as possible, usually in order to make a deadline. ex. “They were working against the clock to finish the project.”
Â
- All out (adj./adv.):Â Full-scale; complete. ex: “They said it was only a few skirmishes, but it was an all-out war.”
- Â All set: Â Ready (to go). ex. “All set?”
- All thumbs: Â Awkward. Clumsy.
- A little bird told me:Â When someone says “a little bird told me”, it means they don’t want you to know who told them.
Â
- All in a day’s work:Â Typical; normal; par for the course. ex. “Talking to famous celebrities is all in a day’s work for some Hollywood reporters.”
- (From) all walks of life:Â (From) all social, economic, and ethnic groups. ex. “People from all walks of life voted for him, but he still lost the presidential election.”
Â
Â
Â
Â
- Â Apple of someone’s eye: Â Someone’s favorite person (and sometimes thing). ex. “Sarah was the apple of Tom’s eye for quite a long time. He was very much in love with her.”
Â
- Armed to the teeth:Â Heavily armed. ex. “The rebels were armed to the teeth.”
- Â At all hours (of the night):Â Very late at night, throughout the night. ex. “Her boyfriend would call her at all hours of the night.”
- At each other’s throats:Â Fighting or arguing hard. ex. “They were at each other’s throats. The arguments never stopped.” Â Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor were at each other’s throats as George and Martha.
- Â At this stage:Â At this point. ex. “At this stage, it’s difficult to say who will win the election.”
[gap height=”15″]
[gap height=”15″]
Leave a Reply
Want to join the discussion?Feel free to contribute!