Coffee-machine small talk about a much-delayed office relocation
Two near-strangers fill the wait at the coffee machine with small talk about a move that keeps slipping.
Idioms
Idioms are fixed expressions whose meaning has nothing to do with the words inside them, which is why you can know every word and still miss the point. Each entry explains one expression: what it really means, and the situation where a speaker would reach for it. This is a small advanced collection at B2 and above, including expressions that mostly turn up between first-language speakers. Come here for comprehension rather than for something to use immediately.
Restore the unguessable word in each everyday expression
Restore the one unpredictable word in each fixed everyday expression.
Everyday expressions where one word is fixed and cannot be swapped
Common fixed expressions in which one word is welded in place and cannot be swapped for a synonym.
The half you cannot guess: expressions about the body, weather and money
Fill the gap that hides the fixed word in expressions about the body, the weather and money.
Expressions you can half-guess: the body, the weather and money
Expressions built from the body, the weather and money, half guessable from their ordinary words.
Feeling slightly unwell, but not ill enough to see a doctor
An idiom for feeling mildly unwell, with nothing to do with the forecast.
The set expressions you will hear first in everyday English
The set expressions you will meet first in everyday English, each paired with its plain meaning.
Idioms you must learn whole
Fixed expressions behave like single vocabulary items: their verb bends into any tense, while every other word is locked and no synonym may be substituted.
Set expressions for saying something was easy or hard
Ready-made expressions for saying that something was effortless or a struggle, sorted by tone.
Put back the missing word in the fixed expression
Put back the locked noun in each set expression for something easy or difficult.
How to use English idioms correctly: what to learn, and what only to recognise
English idioms are mostly a skill for understanding others, not for speaking. Common examples with their meanings, and a filter for the few worth saying.
Disappointing, but exactly what you expected
A golf idiom for a bad outcome that is exactly what everyone expected.
Changing the rules after the game has started
A football idiom for complaining that someone in authority changed the target after you had aimed.
Avoiding a decision between two sides
An idiom for the person who refuses to commit to either side.