American English Idiomatic Expressions in 52 Weeks :
An Easy Way to Understand English Expressions and Improve Speaking

How can English language learners increase fluency and comprehensibility in their spoken English? The ability to communicate accurately and effectively using English idioms is more important than ever in the globalized economy.

English as a Second Language (ESL) students face difficulties learning English idioms. Non-native speakers often find it very difficult to understand the full meaning of English language conversations because, in many cases, these discussions contain a large number of idioms.

Learning idioms is especially challenging because, compared to standard English vocabulary, understanding these expressions is not found by referring to a dictionary. To assist the 2nd language learner in understanding the meaning of idioms, the American English Idiomatic Expressions in 52 Weeks provides English language learners with a systematic and structured week-by-week method in which to understand and acquire American English idioms.

The classification system created was intended to be intuitive, practical and simple for ESL learners by placing idioms into functional and direct categories.

All Idiom Categories

 

Negative - Adverse: Referring to something unfavorable or unpleasant
armed to the teeth bitter pill black mark
brush with the law burn down burn up
bury (hide) one’s head in the sand can’t stand cat burglar
catch-22 cave in had the cheek
chips are down clip someone's wings come down
copycat count one's chickens before they're hatched crash the gate
deep water do a job on do time
dog-eat-dog dog's life dog's life
fall on fed up with find fault with
fly in the ointment fly-by-night foul up
freeze out get away with murder get away with something
have the goods on someone give it to  give oneself away
give someone enough rope and they will hang them self go to rack and ruin half-baked
handwriting on the wall have two strikes against one hell and high water
hit the bottle hold up in the doghouse
in the soup jump bail kick around
kick up a fuss knocked off last straw
last year laugh off lay (light) into
lay hands on someone lead a dog’s life leave a bad taste in one’s mouth
loose ends make a mountain out of a molehill mess around 
mess up monkey business no bed of roses
no picnic not for the world not much of
not on your life not touch something with a ten-foot pole off color
off the wagon on the spot pain in the ass
pain in the butt pain in the neck peeping Tom
penny-wise and pound-foolish people who live in glass houses should not throw stones  pull a fast one
pull the plug pull the wool over someone’s eyes put (someone) out
put (something) past someone put out skeleton in one’s closet
skip bail smell a rat stick up
string along take for a ride tight spot
topsy turvy touch and go tough break
tunnel out turn down twiddle one’s thumbs
up the creek up the river/creek with no paddle walk away / off with
wipe out write off dirty laundry
don't borrow trouble down and out four-letter words
under fire from pillar to post good for nothing
hold that over my head