Learn 27 common English phrases for conversations

There are so many English phrases that are just not taught in your textbook. In today's English lesson, I will teach you 27 very natural and very common English idioms that are essential to be fluent in English. If you want a list of these idioms with their definitions, make sure you use the link below in the comments and it will take you to download the free PDF that goes along with today's lesson. I'll never teach you an English phrase in a lesson that isn't used in my daily conversations, so make sure that you take note of all of these because you can really use them in your everyday language. Now, let's get started. This first phrase is really funny to me. The phrase is a pickup line. A pickup line is a sentence that you use to initiate a conversation with someone that you find attractive or you are romantically interested in them. Now, it's very bold to use a pickup line. So there are a lot of cheesy, which means like overused and kind of funny pickup lines that we have in English. One is, did it hurt when you fell? And the person would say, what? What are you talking about? And they're like, did it hurt when you fell from heaven? Because you're so beautiful, like an angel. Now, that is an example of an extremely cheesy pickup line. But you might say, hey, I really, I like your hair. That could be a pickup line as well. So we use this phrase, a pickup line, when we're talking about the first thing that someone says in a conversation to try to initiate the conversation, maybe flirt or ask someone on a date. If you want to describe someone who is very hyper, who is completely full of energy, or maybe they're just very anxious and they can't sit still, you can say they are bouncing off the wall. So I celebrate Christmas. So the main example that I think of when I think of this phrase, bouncing off the wall, is on Christmas morning, my kids go downstairs and they have a ton of presents and usually a lot of treats and candy. And they are just bouncing off the wall. They're so excited that they can't sit still. And they're usually literally bouncing, jumping on the couches, whatever. So if someone is extremely excited or happy, they are bouncing off the wall. This next phrase is extremely useful in your daily conversations. When you want to tell someone that they shouldn't worry about something, you know, because maybe you have handled their responsibility, or maybe you did a favor for them and you don't want them to feel like they have to pay you back, you can say, don't sweat it. So maybe if you do something for a coworker at your job and they say, I'm so sorry, I didn't get to that. You can say, hey, I can submit that for you. Don't sweat it. That means don't worry about it. Don't let it bother you. It's no big deal to me. So it's a very casual, very friendly English phrase. Don't sweat it. This next phrase reminds me of a time in college. I was at a party and there were two guys dancing and one was trying to dance and then the other one was trying to show off and dance too. They were going tit for tat. This is kind of a funny phrase as well. But you'll hear people often say this phrase when two people are trying to match each other. They're trying to match each other's energy or be a little bit competitive. So in baseball, which is a very popular sport here in the United States, and in Japan, actually, you'll often find that the pitchers, each inning will go tit for tat. So one pitcher has a really good performance in the inning. And then the other pitcher, because, you know, they're trying to win the game, they'll go tit for tat and they'll have a good performance as well. So there's a good sports example for you of going tit for tat. It means, you know, you're trying to equal each other's effort. This next phrase is used especially if you are giving a little bit of attitude in a conversation. When you want to say that someone is capable of doing something, especially if it's negative or maybe they're lying about something and someone says, I don't think they would do that. You can say, I do. I wouldn't put it past them. So the phrase, I wouldn't put it past them, means I don't doubt that they would do something bad or they would even lie. In the United States, health insurance is kind of a mess. We all pay a lot of money to get health insurance coverage so that we can go to the doctor. Now, even if you have health insurance in the United States, it's never guaranteed that they will pay for your care as messed up as that seems. So I would not put it past health insurance companies to deny your medical claim. That means, you know, I wouldn't doubt that even if you think you're insured and you think you did everything correctly, you still get a huge bill after going to the doctor in the United States. I wouldn't put it past the insurance companies. A good phrase that you can use when something is finished or complete is you can say, it's a wrap. That means it's all done. I think traditionally this phrase is used after a television set or a movie set is done filming the movie or the television show and they're all done for the day. They'll say, it's a wrap. But we say this in our everyday English as well. So when you finish a project at work and everyone says, is there anything else to do? And you can say, it's a wrap. We're all done. One thing that you might not know about me is when I was younger, I was a pretty good soccer player. And one time, despite being a good soccer player and despite working hard, I did not make the soccer team. And you know what? I thought it was just politics. This phrase, it's just politics. It means that even though you were good enough or even though something should have happened, politics got in the way. Another good example I can think of this phrase is when you're supposed to get a promotion at work. Maybe you think you are the most competent worker. You work harder than everyone else. You're never late. Someone else might get promoted because the boss likes them or maybe they're even related to the boss. So it feels like it's just politics. You're kind of justifying why you didn't get the promotion or why what should have happened did not happen because there's politics in place. And politics would describe usually like a president and all the politicians that make the laws in a country. But we also just say like the policies, the important people. So it could be at a company, an organization. Or in my first example, you know, I was trying to make a soccer team. There was coaches and parents that were all friends. And it was just politics. I didn't make the team. I almost want to sing to you for this next English phrase. The phrase is let it go. If you have young children or maybe if you're just a Disney fan, you've probably seen the movie Frozen. And she sings let it go. Now this English phrase is actually pretty popular just in our normal conversations as well. If you say let it go, that means let the problem go. Don't worry about it. Don't think about it too much. And don't make it a bigger problem. The opposite of letting something go is to hold a grudge, which would mean to resent someone or to try to punish them further, even after, you know, if they caused an issue with you or they were rude to you or whatever it was. Thinking about sports again, if you've ever seen a sports game where a player got really angry and they started yelling at the ref about, you know, maybe a bad call or they think something else should have happened and they get kicked out of the game. Well, they should have just let it go. They should have just walked away, let go of the problem, and kept playing. And then they would not have gotten kicked out of the game and they could have helped their team more. So if you want to tell someone not to worry about a problem or not to hold a grudge anymore, you can say just let it go. Don't worry about it. When I was in school, I was terrible at math. And today I could not even solve a calculus problem, even if I tried. So the phrase, not even if I tried, is what we'll be learning today. The phrase, not even if I tried, means that even if you are willing to try and put the effort into solving a problem or into doing something, you just could not do it because you don't have the skill or the problem is too hard. There is a pizza restaurant by me that has this challenge where you have to eat a pizza that's probably about that big. It's as big as my arms. And you have to do it in 30 minutes. And if you eat the whole pizza, then you get a picture of yourself on the wall. I know it sounds super strange, but these kind of eating challenges are really common here in the United States. Let me know if you've ever seen one of these in your country or on television or whatever. But I couldn't even eat that pizza even if I tried. That means even if I wanted to, I don't think my stomach is big enough to eat it, especially in 30 minutes. A great phrase for describing a very difficult person to work with is to say that they are a piece of work. Now, this phrase is also considered a bit rude. So be really careful how you use it. So you might hear someone say that that person is a piece of work. It means they are very difficult to work with. They cause a lot of problems. Let me give you an example. At a job I had once, I had a co-worker that would show up every day late to work. They would not dress very nice. You know, everybody had to dress nicely in the office and this person would not follow the dress code. And actually, this co-worker looked like they had just woke up and they were really lazy when it came to helping out at the office. So they were just a piece of work to deal with. And actually, it didn't take long where they got fired from the job because they just were not doing enough work. If you live in the United States, you probably see Amazon drivers driving around all of the time delivering packages. If you didn't already know, Amazon just started out as a book online store. So you could just buy books online on Amazon. But what I think really put Amazon on the map is the fact that they offer two-day delivery. This phrase, to put something or someone on the map, it means there is an accomplishment or some sort of thing that makes the person stand out. Either makes them famous or it makes them very successful. So as a company, the fact that they were able to deliver things, even not just books, in two days was super convenient for people and the company just blew up here in the United States. And so many people order things off Amazon, including myself. It's very convenient to get something just two days later. And now, a lot of times you can even get things one day later or even later the same day delivered right to your house. It's so convenient. Hopefully, you have never done what this next phrase is. The phrase is to shoot yourself in the foot. Now, literally, obviously, this would mean to shoot yourself in the foot to injure yourself. I mean, that would be terrible. We use this phrase figuratively in the United States to mean that you do something that is going to negatively affect yourself. So for instance, if you don't study for a test and you show up to the test and you fail it, you really shot yourself in the foot because you didn't put the effort in. You were not ready for the test. But maybe you thought, well, I actually know a lot about this test. I've been doing really well in the class. I'm going to do great. I'm not going to study. That's still shooting yourself in the foot. Oftentimes, we use this phrase to shoot yourself in the foot when you're doing something that is unintentionally going to harm you later. Speaking of feet, this next phrase is to take steps in the right direction. Oftentimes, in English, we say that steps are actions that you can take to get to a goal or to progress towards some sort of positive thing. So if we say, hey, you're taking steps in the right direction, that means your actions right now are going to help you later to help achieve your goal. We often say this phrase to someone when they get kind of discouraged when they're working hard, but they don't feel like they're making a ton of progress. You can say, well, at least you're taking steps in the right direction. So maybe if someone is trying to lose weight, they might say, oh, I worked out this week and I ate healthy, but I only lost one pound. You can say, well, at least you're taking steps in the right direction. And that means all of these healthy habits are eventually going to help you lose weight in the future. A phrase that reminds me of Game of Thrones is the phrase up for grabs. This phrase means that it is anyone's chance to claim something. So you might make a dessert, maybe cookies or cupcakes, and there's one left. You could say, hey, the last one is up for grabs if anyone wants another dessert. That means nobody's claimed it, but anyone can have it. In Game of Thrones, the premise of the show was, you know, there is someone trying to be the ruler or the king or the queen of all the kingdoms. The throne was sometimes up for grabs, which means it felt like anyone could claim it and everyone would try to claim the throne. It is important that you know this phrase if you are trying to be a good friend. When someone's describing a really painful or sad situation in their life, you can say, I feel your pain. This just means that I empathize with you or I can understand why you're so sad. Now, if someone's describing a really sad situation that's very specific to them, you wouldn't use this phrase. But you can also use this phrase when someone's saying they're very irritated or annoyed with someone. They might say, I have so much work to do over the weekend. I can't believe it. I don't want to work on the weekend. You could say, oh, I feel your pain. I have to work this weekend too. That means I understand why you feel so annoyed. This next phrase I hope that you never have to use. When someone does something to you that's very negative or very wrong, you can say that you got burned. If someone has ever sold you a product and it didn't work very well, but you can't get your money back, you could say, I got burned. That means I got swindled or I suffered something very negative from what this person told me or sold to me. Another romantic phrase that I think you should know if you're learning English is to get down on one knee. So in the United States, when someone proposes, usually the man asks to marry the woman. That's the traditional way here. They will get down on one knee. They don't necessarily always do this. It depends on your relationship and how traditional you are. But that is the traditional way to ask someone to marry you. So we use this phrase to ask if someone proposed, we can say, did they get down on one knee? Or you finally got down on one knee. This just means they proposed. Did you ever see the video of the girl who was twerking or dancing in her apartment and then she fell down and she hit a candle and it started everything on fire? This video went completely viral. Tons of people watched it. They thought it was real. They were so shocked. But it turns out we all got played. This means we all got fooled or deceived by this video because it was actually a stunt woman or someone who professionally does stunts or dangerous things. And a show here in the United States, the Jimmy Kimmel show, made this video to see if they could make it go viral and fool everyone on the internet. So we all got played by this video. Even I did. I totally thought it was real the first time I saw it. If you want to say that someone made an extra effort or sacrifice to help you out, you can say they went out of their way. So to go out of your way means to help someone by doing something very extra for them. Maybe you've done something very extra for someone and they didn't even thank you. You could say, I went out of my way to help you and you didn't even say thanks. This obviously would be saying that I made all of this effort and you weren't very grateful. So you can use this phrase to go out of your way very frequently in English to mean that you made an extra effort to help someone. Recently, I had a project in my house. I painted the bathroom. It was the color yellow. And even though I like the color yellow, I think it looks terrible on walls. And I just painted my bathroom white. And I was really excited about this house project. And I said to my husband, this is really going to knock your socks off. This is going to look really good. And he wasn't that impressed, to be honest. I think men just don't notice small things like the color of walls very much. But I use this phrase to knock your socks off to mean that it's going to impress you. It's going to highly impress you. So the next time you want to say that something was really impressive, you thought it was great, you thought the person did a great job, you could say, you knocked my socks off. It's kind of a funny older phrase, but I would still say it's pretty common and everyone understands it here in the United States. A phrase that means that something is very secure and protected is to say that it is locked down. Another interesting way that you can use this phrase is when someone is in a very committed relationship. Maybe they even just got married. You can say, well, they are locked down. That means they're very committed. A more common way to even use this phrase is to say that a deal is done. So if you're doing a business deal, you can say, we have this deal locked down. Everyone just needs to sign the papers. That means everything's secure. It's all done. There's not going to be any changes. It's locked down. In English, a skirt, of course, is an article of clothing that women typically wear. But you can actually also use this noun as a verb, to skirt something. If you skirt something, it means you avoid a very unpleasant situation or just a responsibility in general. So oftentimes, I will skirt around making dinner by just ordering takeout and bringing it home for my family. So the responsibility that I have is making dinner, but I skirted around it by just ordering takeout. This phrase can also be used when you're just avoiding a person or you're avoiding being seen. You can say, I skirted around. I didn't want to be seen. A very common way to say that you were surprised or very confused by something is to say you were thrown for a loop. So to throw someone for a loop means that you surprise them or you confuse them. If you were getting married and having your wedding and the day of the wedding, someone in your family that you are very close with texts you and says, hey, I'm not coming to your wedding. That would really throw you for a loop. That means you'd be very confused and you'd actually be probably pretty upset by it as well. So to throw someone for a loop means to throw some sort of information at them that's going to confuse them and they're going to wonder why you're doing it. This next phrase was actually brought to me by my son the other day. He said, I was outside running up a storm and I just thought it was so funny for him to be using this idiom just because he's very young and I don't often hear him use phrases like this often. But he must have picked it up from one of the adults in his life. So when you say doing something up a storm, I'll explain it a little bit better in a moment here. It means you're doing something with a lot of energy and intensity. So you could say, I'm cleaning up a storm right now. That means you are cleaning your whole entire house. You're making everything super clean and sparkly. Or like my son said, he was running up a storm outside. He was running everywhere. He had a lot of energy and he was doing it with a lot of intensity. You could say to someone, wow, you're really writing up a storm right now or you're reading up a storm right now. That means they're just doing those things very quickly with a lot of energy. Have you ever heard the phrase up to speed? This phrase means that you're giving someone the knowledge or information to be a part of the situation or to know what's going on. So if you call a friend that you haven't talked to in a very long time, they will often get you up to speed on all the things in their life. They'll tell you all the drama and all the different things that are going on. They'll get you up to speed. We can also say catch you up to speed. That just means get you to the information or knowledge that you need to be a part of the conversation or if you're in a workplace to help you know what to do in the job. A really, really common phrase in English conversation is to say, what a nightmare. So as you can probably guess, this phrase means that something sounds terrible. It sounds very bad. It sounds almost so bad that it would be a nightmare and not reality. A nightmare is a bad dream if you didn't already know. In the United States, when you have to go get a new identification card or driver's license, it is such a nightmare going to the office to get it because you obviously need so many documents. And I think here we are very strict about what is an acceptable document and what is not an acceptable document. And it's just, it's a nightmare, honestly. A good phrase that you can use when you want to say that someone needs to limit or control something is to rein something in. Now, if you spend a lot of money, you might need to rein in your spending. And this is spelled differently than the weather rain. So pay close attention to the words on screen. If you have a problem shopping, you need to rein in your spending. If you have a problem with drinking, you need to rein in your drinking. This just means you need to limit it or control it. Thank you guys so much for watching this English lesson with me, Kayla. Visit englishwithkayla.com to check out my English courses. And of course, go ahead and watch the next video. I know you need to know more natural phrases just like the ones that I taught you today. Use the link below to download the free PDF that goes along with today's lesson. And I can't wait to see you in the next one. Goodbye.