An idiom is a group of words which, taken together, have a figurative meaning. The English language contains thousands of them, and they drive foreign speakers to despair: “How can I watch my back, or pay through the nose?” asks one student plaintively on UsingEnglish.com.
Even native speakers are flummoxed by regional idioms. “Happy as Larry,” “more front than Brighton” and “man on the Clapham omnibus” are three that have stymied me.
While it’s best to leave idioms out of business writing altogether, you may not even know you’re using them. Here are a few that have made their way into my recent emails:
- Back burner
- Bells and whistles
- Bend over backwards
- Between a rock and a hard place
- Get the ball rolling
- Jump the shark
- Monday morning quarterback
- Reinvent the wheel
Which idioms bother you most?
The Corporate Writer 
I would describe some of these examples as metaphors rather than idioms. Back burner. Jump the shark. These are metaphors. Can language be both metaphoric and idomatic at the same time?
Yes, certainly it can!
“Jump the shark” is an interesting case because it grew out of the Happy Days episode where the gang visits Hawaii. Fonzie goes waterskiing, in his leather jacket (natch), and jumps a shark because he is that cool.
Whenever I hear that somebody doesn’t “pull any punches” I never know what I’m supposed to conclude.
“Keep your eyes peeled” makes me shudder.
Yes, me too. And I remember “jump the shark!”
I enjoyed these. More to add, with your permission — though idioms are in the public domain —- to my list. You might like to visit the blog I just put called ‘Having Fun With Idioms’
Yes, feel free! And I’d love to see your blog–can you post or send a link?
Thank you for this post.
I’m in the process of writing a small booklet. I would like to include several American idioms. Do you think I would I need special permission or something? Initially, it will be given away, but at some point in time, it will be sold.