American Popular Expressions "H"

                           

half a loaf is better than none: it's better to have something--or half of something--than nothing.
handle with kid gloves: be very careful, especially when talking with an emotionally sensitive person. You have to handle her with kid gloves. She's very sensitive.
hand over fist: to make something (used usually with money) very quickly. He's making money hand over fist as a lawyer.
(the) handwriting is on the wall: It's easy to see that something is true or something is very possible in the future. The handwriting is on the wall for newspapers. The rise of the internet will continue to cause many of them to go out of business.
hang in there: don't quit; keep working on something despite the difficulty. Helen doesn't like her new boss very much, but she's going to hang in there anyway because she's been with the company for such a long time.
hang in the balance: to be between success and failure. Aquatic and plant life hang in the balance along the Gulf Coast after the giant oil spill.
hanging by a thread: something has very little support; weakness. After the hurricane, the family was left hanging by a thread with only the clothes on their backs and a small amount of food.
a hard act to follow: a very impressive person, act, performance, etc. comes before someone else who might not be as impressive. No one wants to give their speech after John. He's a very hard act to follow.
have a big mouth: to talk loudly; to talk without considering the consequences of what is said. If you tell Joe what I said about Linda's pregnancy, he'll tell everyone. He has a big mouth.
have a good command of (something): to understand something well; to be good at a particular skill. She has a good command of the English language.
have a good thing going: to have a good relationship or situation (job, business, living arrangement) Luis and Maranda have a good thing going. They're probably going to get married.
have got another thing coming: to experience the opposite reaction of what a person expects will happen. Bill thinks he did the right thing by selling his car to save money on gas and other expenses, but when his wife finds out what he did, he's got another thing coming.
have one's head in the clouds: to daydream; to think about things that are not true in reality. She thinks she's going to be rich someday. Considering her grades in school, she has her head in the clouds.
have one's heart in the right place: to have good intentions. (This is often used when someone makes a bad decision but means to do well.) He's not very helpful, but he has his heart in the right place.
hide one's head in the sand: to pretend that something is not true. It's better to face reality than to hide your head in the sand.
high as a kite: drunk or on drugs. He came to the party high as a kite.
hit the nail on the head: to be very accurate; to be correct. A: The problem with your car could be with the alternator. B: Really? Oh, yeah. I think you've hit the nail on the head.
hit the ground running: to be prepared and ready to work. Their business hit the ground running and was profitable within a year.
hit the jackpot: to make a lot of money; to make a lucky decision. She hit the jackpot when she married Richard.
hold a gun to one's head: to force someone to do something (often used with the negative) She wants her boyfriend to go to her sister's wedding with her, but she's not going to hold a gun to his head.
hope springs eternal: there's always hope; human beings have always prayed or hoped for things to be okay in the future. He wants to win the lottery. Hope springs eternal.
hot dog: wow! We're going to the state fair?! Hot dog!
How's that?: What did you say? I didn't understand what you said. How's that? I'm sorry, I didn't hear you.
hurry up and wait: hurry or rush to do something but then wait. Yeah, you can run to the elevator and push the buttons, but all you're going to do is hurry up and wait for the elevator to come.

American Popular Expressions "G"

                              

get a kick out of (something): to think something is funny, amusing, entertaining, or interesting. She got a big kick out of watching her kids perform in the school play.
get a handle on (something): to understand; to figure something out. Valerie is trying to get a handle onhow well her company did last month in sales.
get a load of this: look at this; this is amusing. Get a load of this! There are a couple of buffalo in that field over there. buffalo
(not) get a word in edgewise: to be able to say something in a conversation. (this is almost always used with the negative) This guy I met at a party dominated the conversation so much that I couldn't get a word in edgewise.
get down to brass tacks: communicate plainly; tell the truth or find the essence of a situation. Harold needs to get down to brass tacks and figure out a new strategy for his internet business.
get in on the ground floor: to be a new employee of a big company or organization. Kumar is happy to get in on the ground floor of the company that he works at. Someday he thinks he'll be able to rise into upper management.
get into hot water: to get into trouble; to have a troubled relationship. Simon got into some hot water with his boss when he forgot to turn in important paperwork.
get into the swing of things: to learn how to do something new; to adapt. He started working at his new job a few months ago, and now he's really starting to get into the swing of things.
get off on the wrong foot: to begin a relationship with a bad experience; to have a bad start. Dora got off on the wrong foot with a coworker, so she's trying to repair the damage.
get something off the ground: to start something; to start a business. They're trying to get a new software company off the ground.
get one's act together: to improve one's bad situation; to figure out a challenging problem and move forward for success. Leroy just can't get his act together. He's 42, he still lives with his parents, and he can't find a job.
get (one's) feet wet: to get some experience. Once Beth got her feet wet in the business of entertainment, she decided to become a talent agent.
get on (one's) nerves: to create disturbance; to cause irritation. Driving to work every day in heavy traffic is getting on Matt's nerves.
get on the bandwagon: to become part of a popular movement--usually used for sports and popular activities; to support someone after a series of successes. Also jump on the bandwagon. Now that the home team has won the division title, George is ready to get on the bandwagon.
get out from under something: to eliminate a problem, such as an abundance of work or debt. Once they get out from under all their debt and save some money, Tony and Lisa plan to buy a house.
get someone's goat: to make someone angry. This constant snowfall is starting to get his goat.
get someone out of one's mind: to try to stop thinking about someone. Harold can't get his old girlfriend out of his mind. He still thinks about her a lot.
get something on someone: to find evidence of wrongdoing; to prove criminal activity. The police finally got something onEddie and took him to jail.
get the ball rolling: to get started; to begin a big project. Sam can't wait to get the ball rollingon his next construction project.
get the lead out: move faster; work harder. The coach told his players to get the lead out when he noticed that they weren't taking their practice seriously. "Come on! Get the lead out!"
get something through (one's) head: to understand; to learn from experience. Todd never got it through his head that a life of crime would result in going to prison.
get under (one's) skin: to bother; to cause discomfort; to feel squeamish. It gets under my skin whenever I find bugs in my house.
get up on the wrong side of the bed: to have a bad day; to feel irritable all day. Wendy must have gotten up on the wrong side of the bed today. She's mad at everyone, but no one knows why.
give someone a piece of (one's) mind: to express an opinion. Sometimes this is an expression of anger. He gave the person helping him on the phone a piece of his mind after he received a bill for something he didn't order.
give it (one's) best shot: to try one's best; to work hard at a challenge. Bobby knows that becoming a professional basketball player is not easy, but he's going to give it his best shot.
give someone a break: to help someone out; to offer support. We should stop and give this guy a break. It looks like he needs a ride.
give someone the evil eye: to look at someone in a way that creates fear; to stare at someone with malicious intent. Sarah has been giving her old boyfriend the evil eye all night. She's mad because he broke up with her.
give the benefit of the doubt: to believe that what someone says or claims is true. Tom is such a great boss. He's always willing to give his employees the benefit of the doubt.
give someone the finger: to express anger with your middle finger. (Caution: this is a very offensive gesture in the United States.) Someone gave me the finger today while I was driving, so I gave it right back at him.
give the go-ahead: to tell someone it's okay to do something; to permit activity. Okay. Dave is giving you the go-ahead to move your truck.
give the shirt off of one's back: to be very generous; to share past the limit of one's abilities. Jason was the kind of guy who would give you the shirt of his back. It's too bad he passed away.
go fly a kite: (This expression is used when you are angry at someone. It's similar to "get lost" or "go screw yourself.") Fatima's neighbors told her to go fly a kite when she asked them to turn down their music at night.
go jump in the lake: similar to "go fly a kite." This is an expression of anger or irritation. When a homeless man asked Tina for some money, she told him to go jump in the lake.
go in one ear and out the other: not to listen to what someone says. Jerry refuses to believe that riding a motorcycle is dangerous. It just goes in one ear and out the other.
gone with the wind: something disappears very quickly. After paying the rent and other bills, our paychecks are gone with the wind at the end of the month.
goodness gracious: Wow! (This expression is used when someone is surprised, excited, or upset about something. Goodness gracious! That's a tall building.
goody two-shoes: a person who is always on his or her best behavior; a person who is extremely well-behaved. Sometimes this expression is used in a negative manner as an insult. He got mad at another boy who called him a goody two-shoes, so he hit the boy just to prove that he wasn't so good.
go out of one's mind: to feel like someone is losing control or going crazy; this is often used as an exaggeration. She's going to go out her mind if she can't find a new job.
go out of fashion: a style of clothing, behavior, food, language, etc. is no longer popular; also, out of style. Covering a woman's body from head to toe went out of fashion in the United States many years ago. Now women can wear whatever they want to.
go over someone's head: to go beyond a person in authority, such as a supervisor or manager; to talk to a supervisor's supervisor. She decided to go over her boss's head when he refused to listen to her complaints.
go through the roof: to get really mad. His wife went through the roof when he told her he couldn't stop at the store to pick up some groceries.
go to great lengths: to work very hard at something; to try hard. Isabel has gone to great lengths to learn ballet.
the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence: sometimes we envy the things our neighbors have, but it's often the case that their situation is not as good as we think it is.
great minds think alike: to do or think as another person does. When Brian saw that Claudia had bought the same computing device that he had bought, he said to her, "Great minds must think alike."
grind to a halt: to stop completely; to stop a big project. When Mark got hit on the head with a brick, everything ground to a halt. Construction continued after the ambulance came and took him to the hospital.