Skeleton in the Closet and 49 Other Idioms about the Human Body: Part 1

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This week, continuing with our series on idioms and what they mean, we’re looking at idioms about the human body. For those of you who are new to our blog – an idiom is a combination of words which has a figurative meaning separate from the actual definitions of the words used.

There is supposed to be something like 25,000 idioms in the English language, and while planning this blog we came up with almost a hundred that were related to the human body. We managed to narrow the list down to fifty idioms to share with you over the next two posts, but be warned: we haven’t included any idioms concerning the human heart – we’ll save that fascinating subject for a future article!

Here are the first twenty five idioms and their meanings:

a bad hair day – a day on which everything seems to be going wrong
a gut feeling – a sense, an instinctive feeling
a kick in the teeth – a blow, unfair treatment
a sight for sore eyes – someone/something you are happy/relieved to see
a skeleton in the closet – a shameful secret from someone’s past
a slap on the wrist – a gentle punishment
a slip of the tongue – a (usually minor) mistake in speaking
a weight off your shoulders – a relief after a period of worrying about something or dealing with a difficult situation
elbow grease – hard work
itchy feet – the need to leave/travel
joined at the hip – inseparable (referring to two or more people who spend a lot of time together)
more than meets the eye – more that first anticipated
music to your ears – good news/something you want to hear
to have nerves of steel – to be difficult to upset or frighten
teething problems – difficulties during the early stages of an endeavour
the upper hand – an advantage
to bite/hold your tongue – to stop yourself from saying something
to come to your senses – to start thinking sensibly
to dig your heels in – to stubbornly resist
to drag your feet – to do something slowly/put off doing something
to feel the pinch – to experience financial hardship
to find your feet – to become confident in an activity
to get off on the wrong foot – to make a bad start at something/with someone
to get something off your chest – to unburden yourself by saying something you have wanted to say for a long time
to grease someone’s palm – to bribe someone

If you’ve found this post useful, why not check out our other articles on idioms:

Thirty Idioms about Food
Fifty Animal Idioms and What They Mean
Fifty Atmosphere and Weather Idioms and What They Mean – Part 1 and Part 2
Thirty Sports Idioms to Help You Through the Summer
Three Everyday Idioms and their Terrifying Origins
Two Idioms That Originate in America

Have a good week!

Avani Shah

29 Sep 2014
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Skeleton in the Closet and 49 Other Idioms about the Human Body: Part 1

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