The Great Book of American Idioms: A Dictionary of American Idioms, Sayings, Expressions & Phrases

I gave this book to my Puerto Rican barber, who speaks English quite well but is flummoxed by idioms and colloquialisms, such as "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth." It was perfect for him, because it explained the meaning without dropping too much into lengthy explanations about the origins. It's hilarious to hear him drop one into a conversation.

The publisher of this book, Lingo Mastery, does a marvelous in helping English-speaking individuals in learning a foreign language; or as in my case, refresh an individual's knowledge of one, which is German. But, while learning how to speak a foreign is a wonderful asset to have, the truth is that one DOES NOT know a foreign language unless you know its idiomatic expressions.Case in point, Not too long after graduating college where I took German, during the Steuben Parade in New York City, I had asked two of the participants who could speak English a few questions, after which I had started to walk away. As I did, one turned to the other and in German said, "Franz, look at the stupid American and their stupid questions." Hearing this, I turned around and walked back to them and gave them my response in German. which probably had totally surprised them, which was: "Excuse me. I heard what you said about me and I've got one thing to say to you." Using a totally idiomatic expression I politely told them that could kiss a certain part of my anatomy. Being shocked by my remark, they instantaneously began to apologize and then wanted to know what my name was and with force, I gave them my answer.It's great when foreigners want to use English when visiting here. or better learn English to become a citizen. The only problem that exists is that there's a huge myriad of idiomatic expressions that exist in the English languages which might differ from country to country. Here in the US, for example, are some expressions which might perplex individuals:A PIECE OF CAKE, to these individuals, would mean simply that A PIECE OF CAKE but depending o the context in which it's being used can also mean QUITE EASY.The same thing holds true for A SCREW LOOSE, it either means what it seems or it means CRAZY.And how about DOG AND PONY SHOW which can also mean: "A PRESENTATION OF SOME KIND THAT HAS QUITE A BIT OF STYLE BUT LACKS REAL CONTENT"As you can see, in order for someone to truly master the use of the English language, they need to be knowledgeable regarding the use of its idioms, which is why I've given the publisher, Lingo Mastery, 5 STARS for their endeavor in wanting individuals to begin to master the use of idioms

informative missing some idioms

Packed with sayings. I wish they told where the saying originated from. There are so many stories to be told about where we got the saying.

Got this for my SIL and she thought it was hilarious.

I didn’t like that it didn’t contain the Origin of the saying.

This list of commonly used idioms is really thorough. I've seen lists before that included idioms of very little use except to those living in a specific ethnic or cultural area. This list only includes very commonly-used idioms and should be helpful to anyone learning English. I live in a Spanish-speaking country and I work with high school students to improve their English fluency and help them get accepted to study abroad. I've recommended this book to them to help their English sound more natural, and the kids love the list. We had fun laughing together over some of the weirder idioms on the list. Thank you for compiling this book, it really is helpful.

Any American will enjoy browsing through this one.