تعتبر المصطلحات (English idioms)، والأمثال (Proverbs)، والتعبيرات الإنجليزية جزءاً مهماً من اللغة الإنجليزية اليومية. فهي تظهر طوال الوقت في اللغتين المكتوبة والمحكية. ونظراً لأن المصطلحات لا تعطي معنىً منطقياً دائماً عند تفسيرها حرفياً، ستحتاج إلى التعرف على معنى واستخدام كل مصطلح. قد يبدو هذا عملاً شاقاً، لكن تعلم المصطلحات أمر ممتع، خاصة عندما تقارن المصطلحات الإنجليزية بنظيراتها في لغتك الأم.
إن تعلم كيفية استخدام المصطلحات والتعبيرات الشائعة سيجعل لغتك الإنجليزية تبدو أكثر طبيعية (كأحد أصحاب اللغة)، لذا فمن الجيد إتقان بعض هذه التعبيرات. الجداول أدناه منظمة حسب مدى شيوع المصطلحات في الإنجليزية الأمريكية. يمكنك البدء بتعلم المصطلحات الإنجليزية الشائعة جداً، كونها المصطلحات التي ستصادفها بانتظام أثناء مشاهدة الأفلام أو البرامج التلفزيونية الأمريكية، أو عند زيارة الولايات المتحدة. وعندما تتقنها، انتقل إلى البقية. لا يوجد أي مصطلح في هذه الصفحة غير مألوف أو قديم الطراز، لذا يمكنك استخدام أي منها بثقة مع المتحدثين الأصليين من جميع الدول الناطقة بالإنجليزية.
| Idiom | Meaning | Usage |
|---|---|---|
| A blessing in disguise | a good thing that seemed bad at first | as part of a sentence |
| A dime a dozen | Something common | as part of a sentence |
| Beat around the bush | Avoid saying what you mean, usually because it is uncomfortable | as part of a sentence |
| Better late than never | Better to arrive late than not to come at all | by itself |
| Bite the bullet | To get something over with because it is inevitable | as part of a sentence |
| Break a leg | Good luck | by itself |
| Call it a day | Stop working on something | as part of a sentence |
| Cut somebody some slack | Don’t be so critical | as part of a sentence |
| Cutting corners | Doing something poorly in order to save time or money | as part of a sentence |
| Easy does it | Slow down | by itself |
| Get out of hand | Get out of control | as part of a sentence |
| Get something out of your system | Do the thing you’ve been wanting to do so you can move on | as part of a sentence |
| Get your act together | Work better or leave | by itself |
| Give someone the benefit of the doubt | Trust what someone says | as part of a sentence |
| Go back to the drawing board | Start over | as part of a sentence |
| Hang in there | Don’t give up | by itself |
| Hit the sack | Go to sleep | as part of a sentence |
| It’s not rocket science | It’s not complicated | by itself |
| Let someone off the hook | To not hold someone responsible for something | as part of a sentence |
| Make a long story short | Tell something briefly | as part of a sentence |
| Miss the boat | It’s too late | as part of a sentence |
| No pain, no gain | You have to work for what you want | by itself |
| On the ball | Doing a good job | as part of a sentence |
| Pull someone’s leg | To joke with someone | as part of a sentence |
| Pull yourself together | Calm down | by itself |
| So far so good | Things are going well so far | by itself |
| Speak of the devil | The person we were just talking about showed up! | by itself |
| That’s the last straw | My patience has run out | by itself |
| The best of both worlds | An ideal situation | as part of a sentence |
| Time flies when you’re having fun | You don’t notice how long something lasts when it’s fun | by itself |
| To get bent out of shape | To get upset | as part of a sentence |
| To make matters worse | Make a problem worse | as part of a sentence |
| Under the weather | Sick | as part of a sentence |
| We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it | Let’s not talk about that problem right now | by itself |
| Wrap your head around something | Understand something complicated | as part of a sentence |
| You can say that again | That’s true, I agree | by itself |
| Your guess is as good as mine | I have no idea | by itself |
Common English idioms & expressions
تُستخدم هذه المصطلحات الإنجليزية بانتظام في الولايات المتحدة. قد لا تسمعها يومياً، لكنها ستكون مألوفة جداً لأي متحدث أصلي باللغة الإنجليزية. يمكنك استخدام أي منها بثقة عندما يكون السياق مناسباً.
| Idiom | Meaning | Usage |
|---|---|---|
| A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush | What you have is worth more than what you might have later | by itself |
| A penny for your thoughts | Tell me what you’re thinking | by itself |
| A penny saved is a penny earned | Money you save today you can spend later | by itself |
| A perfect storm | the worst possible situation | as part of a sentence |
| A picture is worth 1000 words | Better to show than tell | by itself |
| Actions speak louder than words | Believe what people do and not what they say | by itself |
| Add insult to injury | To make a bad situation worse | as part of a sentence |
| Barking up the wrong tree | To be mistaken, to be looking for solutions in the wrong place | as part of a sentence |
| Birds of a feather flock together | People who are alike are often friends (usually used negatively) | by itself |
| Bite off more than you can chew | Take on a project that you cannot finish | as part of a sentence |
| Break the ice | Make people feel more comfortable | as part of a sentence |
| By the skin of your teeth | Just barely | as part of a sentence |
| Comparing apples to oranges | Comparing two things that cannot be compared | as part of a sentence |
| Costs an arm and a leg | Very expensive | as part of a sentence |
| Do something at the drop of a hat | Do something without having planned beforehand | as part of a sentence |
| Do unto others as you would have them do unto you | Treat people fairly. Also known as “The Golden Rule” | by itself |
| Don’t count your chickens before they hatch | Don’t count on something good happening until it’s happened. | by itself |
| Don’t cry over spilt milk | There’s no reason to complain about something that can’t be fixed | by itself |
| Don’t give up your day job | You’re not very good at this | by itself |
| Don’t put all your eggs in one basket | What you’re doing is too risky | by itself |
| Every cloud has a silver lining | Good things come after bad things | by itself |
| Get a taste of your own medicine | Get treated the way you’ve been treating others (negative) | as part of a sentence |
| Give someone the cold shoulder | Ignore someone | as part of a sentence |
| Go on a wild goose chase | To do something pointless | as part of a sentence |
| Good things come to those who wait | Be patient | by itself |
| He has bigger fish to fry | He has bigger things to take care of than what we are talking about now | by itself |
| He’s a chip off the old block | The son is like the father | by itself |
| Hit the nail on the head | Get something exactly right | by itself |
| Ignorance is bliss | You’re better off not knowing | by itself |
| It ain’t over till the fat lady sings | This isn’t over yet | by itself |
| It takes one to know one | You’re just as bad as I am | by itself |
| It’s a piece of cake | It’s easy | by itself |
| It’s raining cats and dogs | It’s raining hard | by itself |
| Kill two birds with one stone | Get two things done with a single action | by itself |
| Let the cat out of the bag | Give away a secret | as part of a sentence |
| Live and learn | I made a mistake | by itself |
| Look before you leap | Take only calculated risks | by itself |
| On thin ice | On probation. If you make another mistake, there will be trouble. | as part of a sentence |
| Once in a blue moon | Rarely | as part of a sentence |
| Play devil’s advocate | To argue the opposite, just for the sake of argument | as part of a sentence |
| Put something on ice | Put a projet on hold | as part of a sentence |
| Rain on someone’s parade | To spoil something | as part of a sentence |
| Saving for a rainy day | Saving money for later | as part of a sentence |
| Slow and steady wins the race | Reliability is more important than speed | by itself |
| Spill the beans | Give away a secret | as part of a sentence |
| Take a rain check | Postpone a plan | as part of a sentence |
| Take it with a grain of salt | Don’t take it too seriously | as part of a sentence |
| The ball is in your court | It’s your decision | by itself |
| The best thing since sliced bread | A really good invention | as part of a sentence |
| The devil is in the details | It looks good from a distance, but when you look closer, there are problems | by itself |
| The early bird gets the worm | The first people who arrive will get the best stuff | by itself |
| The elephant in the room | The big issue, the problem people are avoiding | as part of a sentence |
| The whole nine yards | Everything, all the way. | as part of a sentence |
| There are other fish in the sea | It’s ok to miss this opportunity. Others will arise. | by itself |
| There’s a method to his madness | He seems crazy but actually he’s clever | by itself |
| There’s no such thing as a free lunch | Nothing is entirely free | by itself |
| Throw caution to the wind | Take a risk | as part of a sentence |
| You can’t have your cake and eat it too | You can’t have everything | by itself |
| You can’t judge a book by its cover | This person or thing may look bad, but it’s good inside | by itself |
اقرأ أيضا: كيفية انهاء العلاقات باحترام؟
