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Tasks: Idioms and Proverbs

A man is walking in the rain holding an umbrella while cats and dogs are 'raining' down on him. Photo.
Raining cats and dogs. Govva: David Blackwell / CC BY-SA 4.0

Drag and drop:

Are you able to match the idioms and the correct definitions?

Act it out:

Work in groups of three or four. Choose a random idiom from the box below. Present the idiom to the rest of the group and make them guess which one it is. You can do this in two ways:

  • mime the idiom (you are not allowed to speak, but you can make sounds)

  • draw the idiom

To get one point you should be able to guess the correct saying and explain what it means. The one with the most points wins.

If you don’t remember what they mean, you will find them all in the document you can download below.

Good luck! Or break a leg ...

Idioms that you can choose from

  • a penny for your thoughts

  • barking up the wrong tree

  • beat around the bush

  • burn bridges

  • calm before the storm

  • cost an arm and a leg

  • curiosity killed the cat

  • cutting corners

  • fit as a fiddle

  • have bigger fish to fry

  • have your head in the clouds

  • hear something straight from the horse's mouth

  • it ain’t over till the fat lady sings

  • it's a piece of cake

  • it's not rocket science

  • it's raining cats and dogs

  • let sleeping dogs lie

  • miss the boat

  • on cloud nine

  • rain on someone's parade

  • the ball is in your court

  • the best thing since sliced bread

  • the elephant in the room

  • wrap your head around something

Fiillat

Translate:


We use a lot of idioms and proverbs in Norwegian as well. Sometimes you can recognise the English expression; other times the cultural context is different but the meaning is the same.

Look at the idioms presented below. What would be the equivalent Norwegian saying? And what do they mean?

  1. Carry coals to Newcastle

  2. To behave like a bull in a china shop

  3. To promise the Earth

  4. To be a henpecked husband

  5. To take something at face value

  6. To mind your own business

  7. To smell a rat

  8. To be in deep water

  9. Birds of a feather flock together

  10. To strike while the iron is hot

  11. Storm in a teacup

  12. Out of the frying pan, into the fire

  13. Can't have your cake and eat it too

Key

  1. Å gå over bekken etter vann (= to do a pointless action)

  2. Å oppføre seg som en elefant i et glassmagasin (= a person who is very careless in the way that they move or behave)

  3. Å love gull og grønne skoger (= to promise people greater things than you will ever be able to give them)

  4. Å være tøffelhelt (= a man continually harassed or tormented by the persistent nagging of his wife)

  5. Å ta noe for god fisk (= to accept something as it appears to be, rather than studying it more closely)

  6. Å feie for egen dør (= stop meddling in other people's lives)

  7. Å lukte lunta (= beginning to suspect trickery or deception)

  8. Å være på dypt vann (= to be in a difficult or awkward situation)

  9. Like barn leker best (= people with similar interests and tastes often find each other)

  10. Å smi mens jernet er varmt (= to do something immediately while there is still a good chance of a good result)

  11. Storm i et vannglass (= a lot of unnecessary anger and worry about a matter that is not important)

  12. Fra asken til ilden (= going from a bad situation to one that is worse)

  13. Få både i pose of sekk (= you cannot have it both ways, you must make a choice)

Write:

Write a story (300-400 words) about anything you like (your family, a holiday that you have had, a day you will never forget...). Include as many idioms and proverbs as you can. Make sure that the expressions you choose fit the context of your story.

Read the story to a partner. How many expressions were you able to include? Are you sure you understand their meaning?


Guoskevaš sisdoallu

Fágaávdnasat
Idioms and Proverbs

An article that looks at he origin of some common idioms and proverbs