Idioms Exercises: Idioms about Conversation and Communication

Fill in the blanks to form an idiom related to conversation and communication. The idioms used in this exercise are listed after the practice activity. It may be a good idea to study the list of idioms before trying the exercise.

Also see the Idioms Builder for practice with hundreds of idioms (including the idioms in this exercise).

 

 

Idioms about Conversation and Communication

Keeping/Divulging Secrets

let the cat out of the bag
To let the cat out of the bag means to reveal a secret by accident.
spill the beans
To spill the beans means to reveal a secret.
lips are sealed
If someone’s lips are sealed, it means they are not going to disclose information.
keep something under one’s hat
To keep something under one’s hat means to not disclose information to other people.

 

Lies/Dishonesty

(little) white lie
A (little) white lie is a lie told to be polite.
stretch the truth
To stretch the truth means to be untruthful by exaggerating.

 

Being Direct/Indirect

speak one’s mind
To speak one’s mind means to say what one really thinks.
beat around the bush
To beat around the bush means to avoid talking about what is important or what is on someone’s mind.
get right to the point
To get right to the point means to immediately start talking about what is important or what is on someone’s mind.

 

Getting in Contact with Someone

touch base
To touch base means to check in with someone.
drop someone a line
To drop someone a line means to write a short correspondence to someone.
get a hold of someone
To get a hold of someone means to get in contact with someone.

 

Other Idioms about Conversation and Communication

get something off one’s chest
To get something off one’s chest means to talk about something that has been bothering someone for a while.
off the top of one’s head
If something is said off the top of one’s head, it means the speaker is speaking without giving something much thought or doing any research on the topic.
put someone on the spot
To put someone on the spot means to force someone to answer a difficult question without prior warning.
straight from the horse’s mouth
Straight from the horse’s mouth means straight from the source.
to make a long story short
To make a long story short communicates that the speaker is only going to give the basic facts.
take something with a grain of salt
To take something with a grain of salt means to be skeptical about someone’s claims.
through the grapevine
If information is heard through the grapevine, it means the information was obtained through informal gossip or communication.
in the loop
Someone in the loop is part of a group that is regularly provided information about something.
out of the loop
Someone out of the loop is not part of a group that is regularly provided information about something.
a mile a minute
A mile a minute means extremely fast.
talk something over
To talk something over means to discuss something at length with the goal of making a decision.
I’m all ears
If someone is all ears, it means they are listening attentively and giving their undivided attention.
beat a dead horse
To beat a dead horse means: 1) to waste one’s time trying to do something that isn’t going to happen
2) to continue speaking about something that has already been resolved.
on the tip of one’s tongue
If something is on the tip of one’s tongue, it means that the person is almost able to remember the name of something.
put one’s foot in one’s mouth
To put one’s foot in one’s mouth means to say something stupid or hurtful that the speaker regrets saying.
shoot the breeze
To shoot the breeze means to casually chat about nothing in particular.
tongue in cheek
Something said tongue in cheek is said sarcastically.
like talking to a brick wall
We say that someone is like talking to a brick wall if they aren’t listening to their conversation partner.

Also see the Idioms Builder for practice with hundreds of idioms (including the idioms in this exercise).