Let’s Talk About Feelings! A Guide to Expressing Your Feelings in English (part 4)
This is the fourth part of our series on expressing your feelings in English. We started off this series with two articles about words, and one article about idioms that express all sorts of feelings in English. If you’re keen to read the other articles in this series, you can do so here: part 1, part 2, and part 3. In today’s article, we’re continuing the part of the series in which you’ll learn about idioms that you can use to express feelings in English.
Let’s get started:
To be hopping mad
This idiom means to be extremely angry, enraged, or furious. It describes a state in which someone is restlessly angry and (metaphorically) enraged enough to jump up and down.
‘To be hopping mad’ in an example:
She was hopping mad when her two-year-old threw her phone in the river.
To be even-keeled
This idiom means to be well-balanced, stable and unlikely to make sudden changes.
‘To be even-keeled’ in an example:
Despite his overwhelming success as an actor, he always remained even-keeled.
To be as hard as nails
This idiom describes someone who is ‘tough’, sometimes even aggressive and does not show (or feel) emotions like fear, empathy or worry. This idiom is most often used in a negative sense but can also sometimes be used in a positive sense.
‘To be as hard as nails’ in an example:
My boss was tough as nails when he made his secretary, who has worked for him for 30 years, redundant. He showed no compassion whatsoever.
To flip a lid
This idiom means to become extremely angry, to the point where you lose control over yourself.
‘To flip a lid’ in an example:
When the child asked for sweets in the supermarket, and his mother said no, he flipped his lid and threw himself on the floor.
To be (as) cool as a cucumber
This idiom means to be very calm and relaxed, especially if the situation makes that calm reaction unexpected.
‘To be (as) cool as a cucumber’ in an example:
She stayed cool as a cucumber when her hair set fire while blowing out the candles on her birthday cake.
To go to pieces
This idiom means to be so upset that you become unable to think clearly and control your emotions. This idiom is often used when talking about grief.
‘To go to pieces’ in an example:
After my cat died, I completely went to pieces and couldn’t stop crying for days.
To be over the moon
This idiom means to be very delighted and happy.
‘To be over the moon’ in an example:
She was over the moon with her pink sweatsuit.
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As I mentioned earlier, this article concludes our series on idioms - I hope you enjoyed it and learnt something from it! Next month, I’m sharing an article about English books I recommend adding to your reading list this summer, depending on your interest and English proficiency.
Until next time :-)