Phrases and Idioms to Describe Daily Routines! Learn common daily routines idioms and expressions with meaning, ESL picture and example sentences.
Daily Routines Idioms and Phrases
Expressions and Idioms to Describe Your Daily Activities
Learn these phrases to express your daily activities in English.
- (A) Walk in the Park
- Beat Someone to the Punch
- Cooking Up a Storm
- Crash a Party
- Give Something a Whirl
- Have a Tough Row to Hoe
- Hit the Books
- Hit the Hay
- Home Away from Home
- In Touch
- Knock Some Sense Into
- Lose Touch
- Make Someone’s Day
- Me Time
- On a Roll
- Pass with Flying Colors
- Play With Fire
- Put a Thumb on the Scale
- Ring a Bell
- Spin A Yarn
- Take The Mickey (Piss) (Out Of Someone)
- Trip the Light Fantastic
Daily Routines Idioms with Meaning and Examples
Idiomatic expressions to describe your daily activities.
Daily Routines Idioms (A, B, C)
Common phrases and idioms to express your daily activities that start with A, B, C.
(A) Walk in the Park
- Meaning: Something simple or easy, in comparison to something more difficult
- Example: Calculating the interest rate is a walk in the park compared to doing a regression analysis.
Beat Someone to the Punch
- Meaning: Do something before or faster than someone else
- Example: I wanted to buy a great used car I saw yesterday, but someone beat me to the punch – today it’s gone.
Cooking Up a Storm
- Meaning: Cooking a great deal of food
- Example: You should come over to our house for New Year’s! My wife will be cooking up a storm, and we’ll have football on television.
Crash a Party
- Meaning: To attend a party without being invited
- Example: Let’s go out and crash a party. There are dozens of parties tonight, and nobody will be keeping track of guest lists.
Daily Routines Idioms (G, H, I)
Common phrases and idioms to express your daily activities that start with G, H, I.
Give Something a Whirl
- Meaning: Attempt something without being totally familiar with it
- Example: I need someone for a relational-database project. – I’ve never tried one, but I’ll give it a whirl.
Have a Tough Row to Hoe
- Meaning: Be faced with a task that is difficult because of unfavorable conditions
- Example: I’m not surprised that Kristin didn’t meet this month’s sales quota. She has a tough row to hoe with her staff – they’re incompetent.
Hit the Books
- Meaning: To study (generally said of students)
- Example: OK, I’ll come to the party Friday. But Saturday it’ll be time to hit the books.
Hit the Hay
- Meaning: To go to bed
- Example: I have to get up at 5 tomorrow morning. It’s time to hit the hay.
Note: “Hit the sack” is also used.
Home Away from Home
- Meaning: A habitual hangout; a place one frequents often and where one feels welcome
- Example: That corner bar is my home away from home – I spend an hour there after work almost every day.
In Touch
- Meaning: In contact
- Example: I’ll be out of town this weekend, but I’ll be in touch when I get back Sunday night.
Note: You can also say “get in touch,” contact someone.
Daily Routines Idioms (K, L, M)
Common phrases and idioms to express your daily activities that start with K, L, M.
Knock Some Sense Into
- Meaning: To beat someone in order to teach him/her a lesson. May be used figuratively.
- Example: When I was little and behaved badly, my father could be counted on to knock some sense into me.
Lose Touch
- Meaning: To fall out of contact
- Example: Social media are great for finding old friends with whom you’ve lost touch.
Make Someone’s Day
- Meaning: Do something pleasing that puts someone in a good mood
- Example: Thanks for the flowers! They really made my day.
Me Time
- Meaning: Activities undertaken for one’s own enjoyment, free from responsibilities to others.
- Example: On Saturday I’m usually busy with the kids, but Sunday afternoon is me time. My husband takes them, and I usually go to the mall.
Daily Routines Idioms (O, P, R)
Common phrases and idioms to express your daily activities that start with O, P, R.
On a Roll
- Meaning: Having a consistent run of success
- Example: I’m on a roll! I got a top score on my exam, I got a new job, and I have a date with a great guy on Saturday.
Pass with Flying Colors
- Meaning: To succeed brilliantly, as on an exam or other test
- Example: My mother really likes you! You passed with flying colors.
Play With Fire
- Meaning: Do something very risky
- Example: You’re playing with fire if you keep driving that car-the floor under the seat is almost completely rusted out.
Put a Thumb on the Scale
- Meaning: Try to influence a discussion in an unfair way, cheat
- Example: City leaders put a thumb on the scale during discussion of the new stadium, never mentioning the alternative side favored by community activists.
Ring a Bell
- Meaning: Sound familiar
- Example: The name Susan Thompson rings a bell. I think she worked here-let me look it up.
Daily Routines Idioms (S, T)
Common phrases and idioms to express your daily activities that start with S, T.
Spin A Yarn
- Meaning: Tell a story
- Example: Sophia spun a long yarn about missing the bus, getting caught in traffic, and having to visit a sick friend, but I think she just overslept.
Note: You can also use “yarn” by itself to mean a story. Both of these are slightly old-fashioned but still in use.
Take The Mickey (Piss) (Out Of Someone)
- Meaning: Make fun of or ridicule someone
- Example: She’s our flat mate. We take the mickey out of her all the time, but we love her.
Trip the Light Fantastic
- Meaning: Dance well; do ballroom dancing
- Example: There’s a live tango group playing tonight. Let’s go down and trip the light fantastic!
Note: This is extremely old-fashioned.
Daily Activities Idioms and Phrases | Image
Learn common idiomatic expressions to describe your daily activities in English.
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