A Piece of Cake

An idiom is a phrase you cannot decode from the words in it, which is why a dictionary does not help and why idioms are usually the last thing to click. This book groups them by the situation you will actually meet them in rather than alphabetically, and gives each one a plain-English meaning, natural examples, a note on who you can safely say it to, and a quiz at the end of every chapter.

For the point where your English is strong but the room is still using phrases nobody ever taught you.

You do not have to sound like anyone else. You have to be understood — and that is a much smaller, much more reachable thing.

Evangeline Smith — linguist, communications strategist and Business English instructor.