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To say that you are in good health, you can use the expressions 'as fit as a fiddle' or 'fighting fit'.
(Yes, 'fiddle' is another word for 'violin'. No, I don't understand the origins of this expression either!)
To say that you are OK ( but are not in really good health) use 'I can't complain'
(As I'm still off work, I've not been able to check out if this expression is used in US English. I'll let you know later.)
Here are some expressions to indicate you are not in good health.
Here is an expression for bad headaches.
Here is an expression to indicate a lot of pain.
Here is an expression to indicate a serious illness.
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If you get discouraged, you 'lose heart'.
- When I saw how good the other contestants were I began to lose heart a bit.
- Don't lose heart. We can still do well.
At the moment you feel disappointed or discouraged your 'heart sinks'.
- My heart sank when I saw how much work was left to do.
- Her heart sank when she heard the bad news.
If you really really want to do or have something, you 'set your heart on' it.
- I've set my heart on getting a Ferrari before I am thirty.
- She set her heart on getting that job so she's very disappointed.
If you find encouragement from something, you 'take heart'.
- I took heart from your words of encouragement.
- We should take heart from our improved performance in Italy.
If you cannot refuse somebody something, even though you know it is not a good idea, you 'didn't have the heart to say no'.
- She really wanted to borrow it and I didn't have the heart to say no.
- When he pleaded with me, I didn't have the heart to say no.
If something will make you very sad, it will 'break your heart'.
- It breaks my heart to sell my car but it's become too unreliable.
- It breaks my heart to leave here. I've really enjoyed it.
If you care a lot about something, it is 'a subject close to your heart'.
- Fighting world hunger is a subject close to my heart.
- Punctuality is a subject close to my heart.
If somebody is very kind and generous to others, they have 'a heart of gold'.
- He appears bad –tempered but he's got a heart of gold.
- Under that gruff exterior lurks a heart of gold.
If you are no longer motivated to do something, your 'heart is not in it'.
- I'm going to give up this job. My heart is not in it any more.
- She went through the motions but her heart just wasn't in it.
Your truest inner feelings are your 'heart of hearts'.
- In my heart of hearts, I never really wanted to leave here.
- I'm happy in my management job but in my heart of hearts I'd rather still be a researcher.
If you change your mind, you 'have a change of heart'.
- We weren't going to give him the promotion but then we had a change of heart.
- After a change of heart, she finally agreed to move to Berlin.
If you are well-intentioned, your 'heart is in the right place'.
- He is a bit rude sometimes but his heart is in the right place.
- She makes a lot of mistakes but her heart is in the right place and she always does her best.
If you memorize something word by word you learn them 'by heart'.
- I've decided to learn the English irregular verbs by heart.
- There is no need to tell me about it. I've read so much about it that I know all the details by heart.
If you have an intimate discussion about your true feelings, you have a 'heart-to-heart' talk.
- Something is bothering him. I'm going to have a heart-to-heart talk with him and find out what it is.
- We need to have a heart-to-heart discussion and clear the air between us.
'At heart' can mean fundamentally, in one's deepest feelings.
- He is a good all-round manager but at heart he's an engineer.
- I want you to know that we have your best interests at heart in sending you to Berlin for a year.
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Remember that when we say 'I see' we can mean 'with my eyes' but we can also mean 'I understand'.
- I'm not very happy with your decision.
- I see. Is there anything I can do to persuade you?
If you don't understand the reason for doing something, you 'can't see the point'.
- I can't see the point in studying for this exam. I'll just fail anyway.
- He refuses to come to the meeting. He said he couldn't see the point.
If you communicate some information with no possible doubt, you 'make yourself clear'.
- I thought I had made myself clear. I need the report by lunchtime.
- I couldn't have made myself clearer. Everybody understood.
If you try to understand how a different person sees a situation, you try to see it from their 'point of view'.
- Try to see this from my point of view. I must have delivery by Friday or my production line will close down.
- We must ask everyone concerned for their point of view before we decide.
If you are aware of all the facts behind a decision, you take it with your 'eyes wide open'.
- There's no use complaining now. We took that decision with our eyes wide open.
- Keep your eyes wide open before marriage, half shut afterwards. (Benjamin Franklin)
If you persuade somebody to change their mind and agree with your point of view, they 'see reason'.
- He argued and argued but finally he saw reason.
- The workers asked for a 20% pay rise but finally they saw reason and accepted 3%.
If you are obsessed with yourself and your own problems, you 'can't see past the end of your nose'.
- She's so self-obsessed. She can't see past the end of her nose.
- It must have been obvious that I couldn't cope but he couldn't see past the end of his nose and didn't offer to help.
If you are unaware of a problem, you need to 'open your eyes'.
- Open your eyes. Nobody here likes you.
- He's too self-satisfied. He needs to open his eyes and take a good look at himself.
If somebody is pretending to be what they are not and you are aware of this, you have 'seen through them'.
- He claimed to have worked in Tokyo but I saw through him the minute we started talking about Japan.
- Most people see through his lies pretty quickly.
If you find out some information that really surprises you and change the way you feel, it is an 'eye-opener'.
- I thought he was a good salesperson but seeing him with a customer was a real eye-opener. He was useless.
- I thought I knew a lot about it but talking to Jenny was a real eye-opener. I learned so much.
When you look back on an event 'in hindsight', you can often learn from it.
- In hindsight, I wouldn't have started the negotiation so aggressively.
- I should have done things differently in hindsight.
Some racehorses wear 'blinkers' on their eyes to stop them from looking around and make them concentrate on the racetrack in front of them. When people don't consider all the possibilities, they are said to be 'blinkered'.
- They're a bunch of blinkered old men and won't consider any new ideas.
- He never listens to anybody else. He's blinkered.
When you are told or read something which enables you to understand something you didn't previously understand, you 'get the picture'.
- Thanks for telling me that. I get the picture
- So he's the boss's son? I get the picture. I wondered how someone so young was doing that job.
If you understand what somebody is explaining to you, you 'see what they mean'.
- OK. I see what you mean. There's no need to say any more.
- He was trying to explain something to me but I just didn't see what he meant.
If there was a misunderstanding and it is now all explained, you 'cleared it up'.
- I'm glad we've cleared up the misunderstanding about payment terms.
- We need to clear up this misunderstanding at once.
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If you 'pave the way' it means to make progress easier.
- The agreement on trade paves the way for better relations between the countries.
- The discovery paved the way to the development of a new drug to treat diabetes.
If you are 'set in your ways' , you resist any changes.
- He's only 45 but he is so set in his ways he could be 75.
- I'm too set in my ways to accept any changes.
If you climb through the ranks of a company and reach a high position, you have 'worked your way to the top'.
- He started here as a young man and gradually worked his way to the top of the company.
- The best bosses have usually worked their way to the top and not been appointed from outside.
If you want to buy something for $200 and the person wants you to pay $300, you can agree to 'meet halfway' and pay $250.
- You want 600. I want 400. Let's meet each other halfway and agree on 500.
- She wanted six weeks and he wanted ten. So they met each other halfway and decided on eight.
If you speak well (and usually persuasively), you have 'a way with words'.
- Let her talk to them. She has a way with words.
- I know you have a way with words but you're not going to get me to change my mind.
If you stop somebody from doing something, you 'stand in their way'.
- I won't stand in your way if you want to apply for that job.
- Nothing is going to stand in my way. I'm going to do it.
Sometimes discussions don't stay on the subject and go 'way off' course.
- We've wandered way off the subject.
- I took a wrong turning and went way off course.
If you make a lot of effort and inconvenience yourself to help somebody, you 'go out of your way' to help them.
- I went out of my way to help him and he didn't even thank me.
- Don't go out of your way to do it but, if you see any Cadbury's chocolate, will you get me some?
Some people want both to work less and to earn more money. They want to 'have it both ways'.
- You can't have it both ways. Which is more important to you?
- A full-time job and a full-time family carer? It's difficult to have it both ways.
If you want to avoid somebody, you 'keep out of their way'.
- The boss is in a bad mood. Keep out of her way.
- I wasn't deliberately keeping out of your way.
If you change the order of two things, you put them 'the other way round'.
- As Brian hasn't arrived yet, we're going to put the first two presentations the other way round and start with Jane's.
- It's not that she's mad with him. It's the other way round. He's mad with her.
'To my way of thinking' means 'in my opinion'.
- Jane is a better speaker to my way of thinking.
- To my way of thinking, we need to find a better candidate.
If you have no opinion between two choices, you don't mind 'either way'.
- Drive, if you prefer. I don't mind either way.
- We could meet here or there. Either way is good for me.
'On the way' means that it is coming.
- I have a new baby on the way.
- She's on her way but got held up in traffic.
If things have changed a lot, they have 'come a long way'.
- We started out in one small office but we've come a long way since then.
- We've both come a long way since I first met you as an office junior.
When you give some information as incidental to the main conversation, you can introduce it by saying 'by the way'.
- By the way, did I tell you that Leslie is going to Ghana?
- By the way, I'm taking tomorrow off.
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If you have an idea that has become an obsession, you have a 'bee in your bonnet'.
- He's got a bee in his bonnet about politically correct language.
- She's got a bee in her bonnet about recycling.
When somebody loses a boyfriend or girlfriend, we can tell them that there are lots more possible candidates with an expression about fish:
- There are plenty more fish in the sea.
- There are other fish in the sea.
If you disclose a secret, you 'let the cat out of the bag'.
- The President's visit was supposed to be confidential but somebody must have let the cat out of the bag.
- He thought she knew the secret and so he told her and let the cat out of the bag.
If you are in an environment or doing an activity where you know nothing, you are 'like a fish out of water'.
- When they started talking about nuclear physics I felt like a fish out of water.
- I couldn't understand anything I read or heard in Tokyo and I was a real fish out of water.
If there is a difficult situation but you take action to confront it you are taking 'the bull by the horns'.
- I decided to take the bull by the horns and go in and ask for a raise.
- If he's not doing his job, you are going to have to take the bull by the horns and tell him.
If somebody is very restless, they have 'ants in their pants' (often shortened in US English to 'antsy'.)
- He can't keep still. He's got ants in his pants.
- The long wait made the children antsy.
A member of a family or other group who is embarrassing, undesirable or disreputable is called a 'black sheep'.
- I was always considered the black sheep of my family because I was a socialist.
- My uncle went to prison and is considered the black sheep of the family.
'Until/till the cows come home' means 'for a very long time'.
- They could argue until the cows come home and still not reach an agreement.
- "I could dance with you till the cows come home. Better still, I'll dance with the cows and you come home." (Groucho Marx)
In British English, for a very small space we can say that :
- There is no room to swing a cat.
(A cat was an old form of whip – not the animal!)
If you behave stupidly, carelessly or in a very casual manner, you 'monkey around'.
- Stop monkeying around and get on with some work!
- Who has been monkeying around with this machine?
If you are very suspicious about something, you 'smell a rat'.
- They said they will honor the contract but I smell a rat.
- He said he was qualified but I smelled a rat, checked up on him and found out that he wasn't.
If something 'goes to the dogs', it is in a bad state or even ruined.
- Since he took over as chairman, the company has gone to the dogs.
- This part of town has really gone to the dogs in the last few years.
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If you search for something which is futile, pointless or unattainable, you are on a 'wild-goose chase'.
- He sent us on a wild-goose chase for a book that isn't being published until next year.
- She sent us on a wild-goose chase looking for their beach house.
A small sum of money (perhaps just comparatively small) can be called 'chicken feed'.
- The salary they were offering was chicken feed compared to what I could earn as a consultant.
- You can only make chicken feed profits teaching English on the Internet.
If money will prevent poverty, it will 'keep the wolf from the door'.
- The salary won't allow me to buy very much but it should keep the wolf from the door.
- We need to get in some immediate income to keep the wolf from the door.
Sometimes when you lose patience with something, it is something very minor which causes this, even though you didn't lose patience when there were other more serious problems earlier. This is the 'straw that broke the camel's back'.
- I know it wasn't a major problem but it was the straw that broke the camel's back as far as I was concerned.
- When they told me I had to work on Christmas Day, it was the straw that broke the camel's back and I left.
If somewhere is very dirty or untidy, we can say it is a 'pigsty'.
- This room looks like a pigsty.
- The factory was like a pigsty with materials everywhere.
If you quarrel all the time with somebody, you ' fight like cat and dog' .
- They fought like cat and dog over the decision.
- They can't work together. They fight like cat and dog.
The best or greatest thing is 'the cat's whiskers'.
- Now he has been promoted, he thinks he's the cat's whiskers.
- Don't start thinking you are the cat's whiskers because you are not.
If you are very nervous or uneasy, there are a couple of expression using 'cat'.
- He's like a cat on a hot tin roof.
- She's like a cat on hot bricks.
If you look dirty, messy or bedraggled, you 'look like something the cat brought/dragged in'.
- Tidy yourself up. You look like something the cat brought in.
- He turned up looking like something the cat dragged in.
If you have absolutely no chance, you have a 'cat in hell's chance'.
- We have a cat in hell's chance of getting the contract.
- He has a cat in hell's chance of going out with her.
If you are being teased cruelly by someone without knowing exactly what their intentions are, they are 'playing cat and mouse' with you.
- They are playing cat and mouse with us about renewing the contract.
- I don't have any time for these cat and mouse games.
When you do something, often suddenly, that is generally disturbing or upsetting, you 'put the cat among the pigeons'.
- The announcement of the takeover by Glazer has really put the cat among the pigeons.
- We need to find a way to put the cat among the pigeons and shake them up a bit.
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If you are 'at the end of your tether' or 'at the end of your rope' (US only) you are so tired, weary or annoyed with something that you feel unable to deal with it any more.
- He hasn't been able to find a job and is at the end of his tether.
- That baby hasn't stopped crying all day and I'm at the end of my rope.
If you are worried or upset about something because you have tried every possible solution and nothing has worked, you are 'at your wits' end'.
- Nothing I've tried seems to work. I'm at my wits' end.
- She can't get him to follow her orders. She's at her wits' end.
If something keeps on repeating and it annoys you, it 'gets on your nerves'. (This is informal.)
- His constant talking is getting on my nerves.
- We don't work well together. We get on each other's nerves.
If you 'add insult to injury', you make a bad situation even worse.
- He was an hour late for the meeting and then, to add insult to injury, he spent twenty minutes on the telephone.
- To add insult to injury, not only did she not come to the meeting but she then insisted that she had never been invited.
'The last straw' is the last in a series of unpleasant events which makes you decide that the situation cannot continue.
- Working in the company was not very nice so, when they asked me to take a pay cut, it was the last straw and I left.
- The last straw was when he came back from lunch at 4.00. I sacked him on the spot.
If someone keeps doing something and it is making you very angry, it is 'driving you round/around the bend'. (This expression is informal.)
- Her constant moaning is driving me around the bend.
- She rings me up every week trying to sell me something. It's driving me round the bend.
Another similar expression is 'driving me up the wall'. (This expression is informal.)
- The way she always arrives one hour late is driving me up the wall.
- All these telephone calls are driving me up the wall.
A similar expression, but more formal, is 'driving me to distraction'.
- The way he whistles all the time is driving me to distraction.
- Her insolence is driving me to distraction.
If you are 'tearing your hair out', you are very frustrated.
- I've been tearing my hair out trying to timetable this meeting.
- I'm tearing my hair out trying to solve the problem.
If you say that you 'will kick yourself', it means that you will be angry with yourself for missing an opportunity.
- I could have kicked myself for wasting time earlier when I found out I'd missed the plane by only five minutes.
- If I don't buy one now and they sell out quickly, I'll kick myself.
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If you are 'out of your depth', you don't have the necessary knowledge, experience or skill to deal with a particular situation or subject.
- When she started talking about quantum physics, I felt completely out of my depth.
- I'm an engineer. I feel out of my depth when we discuss accounting problems.
If you are on 'the crest of a wave', you are being extremely successful or popular. If something is popular, you can try to 'ride (on) the wave'.
- James Blunt is on the crest of the wave in the UK at the moment. You can hear his music everywhere.
- He became successful riding on the wave of using British actors as villains in Hollywood movies.
If you don't get any training before you start a job or activity, you are 'thrown in at the deep end'.
- Everyone was off sick so I was thrown in at the deep end.
- The best way to learn the job is to be thrown in at the deep end.
If you are struggling to spend less than you earn, you are trying to 'keep your head above water'.
- Since they increased my rent, I've been struggling to keep my head above water.
- With the new sponsorship, the team should be able to keep its head above water.
If a company has to stop business because of losses, it 'goes under'.
- The company couldn't afford to pay its suppliers and it went under.
- In this economic climate, a lot of businesses will go under.
If you are in a very difficult situation, you are 'in deep water'.
- If the bank doesn't give us this loan, we could be in deep water.
- He was caught stealing from his company and now he's in deep water.
If you 'make a splash', you get a lot of public attention.
- We need to make a splash by holding a cocktail party for journalists.
- She made quite a splash when she wore such a small dress to the film premiere.
If a noise is 'drowned out' , you cannot hear it because of other noises.
- The sounds of the telephone were drowned out by the noise from upstairs.
- His speech was drowned out by the chanting from the demonstrators.
If you 'test the water', you try to find out what people think about an idea or a situation before you take action.
- Before you decide to sell your house in England and move to Spain, why not go there for a trial three months to test the water?
- This is a big project. We should test the water before making such a large investment.
If a situation is 'sink or swim', it either fails or succeeds.
- Either this works or we are all out of a job. It's sink or swim.
- You'll get no training here. It's sink or swim.
If you 'dive into' something, you do it without really thinking about what you are doing.
- He dived into the project with a lot of enthusiasm but not much thought.
- Let's take our time. There's no point in diving into this without thinking.
If you are 'treading water', you are staying in the same place without making any progress.
- I'm just treading water, waiting for a job with a better salary.
- People lose motivation if they think they are just treading water in their careers.
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If you have absolutely no knowledge of something, you have ‘no idea’ about it.
- I have no idea what caused my computer to crash.
- I have no idea where she is.
If something is not at all surprising, it is ‘no wonder’ that it happens.
- You are only wearing a small tee-shirt. No wonder you are cold.
- He’s always late for work. It’s no wonder that his boss is unhappy with him.
If it is impossible that something will happen, there is ‘no way’ it will happen.
- There’s no way I’m letting you borrow my new Porsche.
- If you go to the interview in jeans, there’s no way that you’ll get the job.
Another way of saying this is to say that there is ‘no chance’ it will happen.
- I have no chance of getting the promotion.
- There’s no chance of us catching the plane now.
If something is serious or difficult, it is ‘no joke’.
- Addressing 5000 envelopes by hand will be no joke.
- With six people off with flu, working here is no joke.
If a situation is unpleasant or difficult, it is ‘no picnic’.
- Bringing up six children is no picnic.
- It’s no picnic running a company in France.
If you have no evidence of something, you see ‘no sign’ of it.
- I see no sign of an economic upturn.
- There’s no sign of any improvement.
If there is no evidence or justification for something, there is ‘no reason’ for it.
- There’s no reason to be so pessimistic.
- There’s no reason to take your anger out on me.
If there is no reward or objective in doing something, there is ‘no point’ in doing it.
- There’s no point in working hard when the shop is closing down on Friday.
- I see no point in asking her as she always turns down our invitations.
If something is very probable or highly likely, there is ‘no doubt’ about it.
- No doubt the American relay runners are very unhappy that they dropped the baton.
- He wants to see me and no doubt is going to ask for a better salary.
