Colloquial English Words and Phrases to Learn

English is a remarkably rich and diverse language; so, for those who’d like to increase their knowledge and vocabulary acumen, there are some colloquial English words and phrases to learn that should be at the top of the list for any ESL student. Many of these you’ve already heard, but you may not know their history or their exact meaning. The genesis of phrases and expressions so many of us use daily, without even thinking about them, is a fascinating journey.

Sources of Commonly Used Words

You may not crack open Shakespeare frequently, or even glance at a Bible, yet some of the most common expressions English speakers use are derived just from those two sources.

• Shakespeare was an incredibly popular playwright in his day. His plays weren’t meant just for the highly educated or wealthy; common peasants sat in his audiences and greatly enjoyed the entertainment he brought them.

• Literacy wasn’t that common in Shakespeare’s day in the late sixteenth century, but one of the books everyone would have had a close acquaintance with was the King James version of the Bible. Shakespeare, writing for the masses and a man of his own country, frequently used biblical metaphors and phrases.

People in modern times may not easily get the allusions, but Shakespeare’s patrons, even if they couldn’t read, would know the biblical stories and phrases to which he was referring.

Popular Shakespearean Phrases

Some of the most common colloquial English words and phrases include:

• Dead as a doornail - From King Henry VI. The expression refers to the large nails used to stud doors in medieval buildings. The nails were nailed flat on the opposite side of the door, hence, a nail that was no longer useable, or "dead."

• A sorry sight - From Macbeth. This means an unpleasant-looking view or aspect.

• All that glitters is not gold - From The Merchant of Venice. This is a variation of "all that glistens." Shakespeare may not have invented the phrase, but he certainly popularized it.

• All the world’s a stage - From As You Like It.

• All’s well that ends well - Is the title of a Shakespeare play.

Other Colloquial English Words and Phrases

Who can deny that "brevity is the soul of wit"? It’s self-explanatory, and part of a famous monologue in Hamlet.

Ever notice how candy at a kid’s birthday party disappears "in the twinkling of an eye"? Shakespeare used that expression in The Merchant of Venice, but this another instance where he took his inspiration from the Bible. That phrase appears in 1 Corinthians, and is used to describe how at the end of time, God will raise the dead for the last judgment - a concept with which Englishmen of Shakespeare’s time would have been very familiar.

If you’ve ever found yourself "in a pickle," that is, in a confused, mixed-up situation, don’t fret. Shakespeare’s characters in The Tempest had similar problems, as they described in using that phrase. (This is another instance of Shakespeare "borrowing" an expression from an older manuscript of another writer.)

If you’ve been warned by your frugal old grandmother, "neither a borrower nor a lender be," you can thank Will Shakespeare for placing those words on her tongue. That’s another expression from Hamlet that gained popular traction over the centuries. It was so popular that Benjamin Franklin used it as one of his aphorisms in his Poor Richard’s Almanac.

A Pound of Flesh

Ever pay a credit card bill with interest rates that made it seem impossible you’d ever get rid of the balance owed? You might think the credit card issuer wanted a "pound of flesh" from you. That phrase was popular centuries before that type of borrowing, and it was Shakespeare who popularized it in The Merchant of Venice.

So take a look at your language. Your life and vocabulary can be immensely enriched by the variety of English words and phrases in everyday use.