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American phrases and Sayings

435 Phrases 'Born in the USA'

American phrases and Sayings No country has a closer association with the language of Olde Englande than the USA. From the days of the first Puritan settlers to recent cross-Atlantic tweetings, the two countries have shared in the development of English.

Many words and phrases used in the USA have retained their Elizabethan English meanings and pronunciations that have long disappeared in England itself.

There are many American phrases which are used in the USA but haven't been adopted anywhere else. Example of this are:

These, and many others, are widely understood in the US, but would procure puzzled looks in other English-speaking countries.

The list below are of (some of) the many English phrases that were 'coined in the USA' and now wisely used around the world.

A bigger bang for your buck

A dog is a man's best friend

A foot in the door

A good man is hard to find

A hard man is good to find

A house is not a home

A miss is as good as a mile

A picture is worth a thousand words

A piece of cake

A piece of the action

A rising tide lifts all boats

A rose is a rose is a rose

A shot in the arm

A sledgehammer to crack a nut

A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle

Above my pay grade

Absent-minded professor

Ace in the hole

Acid test - The

Across the pond

All hat and no cattle

All publicity is good publicity

All singing, all dancing

All you can eat

An accident waiting to happen

An arm and a leg

An axe to grind

An offer he can't refuse

Another day, another dollar

As easy as taking candy from a baby

As happy as a clam

Attack is the best form of defence

Away with the fairies

Back to the drawing board

Back-seat driver - A

Bad hair day - A

Balling the jack

Ballpark figure - A

Barking up the wrong tree

Bats in the belfry

Be afraid, be very afraid

Bee's knees - The

Behind every great man there's a great woman

Behind the eight ball

Bells and whistles

Bet your bottom dollar

Between a rock and a hard place

Big Apple - The

Big cheese - The

Big fish in a small pond

Bigger bang for your buck - A

Birds and the bees - The

Blast from the past - A

Blonde bombshell

Blue-plate special

Born with a silver spoon in one's mouth

Bought the farm

Bunny boiler - A

Bury the hatchet

Channel surfing

Charm offensive

Chick flick - A

Clear blue water

Climb on the bandwagon

Close, but no cigar

Cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey

Compassion fatigue

Concrete overcoat

Cost an arm and a leg

Customer is always right - The

Cut to the chase

Cute as a bug's ear

Dead ringer - A

Designer stubble

Diamond is forever - A

Differently abled

Dollars to doughnuts

Doesn't know **** from Shinola

Don't call us, we'll call you

Don't get mad, get even

Down to the wire

Driving while black

Drop-dead gorgeous

Elephant in the room

Elvis has left the building

Ethnic cleansing

Excuse me while I kiss this guy

Extraordinary rendition

Failing to plan is planning to fail

Famous for fifteen minutes

Fashion victim - A

Feeding frenzy - A

Fifteen minutes of fame

Finger lickin' good

Fish or cut bait

Five o'clock shadow

Flavor of the month - The

Fly by the seat of one's pants

Fly off the handle

Fly on the wall

Foot in the door - A

From sea to shining sea

Fuddy-duddy - A

Full of **** and vinegar

Funny farm - The

Genius is one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration

Get down to brass tacks

Get your dander up

Go the whole hog

Go to hell in a handbasket

Go to the mattresses

Good riddance to bad rubbish

Goody, goody gumdrops

Got my mojo working

Great balls of fire

Happy as a clam

Hard man is good to find - A

Hasta la vista, baby

Have an axe to grind

Heard it through the grapevine

Heavens to Betsy

Heavens to Murgatroyd

Heebie-jeebies - The

Hell in a handbasket

Hell's half acre

High on the hog

High, wide and handsome

Hold your horses

Home is where the heart is

Hot off the press

Houston, we have a problem

I have nothing to declare but my genius

If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen

In an interesting condition

In the catbird seat

Is the Pope Catholic?

It ain't over till the fat lady sings

It's better to light a candle than curse the darkness

It's not rocket science

Jeepers-creepers

Jobs for the boys

Joined at the hip

Jump on the bandwagon

Jury is still out - The

Kangaroo court - A

Katy bar the door

Keep the ball rolling

Keep up with the Joneses

Keep your chin up

Kilroy was here

Kit and caboodle - The

Knee-jerk reaction

Knock into a cocked hat

Know your onions

Lead balloon - Go down like a

Lead-pipe cinch - A

Level playing field - A

Life begins at forty

Live long and prosper

Loose cannon - A

Loose lips sink ships

Lose your marbles

Make a bee-line for

Make him an offer he can't refuse

Middle of the road

More bang for your buck

Mother country - The

My way or the highway

Never give a sucker an even break

New kid on the block

Not rocket science

Not worth a plugged nickel

One small step for man

Paddle your own canoe

Paint the town red

Pennies from heaven

Picture-perfect

Piece of the action

Play it again Sam

Play the race card

Politically correct

Preaching to the choir

P.D.Q. - pretty damn quick

Pride comes before a fall

Pull the wool over your eyes

Punching above your weight

Push the envelope

Put on the wooden overcoat

Rootin' tootin'

Run of the mill

Say goodnight Gracie

Scraping the barrel

'Scuse me while I kiss this guy

Security blanket

Selling like hot cakes

Seven-year itch

Shaggy dog story

Shot in the arm

Six ways to Sunday

Six ways to Sunday

Smoke and mirrors

Sold down the river

Space, the final frontier

Speak softly and carry a big stick

Spill the beans

Spring forward, fall back

Step up to the plate

Stranger danger

Surfing the Net/surfing the Internet/surfing the Web

Tail wagging the dog - The

Taken for a ride

Talk to the hand

Talk through one's hat

Tanstaafl - (there's no such thing as a free lunch)

Tell me about it

That's all folks!

That's all she wrote

That's one small step for a man, a giant leap for mankind

The ants are my friends, they're blowing in the wind

The bee's knees

The best defense is a good offence

The buck stops here

The camera cannot lie

The customer is always right

The elephant in the room

The hairy eyeball

The heebie-jeebies

The jury is still out

The road less travelled

The show ain't over till the fat lady sings

The usual suspects

The whole kit and caboodle

The whole nine yards

The whole shebang

There's a sucker born every minute

There's no such thing as a free lunch

There's no such thing as bad publicity

They couldn't hit an elephant at this dist...

Think outside the box

Thomas Paine - The writings of

Three strikes and you are out

Throw the towel in

To beat the band

To boldly go where no man has gone before

Too big for your breeches

Twenty three skidoo

Twenty four seven

Two cents worth

Up the creek without a paddle

Verbosity leads to unclear, inarticulate things

Vote with your feet

Wear the trousers

What part of no do you not understand?

What you see is what you get

What's not to like?

When the going gets tough, the tough get going

When the **** hits the fan

Wild and woolly

Win one for the Gipper

You'll wonder where the yellow went when you brush your teeth with Pepsodent

Gary Martin - the author of the phrases.org.uk website.

Gary Martin is a writer and researcher on the origins of phrases and the creator of the Phrase Finder website. Over the past 26 years more than 700 million of his pages have been downloaded by readers. He is one of the most popular and trusted sources of information on phrases and idioms.

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About the author... Gary Martin, author of the www.phrases.org.uk website.

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