25 phrases Americans say that leave foreigners completely stumped

nyc cat cafe
A feline at a New York City cat cafe. Carlo Allegri/Reuters
  • Americans often use idioms that can easily confuse foreigners. 
  • Phrases like "spill the beans," "piece of cake," "cold turkey," and "table an item" actually have nothing to do with food. 
  • Similarly, expressions like "cat's out of the bag" and "for the birds" have nothing to do with animals when Americans say them. 
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Whether they're related to food, football, or feline friends, American idioms can be colorful — and confusing to people visiting from abroad.

While phrases like "shoot the breeze" (to talk about unimportant things for a long time) and "cold turkey" (to abruptly withdraw from an addictive substance or behavior) have origins in US slang from centuries past, others such as "put up your dukes" (to hold your hands up to prepare for a fight) and "throw under a bus" (to betray someone for your own gain) can be traced across the pond.

Here are 25 phrases Americans say that leave foreigners completely stumped.

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When Americans "shoot the breeze," they talk about unimportant things for a long time.

palm trees
"Breeze" was slang for "rumor" in the late 19th century. Kapustin Igor/Shutterstock

This phrase pertains to late-19th-century slang when "breeze" meant "rumor." By the 1910s, the windy word came to mean "empty chatter."

 

When a task is easy or straightforward, Americans will say it's a "piece of cake."

Friends Monica Eating Cake
Monica Geller (Courtney Cox) enjoys a slice of cake on "Friends." NBC Universal

The phrase likely derives from a line in "The Primrose Path," a 1935 poetry collection by American humorist Ogden Nash: "Her picture's in the papers now, and life's a piece of cake." 

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A "Monday-morning quarterback" is a person who second-guesses things.

Nick Foles
Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Nick Foles. Getty Images

Originating in the 1930s, this sports-centric phrase was first used to refer to a fan who critically rehashed weekend football game strategies

Now, it applies to anyone who second-guesses an action or decision. 

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If someone "sounds like a broken record," they are probably repeating themselves.

record player
Broken record. Getty

When a record is broken, it repeats the same line over and over again. The phrase itself dates back to 1936, which is when the expression was first used.

If someone is moving extremely fast, they are called "a bat out of hell."

meat loaf
Meat Loaf sings "Bat Out of Hell." Michael Putland/ Getty

People use "a bat out of hell" when someone or something is moving especially fast. Since bats typically like the dark and avoid light, they would fly quickly away from hell that is presumably lit by flames. The saying became so popular that American singer Meat Loaf titled one of his most famous songs "Bat Out of Hell."

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When something is easy to understand, they might say "it's not rocket science."

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SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket launched in February 2018. Dave Mosher/Business Insider

This phrase, which gained popularity in the 1980s towards the end of the Cold War, refers to when something isn't that difficult to understand. 

It has to do with the fact that the US was the first English-speaking country to establish a comprehensive program dedicated to the study of rocket science.

 

 

 

 

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"Break a leg" is a superstitious phrase that originated in the American theater.

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The Barden Bellas sing in "Pitch Perfect 2." Richard Cartwright/Universal

People will wish actors a good performance by telling them to "break a leg" — a phrase that first appeared in print with its current meaning in a US newspaper in 1948, according to Phrase Finder. 

The phrase possibly comes from the German saying "Hals- und Beinbruch," which translates to "neck and leg break" and is a corruption of a Hebrew blessing, "hatzlakha u-brakha" ("success and blessing"). It likely entered the lexicon via Yiddish, a language spoken by Jewish immigrants in the American theatrical community. 

If something is trivial or worthless, Americans say it's "for the birds."

disney pixar birds
"For the Birds," the Pixar short that aired before "Monsters, Inc." Disney/Pixar

A shortened form of a phrase that referred to birds that would peck at horse droppings, "for the birds" was first used as US army slang during World War II. 

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To "put up your dukes" means to hold up your fists in preparation for a fight.

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Michael B. Jordan in "Creed." Warner Bros.

With roots in Cockney rhyming slang, "put up your dukes" has complex origins.

The word "forks," slang for "hand" or "fist," became "dukes of York" in rhyming slang — which, in turn, was shortened to "dukes."

When Americans say they're "behind the eight ball," it means they're in a difficult position.

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A pool table. Daniel Goodman / Business Insider.com

Dating to the 1930s, this Americanism refers to the game of pool. A player positioned behind the eight ball cannot hit it.

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If "the cat's out of the bag," it means you've revealed a secret.

nyc cat cafe
A feline at a New York City cat cafe. Carlo Allegri/Reuters

This idiom first appeared with its current meaning in a London book review from 1760. Upset about a spoiler alert, the reviewer wrote, "We could have wished that the author had not let the cat out of the bag."

Others have speculated that the phrase pertains to the cat o' nine tails — the infamous whip that members of the Royal Navy used to punish sailors — or to livestock fraud (merchants, who apparently sold live piglets in sacks, would swap out the pigs with cats). 

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A similar phrase, "spill the beans," means to let out or divulge something.

beans on toast
Beans on toast, a popular dish in the UK. Robyn Mackenzie/Shutterstock

Folklore has it that this idiom is a reference to a voting system in ancient Greece in which white beans indicated a positive vote and black beans a negative one. Since votes had to be unanimous, if the collector spilled the beans — hence revealing them — the process needed to be started over.

But in the US, the phrase didn't appear until the early 20th century. When it was introduced, its meaning had to do with upsetting a stable situation, political or otherwise. 

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"Don't cry over spilt milk," someone might say if you're upset over something you can't fix.

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This phrase is related to a 17th-century expression. Shutterstock

"Don't cry over spilt milk" has appeared in its present form since the 19th century.

Apparently, it evolved from a much older idiom. In 1659, historian and writer James Howell used the expression "No weeping for shed milk."

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When Americans "table an item," they set it aside for consideration later.

business meeting
The phrase has the opposite meaning in British and Commonwealth English. Dotshock/Shuttershock

In British and Commonwealth English, this phrase has the opposite meaning. If you table something (i.e. a proposal) in countries such as the UK and Ireland, you're considering a decision rather than postponing it. 

In the US, however, when a topic is "tabled," that typically means that it's postponed, or it will sit there on the metaphorical table until it can be discussed at a later date. To make things even more confusing, the phrase "on the table" in America could mean that something is up for discussion.

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When you quit something "cold turkey," you abruptly withdraw from an addictive substance or behavior, like smoking.

turkey sandwich
A turkey sandwich. Shutterstock

The phrase "cold turkey" actually originated in Canada, where it first appeared in a British Columbia newspaper in 1921. 

Although some speculate that the idiom is named for the goosebumps that accompany withdrawal symptoms, it more likely comes from "cold," as in straightforward, and "talk turkey," a 19th-century-expression meaning to talk plainly. 

 

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Often heard on procedural drama series like "Law & Order," "plead the Fifth" is a reference to the Fifth Amendment of the US Constitution, which protects people from self-incrimination.

Law and Order SVU
The recurring cast of "Law & Order: SVU." NBC

Pleading the Fifth (also known as taking the Fifth) refers to the refusal to testify on the basis that the testimony could incriminate the witness in a crime. 

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If two Americans are on a date, they might "go Dutch," or split the bill.

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Dinner. iStock

Various phrases in the English language are prefaced by the adjective "Dutch," such as "Dutch courage" — bravery inspired by drunkenness — and "Dutch reckoning," a non-itemized bill that is unjustifiably excessive. 

While most can be traced back to the maritime rivalry between England and the Dutch Republic (known today as the Netherlands), "going Dutch" is as American as apple pie.

The phrase evolved from an earlier expression that first appeared in the Baltimore American newspaper in 1873: "Dutch treat," a saloon policy in which each patron was responsible for his own bar tab. 

 

 

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If something has "fallen through the cracks," it has gone unnoticed or ignored.

stepping on a crack
Objects and responsibilities can fall through the cracks. Nungning20/iStock

If you've ever misplaced an object (like car keys) only to find it between the cushions of your sofa, you know how easy it is to neglect something that has fallen through (or between) the cracks

Despite seeming relatively straight-forward, this expression puzzles people — especially the more literal-minded, who might argue that the space between fissures would form a flat surface rather than a bottomless abyss. 

If you're sitting in the "nosebleed section," you're seated in the highest (and cheapest) seats of an arena or performance space.

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The 2018 Olympic Stadium in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Reuters/Pawel Kopczynski

This phrase refers to the fact that high altitudes can cause nosebleeds. In the UK, the highest seats at a theater are known as "the gods."

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An American might say "it's all downhill from here" if they've completed the hardest part of a task.

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A downhill skier. Doug Pensinger/Getty Images

Based on the idea that the uphill climb is more difficult than the descent, this phrase stumps some people because a similar expression, "to go downhill," has negative connotations. 

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If someone "throws you under the bus," they're betraying you for their own advancement.

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This phrase might have originated in the UK in the 1970s. Shutterstock/S-F

While the etymology of this dark vehicular idiom is unknown, it might have evolved from a few British expressions from the 1970s, such as "fall under a bus" or "suppose so-and-so were to go under a bus."

It entered the common American lexicon in the mid-2000s when US sports journalists popularized the phrase.

 

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If you "ride shotgun," you sit in the front passenger seat.

dog in car
A dog rides shotgun. oneinchpunch/Shutterstock

While some think this phrase originated in the Wild West (referring to the armed guard who sat next to a stagecoach driver), it was actually popularized by Hollywood westerns. 

One of the earliest print references to "riding shotgun" was in a Utah newspaper in 1919. 

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