10 Common English Idioms Used In Communication

We need to communicate with people almost on a daily basis. There can be different situations- formal or casual, that require us to convey our message to the other person in a sophisticated manner. Using communication idioms can make you sound slick and smooth, while also helping you to get your point across effectively.

Here are 10 such idioms (the ones that indicate miscommunication are also included) that you can use in your daily conversations:

1) Get hold/ahold of

To get hold of ahold of someone means to get in touch with them or contact them, usually by phone.

E.g. I need to get hold of Rohit to tell him that his class has been postponed to tomorrow.

2) Drop me a line

When you drop someone a line it mean to contact a person. This can be done through e-mail or phone.

E.g. I am looking for new job opportunities. Please drop me a line if there are any good openings in your company.

3) Keep me posted

To keep someone posted means to keep that person updated or informed of the latest happenings or with the latest information on a particular situation.

E.g. Keep me posted on your schedule for the weekend. We will see if the meeting can be done or not.

4) Heard through the grapevine

If something is heard through the grapevine then it means that the information is conveyed indirectly- probably through a friend of a friend and not from the source itself. The news may be true or untrue. 

E.g. I heard through the grapevine that Manoj was fired due to allegations of sexual harassment. Is it true?

5) Get right/straight to the point

When you get right to the point or straight to the point, then it means you directly address the issue instead of wasting time discussing unrelated or pointless stuff.

E.g. In this process, I like dealing with Ankita the most - she is always straight to the point.

6) Beating around the bush

When someone beats around the bush, they try to avoid a question or a particular issue by discussing irrelevant details or narrating stories that are not germane to the topic at hand.

E.g. Stop beating around the bush and tell me what you did with the train tickets I bought for you.

7) Talking at cross purposes

Talking at cross-purposes means when two people having starkly different opinions or perspectives are talking about entirely different topics. Both are focused on separate topics so they cannot even debate directly.

E.g. The Democrat and Republican presidential nominees were talking at cross-purposes during the first debate, as one was focusing on planned parenthood, while the other was ranting on illegal immigration.

8) Gotten the wires crossed

If two people get their wires crossed then it means they had a miscommunication which eventually led to a misunderstanding.

E.g. Zainab and her brother got their wires crossed. She thought they had to reach the railway station at 6 PM while he thought the time was 6 AM.

9) Playing phone tag

Have you ever been in a situation where you are calling one person but he or she is not able to pick it up because they are also calling you? When this happens several times in a day, it is called 'playing phone tag'.

E.g. I haven't been able to call my mom all day long- we've been playing phone tag.

10) Putting your foot in the mouth

When you put your foot in your mouth, it means you say something offensive or embarrassing inadvertently, which you later probably regret on or makes you feel like a fool.

E.g. Whenever I attend social functions, I end up putting my foot in the mouth.