Food Idioms

Idioms are expressions which cannot be interpreted literally. Many idioms are connected to food. Here are ten:

a piece of cake
a lot on my plate
food for thought
with a grain of salt
you can't have your cake and eat it too
apples and oranges
a lemon
have a finger in every pie
peanuts
small potatoes

The exam was a piece of cake. This idiom means that the exam was easy.

She has a lot on her plate. This is another way to say she has many issues to deal with.

The question gave me food for thought. The question gave the speaker a lot to think about.

Take my opinion with a grain of salt. This idiom means that the speaker's opinion should not be taken too seriously because it may not be correct.

You can't have your cake and eat it too. This idiom means that we can't have two things that are incompatible. If we eat our cake, we can no longer keep it.

You can't compare high school students with university students- they're apples and oranges. The speaker believes that high school students and university students are very different. In other words, they're incomparable.

This car is a lemon. This is another way to say that the car is defective and doesn't run well.

He has a finger in every pie. This idiom means that he's involved in many enterprises.

My salary is peanuts. This means that the speaker's salary is very low.

This contract is small potatoes. The speaker believes that the contract is insignficant.

English uses a number of food idioms. These are fixed expressions with a meaning distinct from that of the individual words themselves.The ones listed here are common English idioms.