Idioms related to time

Still remember? An idiom is a group of words in a fixed order that have a particular meaning that is different from the meanings of each word on its own.

There are numerous idioms related to time. Some of them are very well known, others not so much. Let's look at some:


  1. You say 'better late than never' if you think it is better for someone or something to be late than never to arrive or to happen.

  2. If you do something 'on the spur of the moment', you do it all of a sudden, without any planning.

  3. When you 'had the time of your life', you had a very good time and enjoyed yourself very much.

  4. You can say 'all in good time' to tell someone to be patient while waiting for something to happen.

  5. You are racing 'against the clock' when you are in a great hurry to get something done before a particular time.

  6. If you do the housework 'once in a blue moon', it means you almost never do that.

  7. Someone is 'living on borrowed time' if they are not expected to live much longer.

  8. You say 'time is money' when you want to emphasise that you should not waste time because it is valuable.

  9. If someone says 'the time is ripe', it means this is the right moment for something to happen.

  10. Something is just 'a matter of time' if it is sure to happen at some time in the future.