435 Phrases 'Born in the USA'
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 no-brainer
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
Action man
Across the pond
Air kiss
Air quotes
All hat and no cattle
All publicity is good publicity
All singing, all dancing
All systems go
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 pie
As easy as taking candy from a baby
As happy as a clam
Attack is the best form of defence
Away with the fairies
Baby blues
Baby boomer
Back to the drawing board
Back-seat driver - A
Bad hair day - A
Bada-bing
Balling the jack
Ballpark figure - A
"Two countries divided by a common language".
- A celebrated quotation, usually, and probably wrongly, attributed to George Bernard Shaw.
Barking up the wrong tree
Basket case
Bass-ackwards
Bats in the belfry
Be afraid, be very afraid
Bean counter
Bee's knees - The
Beef and reef
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 Easy - The
Big fish in a small pond
Bigger bang for your buck - A
Birds and the bees - The
Bish-bash-bosh
Bish-bosh
Bite the dust
Black-on-black
Blast from the past - A
Blaze a trail
Blonde bombshell
Blow your mind
Blue-plate special
Bodice ripper
Body surfing
Boogie-woogie
Born again
Born with a silver spoon in one's mouth
Bought the farm
Break a leg
Bronx cheer
Brownie points
Bucket list
Bunny boiler - A
Bury the hatchet
Caesar Salad
Carbon-copy
Card-sharp - A
Catch 22
Chaise lounge
Channel surfing
Charley horse
Charm offensive
Chick flick - A
Chow down
Clear blue water
Cliff-hanger
Climb on the bandwagon
Close, but no cigar
Cloud nine
Club sandwich
Coin a phrase
Cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey
Come on down
Compassion fatigue
Cold turkey
Concrete overcoat
Cost an arm and a leg
Cotton-picking
Customer is always right - The
Cut to the chase
Cute as a bug's ear
Date rape
Dead ringer - A
Designer stubble
Diamond is forever
- A
Differently abled
Dirt bag
Dollars to doughnuts
Doom and gloom
Doesn't know **** from Shinola
Don't call us, we'll call you
Don't get mad, get even
Double whammy
Down the pan
Down the tubes
Down to the wire
Drag race
Driving while black
Drop-dead gorgeous
Dumb blonde
Ear candy
Easy as pie
Easy-peasy
Eighty six
Elephant in the room
Elvis has left the building
Ethnic cleansing
Excuse me while I kiss this guy
Extraordinary rendition
Face the music
Failing to plan is planning to fail
Fall guy
Famous for fifteen minutes
Fancy pants
Fashion victim - A
Feeding frenzy - A
Fifteen minutes of fame
Fifth column
Filthy rich
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
For the birds
From sea to shining sea
Fuddy-duddy - A
Full of **** and vinegar
Funny farm - The
Generation X
Genius is one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration
Get down to brass tacks
Get medieval
Get your dander up
Get your goat
Gild the lily
Glass ceiling
Go haywire
Go the whole hog
Go postal
Go pound sand
Go to hell in a handbasket
Go to the mattresses
Godfrey Daniel
Good riddance to bad rubbish
Goody, goody gumdrops
Gordon Bennett
Got my mojo working
Granny dumping
Great balls of fire
Gridlock
Gung ho
Hairy eyeball
Happy as a clam
Hard man is good to find - A
Hasta la vista, baby
Have an axe to grind
Heads up
Heard it through the grapevine
Heavens to Betsy
Heavens to Murgatroyd
Heavy metal
Heebie-jeebies - The
Hell in a handbasket
Hell's half acre
High five
High on the hog
High, wide and handsome
Hissy fit
Hold your horses
Home is where the heart is
Hooray Henry
Horse feathers
Hot off the press
Houston, we have a problem
Hunky-dory
Hunt and peck
Hush puppies
I have nothing to declare but my genius
Identity theft
If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen
In an interesting condition
In like Flynn
In spades
In the bag
In the catbird seat
In the sticks
In your face
Indian giver
Indian summer
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
Itty-bitty
Jeepers-creepers
Jobs for the boys
Joined at the hip
Jump on the bandwagon
Jump the gun
Jump the shark
Jury is still out - The
Kangaroo court - A
Katy bar the door
Keep shtum
Keep the ball rolling
Keep up with the Joneses
Keep your chin up
Kilroy was here
Kiss and tell
Kit and caboodle - The
Knee-jerk reaction
Knock into a cocked hat
Know your onions
La-la land
Lame duck - A
Lead balloon - Go down like a
Lead-pipe cinch - A
Let's roll
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
Make my day
Marital aid
Memory lane
Men in suits
Mexican wave
Mickey Finn
Middle of the road
More bang for your buck
Mother country - The
My bad
My way or the highway
Name is mud
Never give a sucker an even break
New kid on the block
Nitty-gritty
No-brainer - A
No dice
No way, Jose
Not rocket science
Not worth a plugged nickel
Nth degree
Off the record
Okey-dokey
Old chestnut
On cloud nine
On the bubble
On the wagon
On the warpath
One-hit wonder
One small step for man
One stop shop
Paddle your own canoe
Paint the town red
Pass the buck
Peg out
Pennies from heaven
Pester power
Peter out
Picture-perfect
Pie in the sky
Piece of cake
Piece of the action
Pipe dream
Play by ear
Play it again Sam
Play the race card
Plug-ugly
Politically correct
Pond life
Pony up
Power dressing
Preaching to the choir
Presto chango
P.D.Q. - pretty damn quick
Pride comes before a fall
Prime time
Pull the wool over your eyes
Pull up stakes
Punching above your weight
Push the envelope
Put on the wooden overcoat
Quality time
Razzle-dazzle
Red letter day
Riding shotgun
Rinky-dink
Rise and shine
Road apples
Road rage
Rootin' tootin'
Run a mile
Run of the mill
Sacred cow - A
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
Siamese twins
Silver bullet
Six ways to Sunday
Sitting pretty
Six ways to Sunday
Skid row
Smart casual
Smoke and mirrors
Sold down the river
Sound bite
Space, the final frontier
Speak softly and carry a big stick
Spelling-bee
Spill the beans
Spin doctor
Spring forward, fall back
Square meal
Stand up guy
Step up to the plate
Stranger danger
Stool pigeon
Super-duper
Surf and turf
Surfing the Net/surfing the Internet/surfing the Web
Tail wagging the dog - The
Take the cake
Taken for a ride
Talk to the hand
Talk through one's hat
Tanstaafl - (there's no such thing as a free lunch)
Teensy-weensy
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 Big Apple
The Big Easy
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 pits
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
Tic-tac-toe
To beat the band
To boldly go where no man has gone before
Toe-curling
Too big for your breeches
Top notch
Touchy-feely
Trick or treat
Tuckered out
Twenty three skidoo
Twenty four seven
Two cents worth
Up a gum tree
Up the creek without a paddle
Urban myth
Verbosity leads to unclear, inarticulate things
Vote with your feet
Walk free
Walk the walk
Walkie-talkie
Wear the trousers
Well-heeled
What part of no do you not understand?
What you see is what you get
What's not to like?
What's up Doc?
When the going gets tough, the tough get going
When the **** hits the fan
Wild and woolly
Win one for the Gipper
Yada yada
Yellow Peril
You'll wonder where the yellow went when you brush your teeth with Pepsodent
Zero tolerance