According to the Cambridge Dictionary, an idiom is “a group of words in a fixed order that has a particular meaning that is different from the meanings of each word on its own”. There are many idioms in the English language, and native speakers tend to use them a lot, so if you are a learner of English, it might be a good idea for you to study idioms from time to time.
Here is a short list of friendship idioms:
- Birds of a feather flock together.
- A friend in need is a friend indeed.
- man’s best friend
- to hit it off
- to speak the same language
- a fair-weather friend
- to go back a long way
- asking for a friend
- false friends
- to call yourself a friend
Let’s have a look at the meanings of these idioms.
Birds of a feather flock together. Meaning: We tend to surround ourselves with people who are similar to us. We have a lot in common, for example we share the same beliefs and interests. You can use this idiom to show your disapproval of the behaviour and opinions friends have in common.
A friend in need is a friend indeed. Meaning: If things are not going well for you and your friend is willing to help you out, you can be sure that this person is your true friend. Sometimes, we can have fake friends who are by our sides just in good times.
man’s best friend = a dog 🙂
to hit it off = to become friends almost immediately. When we say that two people hit it off immediately, we mean that they liked each other from the start and soon felt comfortable around each other. They also find it easy to talk to each other and/or have a similar sense of humour.
to speak the same language = to have similar ideas and present them in a similar way. If two people speak the same language, they obviously understand each other well and find it easy to compromise or work together.
a fair-weather friend = a “friend” who stops being friendly when we have some problems. The opposite of a true friend.
to go back a long way = to know each other for a long time. If we say that person A and person B go back a long way, we mean that they have known each other for ages.
Asking for a friend. Meaning: If you use this idiom as a short sentence, it means that you are pretending to ask a kind of embarrassing question on behalf of somebody else. It is humorous.
false friends = confusing words that sound like or appear to be like words you would know the meaning of in another language, but they mean something different in the language you are learning. For example, college in English means an institution offering post-secondary education. The German word, Kollege, that seems to be very similar to the English one, however, means co-worker. So the German equivalent of college would be Hochschule. And the English word for Kollege would be colleague.
And you call yourself a friend? Meaning: When we use this question, we show our dissatisfaction. The person we are telling this has not been a good friend and has done something a good friend would not do. You can also replace the word friend with other nouns signifying roles in our lives.
If you want to learn more about idioms, check out my resources:
10 Great Sport Idioms (worksheet)
10 Great Sport Idioms (video about the worksheet)
Best English Idioms about Sport (online class with Matt Purland)
25 Idiom Flashcards (printable)