To all you idiom lovers, here’s a treat for you! After our previous post on hand idioms, we’re taking things one step further, or should we say, one body part further? 😄
This time, we’re turning our attention to another fascinating source of English idioms: the head!
From keeping your head to having your head in the clouds, English has plenty of colourful expressions involving this all-important body part. So, let’s see how many of these idioms you know!
Idioms From the Intro
- to keep one’s head – to stay calm and think clearly in a difficult situation: There are plenty of idioms worth remembering, and one may wonder how to start using them naturally. But let’s keep our heads and not get carried away by the sheer number of expressions out there. Instead, let’s focus on memorizing and using the most practical and commonly used ones.
- to have one’s head in the clouds – to be unrealistic, impractical, or lost in daydreams: Why is it that people often seem to think having their head in the clouds is a bad thing?
When it comes to head-inspired idioms, it’s probably only natural that many of these expressions have to do with thinking, decision-making, learning, and keeping our emotions under control. Here’s our selection of some of the most common and useful expressions of this kind:
| Idiom | Meaning | Examples |
| to keep one’s head | to remain calm in a difficult situation | I’m out of work at the moment, but I’m trying to keep my head and stay positive. |
| to lose one’s head | to not have control of one’s emotions | Don’t lose your head if they ask you something unexpected in an interview – panicking won’t help. |
| to have a good head on one’s shoulders | to have good judgement and be able to make good decisions | I’d say I have a good head on my shoulders because I don’t usually rush into decisions. I prefer to take my time and think things over. |
| to put your heads together | to work together to solve a problem | Let’s put our heads together and figure out what went wrong. |
| to bury/have one’s head in the sand | to refuse to face a problem | You can’t just bury your head in the sand and hope the problem disappears. |
| to go over one’s head | to bypass someone in authority (1); to be too difficult or strange for someone to understand (2) | 1. She went over my head and complained directly to the director. 2. If you try to explain evaporation to five-year-olds as if they were 15, it will just go over their heads. Keep things simple. |
| to have one’s head in the clouds | to be distracted, dreamy, or not focused on the immediate, practical matters at hand | Sorry, I was miles away! I’ve got my head in the clouds again, thinking about our vacation next month. |
| off the top of one’s head | without stopping to think or check | 1. Off the top of my head, I’d say there were about 50 people there. 2. I can’t remember the exact figure off the top of my head. |
| to hit the nail on the head | to describe something exactly or identify the main point | You hit the nail on the head when you said the problem was poor communication. |
| to keep one’s head above water | to manage to survive or cope with a difficult situation, especially financially | 1. With all these expenses, we’re barely keeping our heads above water. 2. There were so many problems at once that she was struggling just to keep her head above water. |
| to have a level head | to remain calm and sensible, especially under pressure | When everyone else started to panic, she kept a level head and calmly worked out what to do. |
| to get/wrap one’s head around something | to begin to understand something complicated | I can’t wrap my head around how quickly everything changed. |
| to be head and shoulders above someone | to be significantly better than someone or something | 1. There’s no competition – they’re head and shoulders above the rest. 2. This product is head and shoulders above similar products. It’s the best on the market right now. |
| could do something standing on one’s head | could do something very easily | I could finish this report standing on my head. I’ve been giving reports like this every day for the past ten years. |
| to turn heads | to attract people’s attention, usually because of your appearance or something impressive | She certainly turned heads when she walked into the room in those high heels and a tight dress. |
| to give someone a heads-up | to give someone advance warning or information | Just giving you a heads-up that the meeting has been moved to Friday. Thanks for the heads-up. I’ll keep that in mind. |
| to keep one’s head down | to avoid attracting attention and focus on work | 1. I’ve got a lot of work to finish this week, so I’m just going to keep my head down and get it done. 2. Things are pretty tense at work right now, so I’m keeping my head down and staying out of office politics. |
| to hang one’s head | to show shame, embarrassment, or sadness | He hung his head in shame after admitting what he’d done. |
| to hold one’s head high | to remain proud and confident, especially after a difficult experience | You did your best, so hold your head high. |
Practice
Exercise 1. Click the link here and complete the text with the most appropriate idiom from the table above.
Exercise 2. Choose the better idiom for each situation and think about why the other one is less appropriate.
1. keep your head / keep a level head
You’ve just discovered that your flight has been cancelled and you need to reorganize your entire trip.
2. keep your head down / bury your head in the sand
You know there’s a serious problem at work, but your boss is deliberately pretending it doesn’t exist.
3. have your head in the clouds / turn heads
Someone is constantly dreaming about becoming famous but has no realistic plan for achieving it.
4. hang your head / hold your head high
You lost an important competition despite having trained extremely hard and performed to the best of your ability.
5. off the top of your head / hit the nail on the head
Someone asks you for a rough estimate, rather than asking you to identify the exact cause of a problem.
Answer Key 🔑
- You need to keep your head – this immediate situation requires you not to panic. Keep a level head is also possible – it emphasizes remaining rational and sensible when making decisions.
- The boss is burying his head in the sand, deliberately refusing to acknowledge the problem.
- They have their head in the clouds, being unrealistic and excessively dreamy.
- Hold your head high – you should remain proud despite the defeat. There is no need to hang your head.
- Use off the top of my head when giving an answer from memory without checking. For example, Off the top of my head, I’d say it would cost $50,000.
Exercise 3. Finish the mini-dialogs naturally, using appropriate idioms.
A: How did you manage to stay calm when everyone else was panicking?
B: I just tried to ___. (1)
A: Do you know exactly how many people came to the event?
B: Not exactly. ___, I’d say around 300. (2)
A: Why haven’t you told the manager about the problem?
B: He doesn’t want to hear about it. He’s basically ___. (3)
A: How are you finding all the new software?
B: It’s complicated. I’m still trying to ___. (4)
A: What do you think is the real problem with the project?
B: I think Sarah ___ when she said we simply didn’t communicate properly. (5)
A: How does the new candidate compare with the others?
B: Honestly, she’s ___ the rest. (6)
A: Are you going to complain to your manager?
B: Not directly. If he won’t listen, I may have to ___. (7)
A: Did you enjoy giving the presentation?
B: It was easy. I’ve given presentations like that so many times I could have done it ___. (8)
Suggested Answers 🔑
- keep my head
- Off the top of my head
- burying his head in the sand
- wrap my head around it
- hit the nail on the head
- head and shoulders above
- go over his head
- standing on my head
Did we miss any important head idioms? Be sure to drop us a line in the comments below. There are certainly plenty of other great idioms out there!
Thanks for reading, and until the next post!
P.S. Feel like exploring these idioms in context a little further? Check out the songs that use some of the idioms from this post. Not only might you discover some great music, but you’ll also get to see how these expressions are used naturally in real-life situations and contexts.
Know any other songs featuring today’s target idioms? We’d love to hear them, too! Feel free to share them in the comments below.
Idioms in Music
- Alicia Keys. “Girl on Fire”
2. Avril Lavigne. “Head Above Water”
3. Joss Stone. “Head Turner”
4. Sting. “I Hung My Head”
