American idioms often draw inspiration from many aspects of daily life, with sports being a major source. While these sayings add color to a person's speech, they can make it more difficult for non-native English speakers to understand, since the true meaning of sports idioms is often vastly different from the words being spoken.
Just like food-based idioms , sports idioms are an important part of American culture and everyday speech. Knowing this, we've compiled 30 common sports idioms used in America so you can level-up your English knowledge and knock it out of the park in your next casual conversation !
1. Hit a home run This baseball idiom is used when someone achieves great success or does something perfectly, like acing a test or nailing a presentation.
If someone says, "You hit a home run with that proposal, " they mean that your proposal was exceptionally successful and well executed.
2. Throw a Curveball When you “throw a curveball,” you introduce an unexpected element that surprises or confuses someone.
For example, if your boss reacts differently than you expected following a project pitch, your colleague might say, “Well, she sure threw us a curveball. ”
In baseball, a curveball is a tricky pitch designed to fool the batter with its sudden movement.
3. Out of Left Field Use this phrase when something pops up unexpectedly or out of the blue. Unlike with "throw a curveball," this phrase suggests that something occurred with no prior indication.
For instance, if your friend who has historically had no interest in romantic relationships suddenly tells you that they eloped, you might say "Wow, that really came out of left field!"
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4. Touch Base If you’ve ever heard English speakers say that they need to "touch base" with a someone, it means they want to briefly check in or communicate with that person.
For example, a manager might tell their team, “Let’s touch base on Wednesday to review the progress.”
5. Off-Base To be “off-base” is one of the sports idioms that means you're wrong or mistaken.
If, for example, somebody accuses you of saying something rude about them at a party, you could say "You're way off-base—I wasn't even there!"
6. Hail Mary "Hail Mary" is one of the English sport idioms that comes from American football. It describes a last-ditch effort, especially when situations appear desperate.
If, for example, you're in a marketing meeting and none of the prepared pitches are met with enthusiasm, you might choose to pitch an entirely new idea that you make up in the moment, without any preparation. In that scenario, your coworkers might say to you "I can't believe you threw a Hail Mary and it actually worked!"
In American football, a hail Mary refers to a desperate, long-distance pass play, usually attempted in the final moments of a game when the team is out of other options.
7. Monday Morning Quarterback “Monday morning quarterback” originates from American football, where games are played on Sundays, and people discuss the coaching strategies the following Monday morning.
This phrase functions as one of the American sport idioms used to describe someone who criticizes or gives advice about a decision after it’s already been made.
Imagine you didn’t do well on your IELTS speaking exam and a friend starts giving you advice on practice exercises you should have done beforehand. You could then say "Hey, I don't need a Monday morning quarterback—the exam is already over!"
8. Game plan Having a “game plan” is crucial in both sports and business. It refers to a well-thought-out strategy or approach to achieve a goal, much like a marketing plan for salespeople .
When starting a new project, for example, your team lead might say, “We need a solid game plan before we present this to the client.”
This idiom is related to all sorts of team sports (not just American football), and it emphasizes the importance of planning ahead to ensure success.
9. Score a Touchdown The highest-scoring play in American football is a touchdown. Therefore, when you “score a touchdown,” you have achieved significant success, especially in a decisive way.
For example, “The startup scored a touchdown when they secured a million-dollar investment.”
10. Slam Dunk This is one of America's common sports idioms, used to describe any action or decision that is guaranteed success.
It can be used in both the future and the past tense.
Let’s assume you had a job interview and feel very confident that you made a good impression. You could say, “The interview was a slam dunk—there's no way I'm not getting the job."
11. Buzzer-Beater A buzzer-beater is a success achieved at the very last moment, much like in basketball when a shot is made just before the buzzer sounds.
If you turn in a report right before the deadline, you could say, “That was a real buzzer-beater!”
12. Airball An airball refers to a complete miss or failure, especially when something falls short of expectations. In basketball, we use this term when a shot completely misses the rim and the backboard.
For example, you could say, “That sales call was an absolute airball,” to mean the call didn't achieve its expected or desired result.
13. Full-Court Press When you mount a "full-court press," you put a lot of effort into trying to achieve something. The term comes from basketball, where a full-court press is a defensive tactic used to exert extra pressure to the offensive team.
For instance, "If you really want to boost your English skills, you need to mount a full-court press with a targeted training plan , online resources , and pronunciation apps like BoldVoice ."
14. Jump Ball When the referee tosses the ball into the air at the center court and one player from each team jumps to try to catch it, that is what's known as a "jump ball" in basketball.
You can use this term idiomatically to describe a situation where there is a deadlock between two parties and the outcome depends on a fair chance.
If two friends are debating where to go for dinner and can’t agree, one might say, “It’s a jump ball now! Let’s flip a coin to decide.”
15. Own Goal Generally, this term is used to describe a situation where someone harms their own interests or undermines their efforts. It stems from soccer (or "football" across the pond ), when a player accidentally puts the ball into their own net.
Assuming someone tries to make a joke to lighten the mood but instead offends their friends, they could say “I really scored an own goal with that joke.”
16. Move the Goalposts If a person “moves the goalposts,” they are bending the rules in their favor.
For example, “The manager moved the goalposts by changing the requirements for employee of the month, so his son could win the award.”
17. Put It in the Back of the Net This phrase refers to successfully scoring a goal by getting the ball into the goal area. It highlights the act of achieving a clear objective.
When you achieve something you worked hard for, you have “put it in the back of the net.” You could say, “We’ve really put it in the back of the net with this deal.”
18. Throw in the Towel To “throw in the towel” is to give up on something. This phrase is one of many sports idioms derived from boxing, where throwing in the towel signifies a fighter has surrendered.
If you decide to quit a project after multiple failures, you might use this idiom this way: “I’m done trying. I’m throwing in the towel.”
19. On The Ropes Being “on the ropes” means you’re in a difficult or vulnerable situation. Let’s take this sentence: “His company has been on the ropes since last year’s recession.”
Here, we can tell that his company is going through a challenging period. This idiom describes a boxer being pinned against the ropes, vulnerable to an opponent’s punches.
20. Roll with the Punches If you’re rolling with the punches, you’re resilient and adapting when challenges arise.
For example, “More than half of the speakers didn’t show up for the event, but the organizers rolled with the punches.”
In this statement, the absence of so many speakers could have been a major setback, but the organizers remained determined to make the event successful.
21. Below the Belt A "below the belt" action refers to something unfair or unethical. In boxing, hitting below the belt is against the rules. You can use this phrase in everyday conversation to call out behavior that feels unjust or overly harsh.
For instance, if someone makes a hurtful remark, you could say, “That was below the belt; there was no need to bring up past mistakes.”
22. Throw Your Hat Into the Ring Here, the "ring" refers to the boxing ring. When a boxer would take on random opponents, a challenger could throw their hat into the ring to indicate their desire to fight.
In daily conversation, this phrase indicates that somebody would like to try something. For instance, if you're looking to expand your professional experience, you might say "I'd like to throw my hat into the ring for the new sales job that just opened up."
23. Par for the Course This is an expression that means something is normal or expected in a given situation.
For instance, "Getting stuck in traffic on the way to work is just par for the course in a big city."
In golf, each course is given a number (a "par") which indicates the standard number of swings it should take the average golfer to move through the course. A particularly skilled golfer would be under par, while a beginner would likely be over par.
24. Tee Off To “tee off” is a golfing term that refers to the act of hitting the ball from the tee at the start of a hole. Outside of golf, it is used informally to mean starting something, like a meeting or event.
If someone says, “I’m going to tee off today’s meeting with a joke, ” they simply mean they will start the meeting by telling a joke before going into serious topics.
25. Hole in One In golf, a "hole in one" is exactly how it sounds—successfully getting the ball in the hole in just a single swing. It's very impressive, and when used as an idiom, it refers to achieving great success.
For example, you might say "The TOEFL exam was a hole in one. I aced it!"
26. Below Par Anything below par is considered substandard or disappointing.
Perhaps after a poor performance on a project, a manager might tell an employee, “Your work has been below par lately; we need to see some improvement.”
Ironically, being below par when playing golf is a positive outcome, but in everyday usage, it implies the opposite.
27. Hit the Links This idiom is only used within the golf sport. Whenever you hear “hit the links,” they are talking about going to play golf. The "links" refers to a grassy area, and it's used to reference the golf course itself.
Instead of saying, “After breakfast, we’d go play golf,” you could say, “After breakfast, we’d go hit the links.”
28. The Ball is in Your Court When someone says “the ball is in your court,” it means that the next move is up to you. The idiom comes from tennis and is often used in business when one party needs to make a decision or take action.
For example, “The board members still trust your decision so right now, the ball is in your court.”
29. Get Into the Swing of Things This idiomatic expression means to become comfortable or accustomed to a situation. If you start a new job, it may take some time to get comfortable or familiar with the change, or to "get into the swing or things."
“The new hire is really getting into the swing of things!"
30. Advantage Having the advantage means you’re in a favorable position over others. In sports like tennis, the term “advantage” refers to a situation where one player is a point ahead after a tie at deuce (40-40) and only needs one more point to win the round.
If you pass all the requirements for a possible promotion and your colleagues don’t, then “you have an advantage over them.”
Master Sport Idioms with BoldVoice Sports idioms are shockingly prevalent in everyday speech among Americans. For confidence, clarity, and maybe a touch of flair, don’t hesitate to incorporate these phrases into your own speech.
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