Visit the US phrases and words in English
American English is stuffed with idioms borrowed from baseball, football, the Constitution, and the open road. Call "shotgun" for the front seat, ask for a "ballpark figure," give someone your "John Hancock," or "plead the Fifth" when you don't want to answer. Learn these and you'll sound like you grew up there — and you'll understand where the phrases secretly come from.
10 phrases · meanings & example sentences
“Riding shotgun”
The front passenger seat — and by extension, the right to sit there. From the Old West, when an armed guard rode beside the stagecoach driver with a shotgun. Americans literally yell "Shotgun!" to claim the seat before anyone else. Knowing the rules of "calling shotgun" is a tiny rite of passage.
- I call shotgun! I'm not sitting in the back for three hours.
- She rode shotgun and handled the playlist the whole way down.
- You snooze, you lose — first one to the car gets shotgun.
“Ballpark figure”
A rough estimate, an approximate number. From baseball — being 'in the ballpark' means you're at least in the right general area, even if not exact. You'll hear it constantly in work and money talk when someone wants a quick guess, not a precise answer.
- Just give me a ballpark figure — are we talking hundreds or thousands?
- Ballpark, the trip will run us about two grand each.
- That's in the ballpark, but let me check the exact number.
“Take a rain check”
To politely postpone an invitation to another time. It comes from baseball too: if a game was rained out, fans got a 'rain check' ticket to come back another day. Now Americans use it for any plan they want to reschedule without saying a flat no.
- I'm beat tonight — can I take a rain check on dinner?
- Rain check on the movie? Something came up at work.
- He took a rain check, so we'll grab coffee next week instead.
“John Hancock”
Your signature. John Hancock signed the Declaration of Independence in huge, flamboyant letters — supposedly so King George could read it without glasses. Now "put your John Hancock here" is a folksy, very American way to ask someone to sign on the dotted line.
- Just need your John Hancock at the bottom and you're all set.
- I put my John Hancock on the lease and got the keys that afternoon.
- Sign here — let's see that fancy John Hancock.
“Plead the Fifth”
To refuse to answer so you don't incriminate yourself — from the Fifth Amendment, which protects Americans from being forced to testify against themselves. In everyday life it's used jokingly to dodge any awkward question, from 'who ate the last slice?' to 'how much did that cost?'
- Who finished the ice cream? ...I plead the Fifth.
- When they asked how the party went, he just pleaded the Fifth.
- How many tabs do I have open? I'm pleading the Fifth.
“Monday morning quarterback”
Someone who criticizes decisions after the outcome is known — pure hindsight. NFL games are on Sundays, so by Monday morning everyone 'knows' what the team should have done. Perfect for calling out armchair experts who are wise only after the fact.
- It's easy to be a Monday morning quarterback once you know how it ended.
- Don't Monday-morning-quarterback my decision — you weren't even there.
- Every fan's a Monday morning quarterback after a loss.
“Knock it out of the park”
To do something exceptionally well — a total success. From baseball's home run, where the ball literally leaves the stadium. Americans use it as high praise for a performance, a presentation, a meal, anything that exceeded expectations.
- You knocked it out of the park with that presentation.
- The caterer really knocked it out of the park — everyone's still talking about it.
- She knocked her interview out of the park and got three offers.
“Throw someone under the bus”
To betray or sacrifice someone — usually a colleague or friend — to save yourself or look good. The vivid image of shoving someone into traffic makes it sting. Hugely common in American workplaces and friend groups when blame gets passed around.
- He threw me under the bus in the meeting to cover his own mistake.
- I'm not going to throw my teammate under the bus over one bad call.
- She totally got thrown under the bus for a decision the whole team made.
“Make a quick buck”
To earn money fast and easily — a 'buck' is a dollar, slang said to date back to deerskins ('buckskins') used as trade currency on the frontier. You'll hear 'buck' everywhere: 'it costs five bucks,' 'big bucks,' 'making bank.' This one teaches the whole money-slang family.
- He's always got some scheme to make a quick buck.
- Those concert tickets cost me big bucks.
- Can I borrow a couple of bucks for the parking meter?
“Shoot the breeze”
To chat casually about nothing in particular, just to pass the time. The 'breeze' is idle talk drifting by — relaxed, aimless, friendly. It captures a very American kind of porch-and-coffee small talk with no agenda.
- We sat on the porch shooting the breeze until it got dark.
- I didn't call for anything specific — just wanted to shoot the breeze.
- They spent the whole lunch break shooting the breeze about old times.
