11 football idioms to help you keep your eye on the ball
- Know the score and get the ball rolling with these useful English phrases from the world's most popular sport
- These idioms with add flavour and personality to your writing
These 11 football idioms will make your writing more lively and creative.Football, also known as the beautiful game, is the world’s most popular sport. It is also a source of some very useful phrases to use in everyday English.
Here are 11 football idioms to make your writing more interesting.
Keep your eye on the ball
Meaning: pay attention to what is happening around you, or what you are doing.
In use: If you want to win the student election, you need to keep your eye on the ball and track what other candidates are promising. Note: to take your eye off the ball means to stop concentrating on something important.
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Score an own goal
Meaning: in football, this is when you kick the ball into your own team’s goal, giving the other team a free point. Off the field, it’s when you do something that you think will be helpful, but actually causes more harm.
In use: The government’s new recycling programme has proved a bit of an own goal, as it requires a lot of print-outs, creating more waste paper.
Know the score
Meaning: be aware of all the important facts in a situation, especially the unpleasant ones.
In use: Tim knows the score – he can only meet up with his friends if he finishes his chores and homework.
Get a kick out of
Meaning: be amused or excited by something.
In use: My grandma gets a kick out of watching her cat try to catch the light from a laser pointer.
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Be on the ball
Meaning: be quick to understand and react to things.
In use: I didn’t get any sleep last night, so I’m worried I won’t be on the ball if we have a quiz today.
Move the goalposts
Meaning: change the rules or objective in a situation to make it more difficult for people trying to meet the conditions.
In use: Every time I try to apply to join the club, they move the goalposts and add another requirement.
Game changer
Meaning: a new event, idea or element that changes an existing situation in a big way.
In use: Stranger Things was a game changer for Netflix, and convinced a lot of people to subscribe to the service.
Blow the whistle on someone
Meaning: In football, the referee blows the whistle when someone does something that breaks the rules. In life, blowing the whistle on someone means telling a person in a position of authority that someone is doing something wrong.
In use: Three officers were willing to blow the whistle on their corrupt captain.
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Get the ball rolling
Meaning: begin an activity, or make something happen.
In use: Ms Chan got the ball rolling in our counselling session by telling us about her own mental health issues.
Game plan
Meaning: a plan for achieving success.
In use: We’re putting together a game plan for winning the student council election.
Be on/ Watch from the sidelines
Meaning: the sidelines are marks on the ground that show the area of play, or the “field” where all the action will take place; to “be on” or “watch from” the sidelines means to not be actively involved in something.
In use: You can’t just watch from the sidelines if you want to make a difference. You need to speak up and do something.