Many figurative expressions allude to books and reading. These idioms use books as rich metaphors to convey a host of meanings in our everyday English conversations. When someone ‘hits the books’ they are not physically striking books! And, if you have been called every name in the book, what book are you talking about? To understand these idioms about books or reading, you must understand their meanings as a fixed expression and not based on the meanings of the individual words.
If you are a bookworm, you will appreciate the rich color and vibrancy that idioms add to our language. We use idioms all the time without even realizing we are doing it! Let’s spell it out in black and white and learn the definitions of 30 idioms about books and reading.
1. Bookworm
Meaning: A bookworm is a person who reads a lot; one who loves books and spends a lot of time reading and studying.
Sentence Example: “Alan is such a bookworm. Don’t you think it would be good for him to get out and play with the other kids?”
2. To Have One’s Nose in a Book
Meaning: to be constantly immersed in reading a book, as a bookworm would do.
Sentence Example: “What’s the point in taking her anywhere? She’ll just have her nose in a book like always.”
3. Read Someone Like a Book
Meaning: to understand someone completely and to be able to discern their thoughts, emotions, character, motives, desires, etc.
Sentence Example: “I love to play poker with John. He always loses because I can read him like a book.”
4. Booksmart
Meaning: To be booksmart means to have knowledge gained from reading books instead of based on practical experience or real-world experience; to have a lot of academic knowledge but lack knowledge that will help solve everyday problems.
Sentence Example: “Sure, my brother is booksmart, but who does he call when he needs help fixing something in the house?”
5. Every Trick in the Book
Meaning: To use every trick in the book is to try every possible method to do something, especially in deceitful or dishonest ways.
Sentence Example: “I’ve used every trick in the book to get them to sell the land, but they won’t budge.”
6. Oldest Trick in the Book
Meaning: a very common and well-known way of deceiving or tricking someone that everyone should be aware of; a method of deception that is well-used but still effective.
Sentence Example: “I got swindled on my vacation by a guy who gave me the wrong type of currency in change for something I bought. It looked the same to me but was almost worthless! It’s the oldest trick in the book.”
7. Every Name in the Book (been called)
Meaning: When someone says ‘I’ve been called every name in the book‘ it is an exaggerated way of saying that they have been the subject of many critical or slanderous insults.
Sentence Example: “That article about me doesn’t bother me. I’ve been called every name in the book.”
8. Read Between the Lines
Meaning: to look for or understand a hidden meaning, information, or an implied message that is not actually stated or obvious from outward appearance.
Sentence Example: “I received a letter from Joanna. She says she’s doing fine but if I read between the lines, I think she’s unhappy and misses home.”
9. Read Someone Like a Book
Meaning: to understand someone completely and to be able to discern their thoughts, emotions, character, motives, desires, etc.
Sentence Example: “Don’t try to fool me, I can read you like a book!”
10. Hit the Books
Meaning: to hit the books means to study or do schoolwork, often with particular concentration or focus; to study hard; to read about something for the purpose of learning or studying.
Sentence Example: “I’ve got to hit the books when I get home. There’s a big test tomorrow.”
11. An Open Book
Meaning: An open book is someone or something that is easy to understand or interpret; clear; straightforward; easy to solve; an honest and frank person.
Sentence Example: “Marcus can never hide his true feelings. His face is like an open book.”
12. A Closed Book
Meaning: A closed book is someone or something about which you know nothing or that you do not understand; a secret or mystery; a subject that someone does not want to talk about or be asked about.
Sentence Example: “Nobody really knows Michelle very well. She’s a closed book.”
13. Can’t (or don’t) Judge a Book by Its Cover
Meaning: You can’t judge a book by its cover means you should not make decisions or form opinions based solely on outward appearance without knowing more about someone or something.
Sentence Example: “He wears t-shirts and jeans and drives a rusty pickup truck, but he runs a successful company. It just goes to show, you can’t judge a book by its cover.”
14. By the Book
Meaning: When something is done by the book it is done strictly according to the existing rules, regulations, or laws.
Sentence Example: “The detective had always done things by the book, but for this case, he had to throw the book away.”
15. Don’t Believe Everything You Read
Meaning: you should not believe, or take at face value, everything you read in printed publications or online as you may not realize that it is misleading, fabricated, or inaccurate.
Sentence Example: “I read that a serving of peanuts each day guarantees you’ll never have heart trouble,” said Don. “Don’t believe everything you read,” replied Joe.
16. Turn Over a New Leaf
Meaning: to turn over new leaf means to start behaving in a new way; to change your way of doing things; to start fresh; to go in a new direction; or to think of new ways. The word ‘leaf’ refers to a page in a book.
Sentence Example: “He promised to turn over a new leaf if I gave him another chance.”
17. Page-Turner
Meaning: a book that is so exciting and engrossing that you cannot stop reading it; a very good book that keeps the reader interested throughout; a book one wants to read quickly without stopping.
Sentence Example: “I didn’t think I would like this book but it turned out to be a real page-turner.”
18. On the Same Page
Meaning: to be on the same page means to agree totally; to have a mutual understanding; to have the same information and have the same thoughts about it; to be thinking the same way.
Sentence Example: “I think we’re on the same page, here,” said Dell. “Let’s get this done.”
19. Lose Oneself in a Book
Meaning: (based on the idiom ‘lose oneself in something’) to be completely engrossed or absorbed in a book; to be so interested in a book that you ignore everything else.
Sentence Example: “I can’t wait to get home and just lose myself in a good book.”
20. Are You Writing a Book?
Meaning: a sarcastic expression of frustration, annoyance, or anger that is used in response to someone asking a lot of questions or being intrusive; an expression in response to someone being nosy.
Sentence Example: “How is your job search going? Have you called that girl yet for another date? Have you thought about what you want to do for a career?” “What, are you writing a book? Leave me alone!”
21. Read the Fine Print
Meaning: to be aware of the important, and often hidden, information in a legal document, contract, etc. ‘Fine print’ refers to the specific terms, conditions, restrictions, limitations, etc., of an agreement, contract, etc. that are all very important but easy to overlook, often because the print is very small.
Sentence Example: Never sign anything before reading the fine print!”
22. In My Book
Meaning: in my opinion; according to my beliefs; from my perspective; as far as I’m concerned.
Sentence Example: “He helped me out of a jam once. He may be grumpy, but he’s okay in my book.”
23. Take a Page Out of Someone’s Book
Meaning: to behave in a similar way to someone else, or do something they have done because it worked for them or because you think it may be a good idea.
Sentence Example: “I’m going to take a page out of Mike’s book and work out every day for a while.”
24. One For the Books
Meaning: something unexpected, notable, surprising, remarkable, shocking; something unlikely to be repeated; something that has not happened before (the idiom alludes to record books, and the full term ‘record book’ is sometimes used.)
Sentence Example: “You finished all your chores and your homework? That’s one for the books!”
25. Crack a Book
Meaning: to open a book and read it, especially to study.
Sentence Example: “It wouldn’t hurt you to crack a book now and then, you know.”
26. Suit Someone’s Book
Meaning: to be suitable, satisfactory, or acceptable to someone; to be convenient or useful for someone. (UK)
Sentence Example: “We’ve made all the changes you asked for. I hope this suits your book.”
27. Read Up on Something
Meaning: to spend time studying or researching in order to learn about a particular subject.
Sentence Example: “I’ve been reading up on the best tool brands but I still can’t decide which ones to buy.”
28: Read the Room
Meaning: use one’s intuition or experience to be aware of the opinions and attitudes of the people there, especially when addressing an audience; to be aware of the body language and social cues of a group of people so as to taylor one’s behavior.
Sentence Example: “Read the room. Nobody likes your obnoxious jokes.”
29: Cliffhanger
Meaning: an ending of a story, book, television show, movie, etc. that is extremely suspenseful because it ends in a situation whose outcome is uncertain (a literary device used in serialized novels; television shows, or movie series).
Sentence Example: The last episode of my favorite show ended in a cliffhanger and then they abruptly canceled the series.”
30. Dog-Eared
Meaning: a book that is dog-eared is well-read and worn (refers specifically to having the corners of pages turned down to mark a place; sometimes used of other things besides books).
Sentence Example: “She read her favorite old dog-eared book while drinking some wine.”
Related Book Idioms
