Relationship Idioms in English at B2: Tie the Knot, On the Rocks, Head Over Heels
English speakers talk about love in pictures. People tie knots, walk on rocks and fall over their own heels. If you are learning English because of a partner, you will hear these idioms at dinner, in films and from the friends of your partner, and taken literally they make no sense. This guide groups the most useful ones by the stage of a relationship, with the register and an example for each.
An idiom is a fixed phrase whose meaning is not the sum of its words. Relationships produce more idioms than almost any other topic, because people like to describe emotions with something they can picture. At B2 you can usually follow the grammar of an idiom easily. The difficulty is knowing that it is an idiom at all, and knowing whether it is casual, warm, ironic or slightly old-fashioned.
This is the kind of language covered in words nobody teaches you at B2: common in real speech and almost absent from a course. It also matters for couples. When your partner says that a friend is on the rocks, you want to understand it at once, not after a quick search. The wider context is in learning the language of your partner.
Meeting and falling in love
The early stage of a relationship has the most playful idioms. Most of them are informal and positive, and they are often used with a smile.
| Idiom | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| hit it off | to like each other immediately | We hit it off from the first conversation. |
| love at first sight | falling in love the moment you meet | It was not love at first sight, it took months. |
| fall for someone | to start to love or be attracted to someone | I think I am falling for him. |
| head over heels | completely and deeply in love | She is head over heels for her new boyfriend. |
| be smitten | to be strongly attracted, a little old-fashioned | He was completely smitten with her. |
| have a crush on someone | a temporary, often secret attraction | I had a crush on my teacher at school. |
| be an item | to be publicly a couple | Are Anna and Tom an item now? |
| ask someone out | to invite someone on a date | He finally asked her out for dinner. |
Commitment and the wedding
This is the part of the vocabulary where register matters most. Tie the knot is warm and slightly humorous, and it is the normal informal way to say get married. Get hitched is more casual and playful. Pop the question is the friendly way to say propose, and you would use it in conversation and not in a formal letter. Someone who is getting nervous before a wedding may get cold feet, meaning they suddenly doubt the decision. Notice that these idioms are common in speech and in tabloid headlines, but rare in official writing.
| Idiom | Meaning | Register and example |
|---|---|---|
| pop the question | to propose marriage | Friendly, informal. He is planning to pop the question on holiday. |
| tie the knot | to get married | Warm, slightly humorous. They tied the knot in June. |
| get hitched | to get married | Very casual. They got hitched in Las Vegas. |
| get cold feet | to feel sudden fear before a big commitment | Neutral. He got cold feet a week before the wedding. |
| walk down the aisle | to get married in a church, or to marry generally | Neutral. She cannot wait to walk down the aisle. |
| settle down | to build a stable life with one partner | Neutral. After years of travelling, they settled down. |
| my other half | my partner, a little humorous | Informal. I need to ask my other half first. |
| the one | the person you are meant to be with | Informal. I think I have found the one. |
Ordinary life together
Long relationships have their own idioms, and many of them are about balance and effort. Meet someone halfway is one of the most useful: it means to compromise, and it applies to almost any disagreement. A relationship can have a honeymoon period, the happy first months when everything seems easy, and afterwards it may face the seven-year itch, an old idea that partners start to look elsewhere after a few years. It is used lightly, as a joke, more than as science. A couple that work well are said to be a match made in heaven, and a friend who supports both of you is a shoulder to cry on.
One difference between British and American English is worth knowing. To wear the trousers in a relationship is the British form and means to be the one who makes the decisions. The American form is wear the pants. The idea is old-fashioned, and many people find it a little sexist, so use it carefully.
- meet someone halfway: to compromise
- the honeymoon period: the happy, easy first phase
- a match made in heaven: a perfect couple
- opposites attract: different people often fall in love
- a shoulder to cry on: someone who listens when you are sad
- wear your heart on your sleeve: to show your feelings openly
When things go wrong
Idioms for difficulty are very common in conversation, and they are often softer than the plain words. It is polite to say that a couple is having problems by saying that they are going through a rough patch, which suggests it is temporary. On the rocks is stronger: it says the relationship is close to ending. Blow hot and cold describes a person whose feelings change constantly, and it is usually a complaint. If a couple splits up, the idiom is that they call it quits, and if they later reconcile, they patch things up or get back together.
Some are used for the person left behind. Plenty more fish in the sea is a well-known phrase used to comfort someone after a break-up, and it can sound careless if it comes too early. Carry a torch for someone means to continue to love a person who does not love you back, often for many years.
| Idiom | Meaning | Tone and example |
|---|---|---|
| a rough patch | a difficult but temporary period | Gentle. They are going through a rough patch. |
| on the rocks | in serious trouble, close to ending | Neutral, direct. Their marriage is on the rocks. |
| blow hot and cold | to change feelings again and again | Critical. He blows hot and cold, and I never know where I stand. |
| call it quits | to end a relationship or stop something | Informal. After ten years, they called it quits. |
| patch things up | to repair a relationship after an argument | Warm. I hope you two can patch things up. |
| get back together | to restart a relationship after a break-up | Neutral. They got back together after six months. |
| carry a torch for someone | to keep loving someone who does not love you back | Slightly sad. He still carries a torch for his ex. |
| plenty more fish in the sea | there are many other possible partners | Comforting but careless. Use it late, not early. |
Using idioms without sounding odd
A few practical rules help. First, use an idiom exactly as it is: head over heels cannot become head above feet, and native speakers notice the small change at once. Second, do not use too many together, because a sentence full of idioms sounds like a list from a textbook. One in a paragraph is natural. Third, check the register: tie the knot is fine to tell a friend that you are getting married, but say get married in the invitation.
A helpful habit is to learn each idiom with the situation in which you heard it, for example on the rocks, said by my partner about a neighbour. Save the ones you want to understand or use as cards in MindDory, with one example sentence in your own life, and review them in the app. Once you can use a few of them naturally, the B2 vocabulary list is a good place to find the next group of words.