From: A thematic corpus-based study of idioms in the Corpus of Contemporary American English
Idiom | Theme | Frequency (per million) |
---|---|---|
Behind the scenes | Secrecy | 4.71 |
Under fire | Critics and criticism | 3.22 |
Set the stage for | Preparation and readiness | 2.86 |
Out of your mind | Madness | 2.77 |
Over the top | Excess and extravagance | 2.72 |
Think twice | Caution | 2.33 |
Round (or around) the clock | Time | 2.13 |
Behind closed doors | Secrecy | 2.03 |
Hit the road | Travel and transport | 1.56 |
Play ball | Cooperation | 1.38 |
Call the shots (or tune) | Power | 1.21 |
On the same page | Cooperation | 1.18 |
In a nutshell | Language, speech, and conversation | 1.18 |
A slippery slope | Misfortune and adversity | 1.14 |
Turn the corner | Crisis | 1.12 |
On a roll | Success | 1.10 |