{"id":27027,"date":"2025-09-11T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-09-11T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ellalanguage.com\/blog\/?p=27027"},"modified":"2025-08-29T11:26:00","modified_gmt":"2025-08-29T09:26:00","slug":"survival-idioms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ellalanguage.com\/blog\/survival-idioms\/","title":{"rendered":"12 Survival Idioms"},"content":{"rendered":"

Survival Idioms and What They Mean<\/h1>\n

Survival idioms help us talk about staying strong and making it through hard times. These phrases are often used when life is tough, but we keep going. Here are 12 survival idioms, what they mean, and how to use them.<\/p>\n

Weather the storm<\/h2>\n

To survive a difficult situation.<\/p>\n

We lost money, but we weathered the storm<\/b>.<\/div>\n
She weathered the storm<\/b> after losing her job.<\/div>\n

Sink or swim<\/h2>\n

To succeed or fail without help.<\/p>\n

On your first day, it\u2019s sink or swim<\/b>.<\/div>\n
He had no help\u2014it was sink or swim<\/b>.<\/div>\n

Hang by a thread<\/h2>\n

To be in great danger or close to failure.<\/p>\n

The deal is hanging by a thread<\/b>.<\/div>\n
His job is hanging by a thread<\/b> after the mistake.<\/div>\n

Hang in there<\/h2>\n

Don\u2019t give up; keep trying.<\/p>\n

Hang in there<\/b>\u2014things will get better.<\/div>\n
I know it\u2019s hard, but hang in there<\/b>.<\/div>\n

Bite the bullet<\/h2>\n

To do something difficult or painful.<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t want to apologize, but I bit the bullet<\/b>.<\/div>\n
He bit the bullet<\/b> and took the test again.<\/div>\n

Keep your head above water<\/h2>\n

To manage or survive, especially with stress or money.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re just keeping our heads above water<\/b>.<\/div>\n
He\u2019s working two jobs to keep his head above water<\/b>.<\/div>\n

Come out the other side<\/h2>\n

To get through a hard time and be okay again.<\/p>\n

She came out the other side<\/b> stronger.<\/div>\n
We came out the other side<\/b> after a hard year.<\/div>\n

Ride it out<\/h2>\n

To wait through something bad without giving up.<\/p>\n

We stayed home and rode out the storm<\/b>.<\/div>\n
He\u2019s trying to ride it out<\/b> until things get better.<\/div>\n

On your last legs<\/h2>\n

Almost used up, tired, or about to stop working.<\/p>\n

This old car is on its last legs<\/b>.<\/div>\n
I\u2019m so tired\u2014I\u2019m on my last legs<\/b> today.<\/div>\n

Tough it out<\/h2>\n

To stay strong and not give up during something hard.<\/p>\n

He toughed it out<\/b> through the cold and finished the race.<\/div>\n
You have to tough it out<\/b> until help comes.<\/div>\n

Against all odds<\/h2>\n

To succeed even when it seems impossible.<\/p>\n

Against all odds<\/b>, she finished the race.<\/div>\n
They won against all odds<\/b>.<\/div>\n

Stay the course<\/h2>\n

To keep going, even when it\u2019s hard.<\/p>\n

Things got tough, but we stayed the course<\/b>.<\/div>\n
Stay the course<\/b> and don\u2019t give up!<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

\"Start<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Survival Idioms and What They Mean Survival idioms help us talk about staying strong and making it through hard times. These phrases are often used when life is tough, but we keep going. Here are 12 survival idioms, what they mean, and how to use them. Weather the storm To survive a difficult situation. We […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":27029,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14349,51],"tags":[103],"class_list":["post-27027","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-englishblog","category-vocabulary","tag-idioms"],"yoast_head":"\n12 Survival Idioms | English Idioms | ELLA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Explore survival idioms in English with clear meanings and examples that show how to use them in everyday conversations.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ellalanguage.com\/blog\/survival-idioms\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"pl_PL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" 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