Idioms with two

By: Boris Pein, Maja Štajduhar &

Mladen Manda

To be like dog with two tails

‘She passed the exam. Her mother was like a dog with two tails.’

meaning: to be very happy

To be two sides of the same coin

Violent behaviour and deep insecurity are two sides of the same coin.

meaning: two things very close related although they seem different

It takes two to tango

'She blames Tracy for stealing her husband.' 'Well, it takes two to tango.‘

meaning: something that you say which means if two people were involved in a bad situation, both must be responsible

To put two and two together

I didn't tell her my husband had left, but she'd noticed his car was missing and put two and two together.

meaning: to guess the truth about a situation from pieces of information which you know about it

One step forward, two steps back

Every solution we come up with seems to create more problems than it solves, so it's one step forward, two steps back.

meaning: every time you make progress, something bad happens which causes you to be in a worse situation than you were to begin with

That makes two of us

'I found his talk really boring.' 'That makes two of us!'

meaning: something that you say in order to tell someone that you are in the same unpleasant situation, or have the same negative feelings as them

To kill two birds with one stone

I killed two birds with one stone and saw some old friends while I was in Leeds visiting my parents.

meaning: to manage to do two things at the same time instead of just one, because it is convenient to do both

two's company (three's a crowd) They asked me to go to the cinema

with them but two's company if you know what I mean.

meaning: something that you say when you think two people would prefer to be alone together than be with a third person

THE END