
IdiomBody & Senses
English
knock someone's socks off
Meaning: To impress or amaze someone greatly.
Example: “Her voice will knock your socks off.”
Origin: A comic exaggeration of being struck so hard one's socks fly off. American English from the mid-19th century, first meaning to beat someone badly.
Equivalents in other languages
French: Ça en jette ! Literally: It throws some!
More English idioms
- no sweat No problem; that's easy.
- dumb as a box of rocks Very stupid.
- without a penny to one's name With no money at all.
- feed someone a line To tell someone something untrue to deceive them.
- a smart aleck An annoying person who shows off how clever they are.
- what have you been smoking? Said to someone whose idea sounds crazy.
Explore another collection: Tongue Twisters
Tricky phrases to practice out loud, from languages around the world.
- Red lorry, yellow lorry. The 'l/r' alternation drill — deceptively short, yet almost impossible to say fast withou…
- How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? A 'w/ch/ck' drill that accelerates comically — and nobody really knows the answer.
- The sixth sick sheikh's sixth sheep's sick. Believed by Guinness to be among the hardest in English — 'six/sick/sheikh/sheep' blur in…
Keep exploring