on the house
Meaning: Free, paid for by the business.
Language: English
Literally: (Already vivid in English)
Example: “The dessert is on the house tonight.”
Category: Daily Life
Origin: "The house" is the bar, inn or casino. The phrase is found from the late 19th century.
Equivalents in other languages
- French: À l'œil — literally: At the eye
More idioms — Daily Life
- make a song and dance about — To make an unnecessary fuss about something.
- wide of the mark — Inaccurate or irrelevant.
- flat out — As fast or as hard as possible.
- can't carry a tune in a bucket — Sings very badly.
- a smash hit — To be a huge success.
- firing on all cylinders — Working at full power and efficiency.
More English idioms
- yada yada yada — And so on; skipping boring details.
- swap spit — To kiss passionately (slang).
- hit the wall — To suddenly run out of energy.
- grab a bite — To eat something quickly.
- like a rat in a trap — Trapped with no way to escape.
- like the cat that got the cream — Very pleased with oneself.
From our tongue twisters
- 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…
- Betty Botter bought some butter, but she said the butter's bitter. — A 'b / t / tt' plosive drill that bounces between Betty, butter, and bitter.
- She sells seashells by the seashore. — The definitive 's' versus 'sh' alternation — the tongue has to switch place of articulati…