Twenty-three Idioms for Love and Romance

Love is in the air! Valentine’s Day is a day to celebrate the love in your life. Adults might use the day to tell a special someone how they feel. Couples often exchange gifts, and spouses are often expected to bring or deliver flowers to their significant others.

Lots of couples like to do something special on Valentine’s Day, and many restaurants’ busiest day of the year is Valentine’s Day. That’s because people want to spend a special night out to commemorate their love for each other. The restaurants accommodate these couples by offering fixed-price menus, special services, and thematic decorations to mark the evening.

It’s not just adults that celebrate Valentine’s Day, however. In America, many children celebrate the day in school by exchanging handmade Valentine’s Day cards with their classmates, usually with a piece of chocolate or candy attached.

When people talk about love and romance, they often use idioms. An idiom is an informal word or phrase with an understood meaning that is not obvious from the individual words. If you listen to or read English, you will come across many idioms. Therefore, it’s important to study idioms and how they are used. Here are twenty-three idioms related to love and romance. They are broken down further by category. Have you heard these before?

Love and Romantic Idioms

DATING

blind date

A blind date is a date between two people who have never met before. Usually, this happens when they are set up by someone else.

• I went on a blind date with my cousin’s friend, but it didn’t go very well.

double date

A double date is a date where two couples go somewhere and do something together

• I’m so glad you got a girlfriend, Jason. Now you can go on a double date with us.

to go Dutch

When you go Dutch during a date, it means that each person pays for half of the expenses.

• A lot of university students go Dutch when they date since they don’t have a lot of money.

to fix/set someone up (with someone)

When you fix/set someone up, it means that you arrange a meeting between two people that you think might be interested in one another.

• You should let me fix you up with my friend. He’s a really nice guy, he’s good-looking, and he’s successful. I think the two of you would make a nice couple.

to be an item

When two people are an item, it means that they are a romantic couple.

• I was surprised that Chris and Sue came together to the party. I didn’t know they were an item.

Three’s a crowd.

You might hear this idiom from a couple who would prefer to be alone.

• I’m glad the three of us all got to talk together, but I wanted to have some time alone with my date. Three’s a crowd, you know?

ROMANTIC FEELINGS

to fall in love with (someone)

The word “fall” may be a bit confusing here if you’re learning English. To fall in love means to start having feelings of love towards somebody.

• We started out as friends, but it didn’t take long for both of us to fall in love with each other.

to be crazy about (someone)

If you’re crazy about someone, it means you have strong feelings of attraction for them.

• Blake just had a crush on Erin at first. After a few dates, they were crazy about each other.

to find the right girl/guy

To find the right guy or the right girl refers to finding the person with whom you’d like to be in a romantic relationship.

• After several bad dates, she wondered if she would ever find the right guy. That’s when she met Eric, and he was perfect.

to have a crush on (someone); to have a thing for (someone)

If you have a crush on someone or have a thing for someone, it means that you are attracted to them. It doesn’t mean you you’re crazy about them, yet.

• I’ve had a crush on him since the first moment I saw him.
  Although Samantha has a thing for Cedric, he already has a girlfriend.

MARRIAGE

to tie the knot; to get hitched

To tie the knot means to get married. It comes from an ancient Roman tradition of tying and untying knots on a couple’s wedding day. To get hitched also means to get married. It comes from an old American tradition of tying or hitching, horses to wagons when two people got married.

• After five years of dating, Danny and Anna finally decided to tie the knot.

to pop the question

When someone pops the question, it means that they ask their partner to marry them.

• When do you think Jeff will pop the question?
  Well, we’ve been talking about marriage recently. I guess it could be soon!

to settle down with (someone)

When a couple decides to settle down with each other, it usually means that they decide to get married, have children, and live a steady and stable life.

• After we’re married, we’ll settle down with each other in the suburbs and start a family.

THE PERFECT COUPLE

a match made in heaven; to be made for each other

Someone might describe a couple as a match made in heaven or made for each other when each person seems to be a perfect match for the other.

• I hope Stephen and Lizzie get married. They are made for each other.

LOVE PROBLEMS

(to be) on the rocks

If a relationship has some problems, then someone might say that the relationship is on the rocks.

• Even though their relationship is on the rocks, I don’t think they will break up.

to break up (with someone); to split up (with someone)

If you break up or split up with someone, it means that you end the romantic relationship with that person.

• Did you hear that Josephine and Chris split up? They looked like they were made for each other, so I was really surprised.

to break (someone’s) heart

If you break someone’s heart, or if someone breaks your heart, it means that the relationship ends in a way that hurts one of the ex-partners.

• My girlfriend and I broke up when she moved to Asia for work. It really broke our hearts, but it was for the best.

to patch things up; to patch up a relationship

If a relationship has some problems, but the couple is able to fix those problems and have a happy relationship again, then someone would say that the couple patched up the relationship.

• I’m sorry for what I did, but I know we can patch things up and be a good couple again. What do you think?

Idioms should be part of your regular English language studies. Although they are usually informal, they are an important part of everyday language. If you understand idioms, you will be able to better participate in casual conversations.

Want more language learning tips? Click this sentence to take a look at our grammar post about how to use very, too, and so.

Valentine’s Day is a special day at LASC. Our Valentine’s Day party this year was a whole lot of fun. Check out our Facebook page for some great pictures of our most recent events.

We love to celebrate holidays by decorating our campus and having parties with the whole school. LASC is a great place to learn the American language and culture, and we make sure that happens by providing opportunities to learn about and celebrate American holidays in a fun and interesting way. Teachers love to share their knowledge and make new memories with students. Call or visit one of our three branches to find out what makes LASC such a great and unique place to study.

Do you know any other English idioms? Do you have questions about idioms?