poetic device: Idioms

An idiom is a common expression that has a different meaning than the literal meaning of the words. For example, to say that someone “kicked the bucket” means that they died, not that they actually kicked a bucket, and to describe something as “a piece of cake” means it is very easy, not a literal slice of cake.

Each of these poems include at least one idiom, often in the final line of the poem, but sometimes more. See if you can find the idioms in each of these poems.

Lost and Found by Kenn Nesbitt
Lost and Found
I'm Only Half a Werewolf by Kenn Nesbitt
I’m Only Half a Werewolf
Unsteady Teddy by Kenn Nesbitt
Unsteady Teddy
Sleeping Santa by Kenn Nesbitt
Sleeping Santa
My Dog Likes to Dig by Kenn Nesbitt
My Dog Likes to Dig
Our Math Teacher's Missing by Kenn Nesbitt
Our Math Teacher’s Missing
Bob’s Job
The Sofa Ate My Father by Kenn Nesbitt
The Sofa Ate My Father
On Halloween Night
I Finished My Homework
My Mother Drives Me Everywhere
The Life of a Pirate Ain’t Easy
My Job at the Calendar Factory by Kenn Nesbitt
My Job at the Calendar Factory
My World Is Turning Downside-Up by Kenn Nesbitt
My World Is Turning Downside-Up
If You're Swallowed by an Elephant by Kenn Nesbitt
If You’re Swallowed by an Elephant
I Let My Mind Wander
The Book of Glue by Kenn Nesbitt
The Book of Glue
I Never Can Remember by Kenn Nesbitt
When’s My Birthday?
The Armpit of Doom by Kenn Nesbitt
The Armpit of Doom
Homework, I Love You
My Knee Is for Me by Kenn Nesbitt
My Knee Is for Me
A Sad and Lonely Cyclops by Kenn Nesbitt
A Sad and Lonely Cyclops
When Chemists Die They Barium by Kenn Nesbitt
When Chemists Die, They Barium
Crazy Over Vegetables by Kenn Nesbitt and Eric Herman
Crazy Over Vegetables

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